#BIRTHDAY: Koldun from Belarus is 35 today

It can be tough breaking into the elite of Eurovision these days. Some countries try their hardest and often linger in the semi-finals. So imagine how it feels to make that breakthrough into a Grand Final.

For what could be an unfashionable country, that breakthrough is something to celebrate. Today’s birthday boy Дзьмітры Аляксандравіч Калдун/Dmitry Aleksandrovich Koldun (known as Koldun to his friends) was that lucky singer to take his country from semi-final also-rans to top 10 finishers. It just goes to show that anyone can win the Eurovision Song Contest. Yes, even your country. Anyway, it wasn’t enough that Koldun sailed through the biggest ever semi-final there has ever been, but he got three maxima in the Grand Final, but he got a scattering of points from all over our continent. Was it the James Bond-esque motif? Or the sliding doors? Maybe it was the whole package. Or it could have been Koldun’s backstory involving a late British princess.

Authors: Riigi Ametnik, John Stanton

Source: OnEurope.biz