VAL (band)

VAL
VAL
Also known as	Belarus
Origin	Minsk
Genres	Pop, indie, electronic
Years active	2016-present
Labels	VAL
Members	Valeria Gribusova ; Vladislav Pashkevich

VAL is a Belarusian band comprising Valeria Gribusova and Vladislav Pashkevich.

History

In 2016, together with keyboardist and sound producer, Pashkevich, Gribusova founded a solo project called "VAL Music Project" which released the singles "Кто ты есть" (Who Are You) and "Ветер во сне" (Wind in a Dream) the same year.^[1]

VAL would have represented Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam with the song "Da vidna", after winning Belarus' national selection Natsionalniy Otbor 2020 on 28 February 2020;^[2]^[3] although it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pair openly supported the 2020 Belarusian protests.^[4] Because of that, in September 2020, the Belarusian state broadcaster said the duo was no longer willing to represent Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest.^[5]

Members

Valeria Gribusova

Valeria Gribusova (Belarusian: Валерыя Грыбусава, romanized: Valieryja Hrybusava; Mogilev, 12 February 1995) delivers most of the vocals for the duo and is a songwriter and a dancer.

Gribusova participated in Ludmila Zukova's children's ensemble Yaritsa from the age of five. She later attended the Mogilev Gymnasium where she matriculated with honours in choral music and art in 2013. She went on to study in the Pop Art department of the Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts.^[6] Gribusova worked as a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra of Belarus under Mikhail Finberg in 2015.

Gribusova has won numerous accolades as a singer. In 2015, when just 20 years old, she won first prize in the Belarus Slavianski Bazaar Competition.^[7]^[8] In 2017, she participated in the Ukrainian version of The Voice, joining Jamala's team.^[9]

Vladislav Pashkevich

Vladislav Pashkevich (Belarusian: Уладзіслаў Пашкевіч, romanized: Uladzislaŭ Paškievič) – alias Vlad Freimann (Влад Фрайманн) – is a music producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and linguist. Pashkevich graduated at the Minsk State Linguistic University,^[10] and speaks four languages fluently: German, English, Russian and Belarusian.^[11] Pashkevich is of Jewish descent through his paternal grandfather Ernest Yefimovich Freimann.^[12]

Pashkevich is one half of the producing duo ToneTwins.^[13] Pashkevich was one of the backing singers for Naviband at the Belarusian national selection in 2017, but was not selected to be the group's backing singer at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Kyiv.^[14]

Discography

EPs

2017: В моей комнате (on ToneTwins Records)
2021: Пауза^[15]

Singles

2016: "Кто ты есть"
2016: "Ветер во сне" [1]
2019: "Тихая гавань"
2020: "Да відна" ("Da vidna")
2020: "Частницы счастья"
2020: "Навечна"
2021: "Пауза"

References

^ "VAL". SoundCloud. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
^ "Belarus will be represented by VAL with 'Da Vidna'". Eurovision Song Contest. 28 February 2020.
^ Belarus has decided VAL wins ticket to Rotterdam Retrieved 28 February 2020
^ Ten Veen, Renske (15 August 2020). "Belarussian Eurovision stars react to Protests". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
^ Granger, Anthony (25 September 2020). "Belarus: "Val will not go to Eurovision 2021" - BTRC". Eurovoix.com. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
^ "Valeria Gribusova". Belarusian International Festival of Arts. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
^ "Kazakhstani Singer Wins Slavianski Bazaar". meteo.by. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
^ "Valeria Gribusova". 20 years Belarus. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
^ "ВАЛЕРІЯ ГРИБУСОВА". 1plus1.ua (in Ukrainian). 1+1. Archived from the original on 11 March 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
^ "Bio". ESCKAZ. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
^ "Онлайн-конференция с VAL, представителями Беларуси на "Евровидении-2020"". TVR.by. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
^ "Группа VAL - "Евровидение. Europe Shine A Light" и новый альбом Шоу "Макаёнка,9"". YouTube. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
^ Osvepyan, Irina. "Молодой саунд-продюсер Владислав Пашкевич о новом альбоме проекта ToneTwins и белорусской звукорежиссуре". Беларусь Сегодня. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
^ ten Veen, Renske. "VAL: 10 facts about Belarus' Eurovision 2020 duo". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. 1 July 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved 2021-07-06.

Awards and achievements
Preceded by ZENA with "Like It"	Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest VAL 2020 (cancelled)	Succeeded by None

[1] "VAL". SoundCloud. Retrieved 16 May 2018.

[2] "Belarus will be represented by VAL with 'Da Vidna'". Eurovision Song Contest. 28 February 2020.

[3] Belarus has decided VAL wins ticket to Rotterdam Retrieved 28 February 2020

[4] Ten Veen, Renske (15 August 2020). "Belarussian Eurovision stars react to Protests". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 17 August 2020.

[5] Granger, Anthony (25 September 2020). "Belarus: "Val will not go to Eurovision 2021" - BTRC". Eurovoix.com. Retrieved 26 September 2020.

[6] "Valeria Gribusova". Belarusian International Festival of Arts. Retrieved 16 May 2018.

[7] "Kazakhstani Singer Wins Slavianski Bazaar". meteo.by. Retrieved 14 May 2018.

[8] "Valeria Gribusova". 20 years Belarus. Retrieved 14 May 2018.

[9] "ВАЛЕРІЯ ГРИБУСОВА". 1plus1.ua (in Ukrainian). 1+1. Archived from the original on 11 March 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2024.

[10] "Bio". ESCKAZ. Retrieved 26 September 2020.

[11] "Онлайн-конференция с VAL, представителями Беларуси на "Евровидении-2020"". TVR.by. Retrieved 26 September 2020.

[12] "Группа VAL - "Евровидение. Europe Shine A Light" и новый альбом Шоу "Макаёнка,9"". YouTube. Retrieved 26 September 2020.

[13] Osvepyan, Irina. "Молодой саунд-продюсер Владислав Пашкевич о новом альбоме проекта ToneTwins и белорусской звукорежиссуре". Беларусь Сегодня. Retrieved 26 September 2020.

[14] ten Veen, Renske. "VAL: 10 facts about Belarus' Eurovision 2020 duo". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 26 September 2020.

[15] "Instagram". www.instagram.com. 1 July 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved 2021-07-06.

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v t e Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Countries	Albania Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Iceland Ireland Israel Italy Latvia Lithuania Malta Moldova Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom
Artists	Aksel Eden Alene Alicja Arilena Ara Ben and Tan Vincent Bueno Blas Cantó Benny Cristo Daði og Gagnamagnið Destiny Diodato Ben Dolic Efendi Elisa Gjon's Tears Go_A Natalia Gordienko Hooverphonic Hurricane Damir Kedžo Tornike Kipiani Tom Leeb Little Big Jeangu Macrooy The Mamas Athena Manoukian Montaigne James Newman The Roop Roxen Lesley Roy Sandro Senhit Ana Soklič Stefania Uku Suviste Samanta Tīna Ulrikke VAL Vasil Victoria
Songs	"Alcohol You" "Alive" "All of My Love" "Attention" "Chains on You" "Cleopatra" "Da vidna" "Divlji vjetre" "Don't Break Me" "Empires" "Fai rumore" "Fall from the Sky" "Feker Libi" "Freaky!" "Grow" "Hasta la vista" "Kemama" "Looking Back" "Medo de sentir" "Mon alliée (The Best in Me)" "Move" "My Last Breath" "On Fire" "Prison" "Release Me" "Répondez-moi" "Running" "Solovey" "Still Breathing" "Story of My Life" "Supergirl" "Take Me as I Am" "Tears Getting Sober" "Think About Things" "Universo" "Uno" "Violent Thing" "Voda" "What Love Is" "Yes" "You"
Replacement shows and events	Der kleine Song Contest Eurovision 2020 – das deutsche Finale Eurovision: Come Together Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light EurovisionAgain Sveriges 12:a