Welcome to That Eurovision Site’s 2025 Advent Calendar! Each day at 10:00CET we’ll be highlighting one of our favourite holiday themed songs from across the Eurovision sphere! Today is 1st December and our featured song today is “Надзея (Nadzieja)” by NAVIBAND, who represented Belarus at Eurovision 2017!
Behind the 1st door on the TES Advent Calendar is…
About “Надзея (Nadzieja)”
Thee song’s release in 2024 marked four years since Naviband left Belarus for Poland amid the crackdown of protestors and dissidents following the disputed 2020 election, the results of which were rejected by almost all western nations. The song’s lyrics focus on the feelings hope that Christmas brings to the group, and by extension others in their situation, that hope one day things will be better. The chorus of the song reads:
This night is for you and me
This night gives freedom
And for those who did not believe
This night gives hope
The song was written by vocalist Artem Lukyanenko with production by Alexander Tobolsky, who also worked on the music video alongside Yaroslav Tamilo and Alexander Vavilov.
What do we think?
The song is a really nice, chill and laid back indie track that fits in very well with the rest of Naviband’s modern discography, which in itself is well worth a listen. I really like when Christmas songs are more subtly merry rather than toeing out the same old ten lines about presents and snowfall that have been done so many times already, and this is a perfect example of that.
Naviband’s Eurovision Journey
At the fourth time of trying, NAVIBAND were finally selected to represent Belarus ahead of Eurovision 2017, when they won Belarus’ National Final with their song Historyja Majho Žyccia- becoming the first Eurovision artists to perform in Belarusian.
Their song freshly retitled to ‘Story of My Life’ ahead of Eurovision, though remaining in Belarusian, NAVIBAND were drawn into the second semi-final, where they would go on to qualify in 9th place, accumulating 110 points. They would go on to place 17th in the Grand Final in Kyiv, with 83 points to their name, Belarus’ fourth highest result at the contest.
What do you think of today’s song? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, and Bluesky for more information about Eurovision 2025!
Image Credit: Alina Vozna
Giwrgos Oiko