broadcast, with the winner having been determined by 50% professional jury and 50% public televoting. Alexander Minyonok won the 2016 Belarusian final with the song "" and represented Belarus at the 2016 contest. On 15 October 2017, it was announced that Belarus would host the contest for a second time in the capital, Minsk. On 21 November 2017, Belarus' Deputy Prime Minister stated that the contest was scheduled to be held at Minsk Arena in November 2018. On 18 March 2018, Minsk Arena was confirmed as the venue by the contest organisers. On 28 May 2021, the EBU announced it was suspending BTRC's membership due to "exceptional concerns" over its broadcasts. The broadcaster was given two weeks to respond before the suspension came into effect, which it failed to do publicly. Exclusion from EBU membership meant that BTRC would lose the rights to broadcast and participate in Eurovision events. On 1 July, the EBU officially imposed a three-year suspension on BTRC, scheduled to end on 1 July 2024, and the broadcaster subsequently acknowledged and accepted its temporary inability to take part in Eurovision. Following this, the director general of BTRC, Ivan Eismont, made a statement regarding the EBU's actions, in which he claimed that the national response to Belarus' exclusion from the adult contest was ambivalent, but that there was general sadness regarding their inability to compete at the junior contest after their success at the event over the years. The EBU has the right to review the suspension at any point prior to its official expiration, though the likelihood of this happening is uncertain. Participation overview Commentators and spokespersons The contests are broadcast online worldwide through the official Junior Eurovision Song Contest website junioreurovision.tv and YouTube. In 2015, the online broadcasts featured commentary in English by junioreurovision.tv editor Luke Fisher and 2011 Bulgarian Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant Ivan Ivanov. The Belarusian broadcaster, BTRC, sent its own commentators to each contest in order to provide commentary in the Russian language. Spokespersons were also chosen by the national broadcaster in order to announce the awarding points from Belarus. The table below list the details of each commentator and spokesperson since 2003. Hostings See also Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest – Senior version of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Belarus in the Eurovision Young Dancers – A competition organised by the EBU for younger dancers aged between 16 and 21.