Belarus debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "My Galileo" written by Aleksey Solomaha, Alexandra Kirsanova and Konstantin Drapezo. The song was performed by Aleksandra and Konstantin. The Belarusian entry for the 2004 contest in Istanbul, Turkey was selected through a national final organised by the Belarusian broadcaster National State Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus (BTRC). The national final consisted of fifteen competing acts participating in a televised production where public voting selected the winner. "Moy galiley" performed by Aleksandra and Konstantin was selected as the winner with 2,311 votes. The song was later retitled as "My Galileo". Belarus competed in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 12 May 2004. Performing during the show in position 2, "My Galileo" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Belarus placed nineteenth out of the 22 participating countries in the semi-final with 10 points. Background On 21 February 2003, the Belarusian national broadcaster, National State Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus (BTRC), confirmed their intentions to debut at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest for the first time after broadcasting both 2002 and 2003 contests. The nation had previously planned to debut at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993 and 2003; the latter year the broadcaster was unable to take part after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) decided that too many countries would be relegated from participation in 2003 if the country took part. BTRC would also broadcast the event within Belarus and organise the selection process for the nation's entry. The broadcaster organised a national final in order to choose their 2004 entry. Before Eurovision National final The Belarusian national final took place on 31 January 2004. Fifteen songs participated in the competition and the winner was selected exclusively via a public vote. The show was broadcast on the First Channel and Radius FM. Competing entries Artists and composers were able to submit their applications and entries to the broadcaster between 22 October 2003 and 14 December 2003. Songs could be performed in any language, however, a translation of the lyrics to English and Belarusian/Russian were required, and at least part of the song had to be performed in English. At the closing of the deadline, 200 entries were