"Mum" was the Belarus

Belarus

Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

ian entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006

Eurovision Song Contest 2006

The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece on 18 May and 20 May 2006 . The hosting national broadcaster of the contest was Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi . The Finnish band Lordi won the contest with the song "Hard Rock...

, performed in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 by Polina Smolova

Polina Smolova

Polina Smolova is a pop singer and the country's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song Mum, with which she took part in the Eurovision semi-final. She is one of the most famous Belarusian pop singers, coming up with very poetic and lyrical songs...

. As the previous Belarusian entry had not finished in the top 10, Smolova performed the song in the semi-final.

The song was performed fifth on the night, following Andorra

Andorra

Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...

's Jenny with "Sense tu

Sense Tu

"Sense tu" was Andorra's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. Performed in Catalan by Jenny, the song had to qualify from the semi-final, due to Andorra's failure to make the top ten in the previous Contest....

" and preceding Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

's Luiz Ejlli

Luiz Ejlli

Luiz Ejlli is an Albanian singer.-Biography:Luiz Ejlli was born in Shkodra and between 1991 and 2002 he attended the "Prenk Jakova" secondary school in Shkodra. In 1995, he won the Best Voice Prize in "Child National Fesitival" in Shkodra. In 1998, he participated as a soloist in the "Gold...

 with "Zjarr e ftohtë

Zjarr E Ftohtë

"Zjarr e ftohtë" was the Albanian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, performed in Albanian by Luiz Ejlli. This was the first time that the Albanian entry in the contest was sung in Albanian....

". At the close of voting, it had received 10 points, which placed it 22nd (second last) and meant that Belarus would have to take part in the next semi-final as well.

The song is an energetic (Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

-inspired, according to some publicity) dance number, in which Smolova pleads with her mother to accept her lover. Many reviewers unkindly concentrated on the grammatical innaccuracies of the English of the lyrics ("Say me no more that he's an arrant liar", for example). The performance was similarly energetic, with a number of dancers and backing singers performing acrobatic moves on stage.