I’ve been busy for the past month with work, writing and a quick trip to New Orleans. Eurovision has been nudging the edge of my consciousness, but it’s been hard to get back into the groove. Until today.

A friend sent me a text asking if I knew about the guy from Belarus who’s going to perform nude, with a wolf, at Eurovision.

Wut?

Needless to say, that hooked me right back in. The aspiring nudist is Ivan (AKA Alexander Ivanov) and he won the Belarusian national song competition with his song Help You Fly. Let’s take a look and listen. For those concerned, he does perform fully clothed in the official video.

Okay. Decent song. Catchy, even. He’s got a gravelly voice with a good range. His stage presence is all right, though he relies a lot on a cute face and flippy hair. The background effects add some excitement to his performance. Is he a standout performer? Probably not. Unless…

Is Ivan really going to bare it all? Here’s an article stating his intention to do so. However, since Eurovision allows neither nudity nor live animals onstage, it’s highly doubtful. Nonetheless, Ivan has prepared for the possibility. Warning: the following video does contain partial nudity.

This does seem a lot like a publicity stunt, and why not? Ivan needs to build some interest in his song outside Belarus and Russia. This is one way to do it. I’ll be interested to see how he performs at the semi-final.

Help You Fly isn’t a winner, but the extra press and some fun staging could propel it into the finale. Kisses and best wishes to Ivan and Belarus!

You can read more about Ivan here.

Eurovision 2016 will be held 10, 12 and 14 May in Stockholm, Sweden. You can watch the entire contest live on eurovision.tv.