Breaking news about Belarus has just surfaced. The EBU have taken the decision to exclude Belarus and its participating broadcaster BRTC from the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. The European Broadcasting Union have released a statement on the official social media accounts of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Belarus “in breach of the rules”
The EBU have announced that Galasy ZMesta, the band that would supposedly represent Belarus, did indeed submit a second entry. Their first entry, titled Ya Nauchu Tebya, already faced exclusion from the EBU. The governing organisation behind the Eurovision Song Contest ruled that the song “puts the non-political nature of the Contest in question“.
After the original ruling from the EBU, BRTC had the chance to submit a new entry. They received an extended deadline for their new entry. In the past couple of days, there were rumours, but no confirmations whatsoever. Tonight, the EBU announced that a new song had indeed been sent to them.
However, as you can see below, the EBU decided that the new song once again was in breach of the Eurovision Song Contest rules. The EBU have not confirmed why the new entry was ineligible. It is however fair to assume that Galasy ZMesta’s new song once again contained lyrics of a political nature. The EBU therefore ruled that Belarus would no longer be taking part at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.
The EBU have so far not announced whether this step will affect the Belarusian participation at the Eurovision Song Contest from 2022 onwards. We will keep you posted as soon as more information surfaces. Belarus were supposed to compete in the first half of the first semifinal in Rotterdam. The first semi now only counts sixteen performers.
Read the EBU statement
Below, you can read the full statement by the EBU:
On Wednesday 10 March we wrote to the broadcaster BTRC, which is responsible for Belarusโ entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, to request that they take all steps necessary to amend their entry to this yearโs event to ensure it is compliant with the rules of the competition.
EBU on Eurovision.tv
Following this BTRC submitted a new song, by the same artists, within an agreed timeframe.
The EBU and the Reference Group, the Contestโs governing board, carefully scrutinized the new entry to assess its eligibility to compete.
It was concluded that the new submission was also in breach of the rules of the competition that ensure the Contest is not instrumentalized or brought into disrepute.
As BTRC have failed to submit an eligible entry within the extended deadline, regrettably, Belarus will not be participating in the 65th Eurovision Song Contest in May.
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