According to the Belarusian broadcaster BTRC, VAL, which has become the winner of country’s natioal selection for “Eurovision 2021”, will not be sent to the competition in 2021.
“VAL will not go to “Eurovision 2021”, and this will happen not because something is “broken” or censored in the BTRC, but because the artists of VAL do not have a conscience,” the channel said that VAL does not represent Belarus.
In an interview with “IL Interesting People”, the group also openly criticized the BTRC for interfering with them after winning the national selection round for “Eurovision 2020”.
In the interview, VAL reinforced their interviewees and stated that they were in an “unspoken agreement” with the BTRC, which managed their speeches. “If we hadn’t taken part in such a game, we were 99% sure that a new artist would be selected next year.”
In the Belarusian selection, VAL said that after their victory, BTRC’s interaction with the band after the results of the “Eurovision Song Contest 2020” selection was “far”.
Then BTRC rejected all the comments made by VAL:
The contract between the Belarusian broadcaster and the Belarusian representative at the “Eurovision Song Contest” does not stipulate whether the band will or will not participate in state concerts. The standard contracts only deal with the preparation and participation in the competition, and the television project is involved. However, we did not contact with the VAL group for any reason. We would like to emphasize that Belteleradio has nothing to do with the organization of “Slavianski Bazar” concerts, as well as state events with the participation of artists. Sometimes we act as broadcasters at such events. We don’t care where we play or where you play.
Regarding the “incompatibility” of VAL, the channel adds:
We have planned to work with Marvin Dietman who prepared Conchita Wurst, the winner of Eurovision 2014, and Cesar Sampson, the representative of Austria at Eurovision 2018, (who was 3rd in the Final), stage performances for the group VAL. Also, Alex Panayi from Cyprus was supposed to be a vocal coach.
And it should be noted that the active participation of the group in the recent events in the context of the state channel BTRC (rallies against the results of the presidential election) is excellent, which seems very appropriate for the channel on the side of Lukashenko.
