The EBU has just released a statement in response to the controversy surrounding Belarus’ entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.
The EBU have asked BTRC, the Belarusian national broadcaster, to make significant changes to the entry, which in its current state “puts the non-political nature of the Contest in question”.
Galasy ZMesta had released their entry, Ya Nauchu Tebya (I’ll Teach You) on 9th March 2021, which immediately attracted significant criticism from fans for its lyrical content. This appeared to endorse the current regime of Alexander Lukashenko, who has been the President of Belarus since 1994, but whose legitimacy has recently been called into question. TES contributor Rory Gannon explains the democratic crisis in Belarus further here.
The initial release of the entry led to statements from a number of other Eurovision fan websites against the inclusion of the entry. Many sites made the decision not to report on, or acknowledge, the entry. Individual fans also engaged in lobbying the EBU.
Do you believe this the right decision from the EBU?
Our statement in response to Belarus’ Eurovision entry will be released as part of the next episode of That Eurovision Podcast.
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