Back to the 28th of February 2020, the Belarusian broadcaster BTRC held the national final of the selection process- “Eurofest 2020“.
12 artists competed in the national final. The results were determined by 50% international jury and 50% public voting.
The duo VAL (Valeria Gribusova and Vlad Pashkevich) were ranked 2nd in both public voting and international jury voting. However, in the end of the evening, the combined resulted let them win the national final.
VAL should have performed the song “Da Vidna” at Eurovision 2020:
The Covid-19 pandemic have decided the fate of Eurovision 2020, and therefore VAL have never performed on the Eurovision stage.
Almost 5 months have passed since the planned dates for Eurovision 2020. The majority of the countries, decided whether to send Eurovision 2020 artists to Eurovision 2021 or not.
However, the Belarusian broadcaster didn’t confirm any selection process or artist for Eurovision 2021.
Meanwhile, the political situation in Belarus became complicated: A series of ongoing political demonstrations and protests against the Belarusian government and President Alexander Lukashenko occurred.
The protests have faced violent persecution by the authorities. The duo VAL took part in the protests against the president
Last Tuesday, Valeria Gribusova and Vlad Pashkevich were interviewed. They told that they aren’t allowed to speak to any media without sanctions from the broadcaster. In addition, the duo were forced ย to perform at concerts for the state.
After reading the interview, BTRCย decided to comment.
The bottom line of their comment is that VAL won’t represent Belarus at Eurovision 2021.
The broadcaster draw the duo as ungrateful and have no conscience.
The broadcaster denied that artists were forced to perform at the statement’s events.
In addition, the broadcaster criticizing the duo for expecting to be selected again for Eurovision 2021, regarding the duo won the national final after ending in the 2nd place in jury voting and 2nd place in public voting.
BTRC also mention that the national final for Eurovision 2020, has also included (for the first time) international jury.
In a surprising step, the broadcaster also relates to the betting odds of Eurovision 2020.
The broadcaster claims that VAL shouldn’t be surprised for not being selected for Eurovision 2021, regarding the low score in the betting odds if Eurovision 2020:
What will the future hold? It’s early to determine. However, it is likely to suppose that the broadcaster will hold a new national final for Eurovision 2021.
