Belarus disqualified
There will be no Belarusian entry in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. After the EBU decided that the song “Ya nauchu tebya” by the band Galasy ZMesta did not comply with the rules, they got a new chance. The band submitted a new song. However, today the EBU came up with this statement: “On Wednesday 10 March we wrote to the broadcaster BTRC, which is responsible for Belarus’ entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, to request that they take all steps necessary to amend their entry to this year’s event to ensure it is compliant with the rules of the competition. Following this BTRC submitted a new song, by the same artists, within an agreed timeframe. The EBU and the Reference Group, the Contest’s 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.”