Belarus BELARUS 2021 - not taking part

[escYOUnited]

 

[GermanBango]

26 years in the making .... Keeping my fingers crossed for the people of Belarus. Also I bow down to the bravery of those who speak up for a better future. At long last you deserve to be free!
Just be prepared to also fight the influence from your big neighbor ... Putin won`t be standing on the sidelines, I`m afraid. I just really hope that this won`t end up in another Crimea/East Ukraine-situation.

 

[Mimmon]

If Belarus will participate for sure song will be about Freedom or something....

 

[Gera11]

Judging by her Instagram posts and what I could translate, Alyona Lanskaya, the Belarusian ESC 2013 representative ("Solayoh"), is apparently in the President's pocket. That's disappointing, I expected more from her.

Ironically, back in 2012, Lukashenko himself disqualified her from the NF and picked Litesound instead.

 

[Charly]

Oh Alyona...

Instagram

www.instagram.com

 

[Charly]

But then we got Naviband

NAVIBAND on Instagram: "ЖЫВЕ БЕЛАРУСЬ🤍❤️🤍"

13K Likes, 181 Comments - NAVIBAND (@naviband) on Instagram: "ЖЫВЕ БЕЛАРУСЬ🤍❤️🤍"

www.instagram.com

On topic note I love to see them back

 

[Mimmon]

Who knew in Belarussian sounds so much better.....
Anyway my dream artist for Belarus 2021 (if they participate it)

 

[Charly]

I do apologise for being off topic but on our safari heeo trip in Marmaris I met a Belarusian mother and daughter for which the mother took the daughter on holiday to Dalaman to take the fear and trauma away after the daughter was beaten by police during the first week of protests. They are soo friendly and exchange of whatsapp with being invited to visit each other country

On a side note im following the Belarussian telegram group reporting protests live and there was a singer who gave sweets to passerby and then sang forgot what his name butbhes pretty good

 

[A-lister]

I doubt EBU will do anything (since they still allow Russia to take part), but while Eurovision should stay as much as possible apolitical, there should be some red lines still. If the Lukashenko fascist regime remains in power in 2021 (or if Belarus enters a union with Russia and de facto cease to exist), I think the country should be banned from Eurovision.

Eurovision shouldn't be a platform for a broadcaster that is runned by a fascist regime that terrorizes its own people. On the daily now peaceful protesters are being kidnapped and tortured. EBU cannot and should not act as a moral police in general, but again there should be a red line somewhere and I think what's going on in Belarus clearly crosses that line.

Also can we add the White-Red-White true Belarusian flag among the icons? If people want to use the Soviet-Communist flag re-introduced by the Lukasheno regime it's their prerogative, but can we at least have the choice?

 

[AlekS]

BTRC said they are 99% sure that VAL will not represent Belarus in 2021. Because they took part in the protests and "they have no shame".

 

[Fierro]

So apparently according to BTRC the singer should represent the government, not the country

 

[DanielLuis]

Here's hoping VAL will be the first entry waving the flag of the eventual democratic Belarus.

 

[A-lister]

Sign the petition to have Belarus banned from entering the Eurovision Song Contest until regime change, stop of harassments and torture of civilians and release of political prisoners:

https://www.change.org/p/ebu-ban-belarus-from-the-eurovision-song-contest-until-regime-change

 

[marty]

Sign the petition to have Belarus banned from entering the Eurovision Song Contest until regime change, stop of harassments and torture of civilians and release of political prisoners:

https://www.change.org/p/ebu-ban-belarus-from-the-eurovision-song-contest-until-regime-change

I understand your point. but esc is for the people not for or against the politicians. it is important that the people of belarus can watch esc and be part of the family in my point of view.

 

[A-lister]

I understand your point. but esc is for the people not for or against the politicians. it is important that the people of belarus can watch esc and be part of the family in my point of view.

As much as I applaud your idealism, ESC is not really for the people in the sense we want it to be. ESC is more a platform for broadcasters, many of which are directly connected to the governments of their countries.

In fact, if you'd ask the opposition (= the people) of Belarus, I'm almost positive most of them would support their broadcaster to be banned from events like these, since events like these are actually legitimizing them (the governments controlling the broadcasters) and not seldom used as a propaganda tool.

In the 1990s Serbia was temporarily banned from taking part, I think the EBU can make a point here, Eurovision is a huge platform and if EBU are true about the values they say they stand for, in fact banning the Belarusian broadcaster as long as it's in the hands of the Lukashenko regime is actually for the Belarusian people, not against them.

 

[AlekS]

I understand your point. but esc is for the people not for or against the politicians. it is important that the people of belarus can watch esc and be part of the family in my point of view.

With the current psycho rhetorics from Lukashenko I'm not even sure they will take part next year.
Belarusian people have spoken and they have spoken against BTRC. BTRC represents the regime. Not the majority.
BTRC's behaviour is opposite from Eurovision's main principles and "It is for people" thing only encourages such behaviour. This is weird when the EU imposes sanctions but in the same time the EBU funds/promotes Belarusian regime broadcaster via Eurovision.
Btw, with BTRC hiring those Russian propahandist journos & managers from the Russian state channels instead of Belarusians, how is it even possible to provide the fair voting? And whom does this weird Russian/Belarusian mix represent?

Their ESC broadcaster reminds North Korean TV. They provoke police to use real bullets against 100 000 protesters.
Supporting the broadcaster/regime which threatens 3 other EBU members with the war and justifying it with "it is for people of Belarus" is a little bit weird.

Eurovision was super important for us in 2016. As a nation. But seeing Russian politicians sending a super fake song about peace in 2015 while their troops were annexing our territories and making 2 000 000 people a refugees... and this song almost won. I don't want the same feelings for Belarusians. At this day no matter whom BTRC selects, this entry does not represent Belarusians. It's gonna represent Lukashenko, but not Belarusians.

Not even sure how it all ends. There's a plenty of time until March. If Lukashenko will use the army against his own people, there's no way this broadcaster should take part in anything.

 

[AlekS]

Minsk today:

All the main streets were blocked by cars and people. Pretty loud & clear position. Regime should go, together with police and BTRC pro-Lukashenko media.

Come on, guys Ask them if they want to be represented by Lukashenko's entry:

 

[EurovisionOnlineContest]

I understand your point. but esc is for the people not for or against the politicians. it is important that the people of belarus can watch esc and be part of the family in my point of view.

This is a very difficult choice but in the end if the result of all of this is that Lukaschenko handpicks someone to perform in ESC, they would not be a representative of the people and should not get a platform...

 

[BarefootBoogaloo]

If they're allowed into ESC, at this point it's between Alyona Lanskaya returning or AURA (since she released a peace ballad collab with some other artists, including Kirkorov who helped to co-write the song)

 

[Fierro]

As if all previous represantatives weren't chosen by government (maybe except NAVI)

 

[A-lister]

No surprise really, but still tasteless to see EBU without hesitation inviting back Lukashenko TV to Eurovision...

I mean we all knew it would happen, but the hypocrisy of EBU that often talks so big about "values" and "human rights", just to have no issue with a regime that is literary torturing and terrorizing its own people at this very moment, doesn't stick well with those values.

Belarus isn't the only dictatorship in Eurovision sure, but what's going on now really crossed a point that shouldn't be tolerated even in Eurovision. I mean it didn't happen yet, and I hope it won't, but the fact that Lukashenko regime even considers a massacre a la 1989 Tiananmen Square and then will be given a platform by the EBU to "sing and dance" for Europe... well I dunno