Why boyband BQL could not convince the Slovenian jury

Drama in Slovenia. For the second year in a row, the professional jury overturned the result of the public voting. And for the second year in a row, boyband BQL was the sad victim…

During the final of preselection EMA 2018 last Saturday, boyband BQL won the public voting, but did not receive the ticket to Lisbon because the professional jury favored Lea Sirk. “Big deal”, you may think, “something like that happens every year.” Except that in this case, the EXACT same thing indeed happened last year to the EXACT same boyband.

Omar Naber

In the final of EMA 2017, the boys of BQL got 42 points from the jury, giving the the fourth place. It overturned the result in the televote, which was won by BQL and their song ‘Heart of gold’. Omar Naber, who had already sung for Slovenia at Eurovision 2005, became the winner of the jury vote and runner-up of the televote. His song ‘On My Way’ went to Kiev.

At Eurovision 2017, Omar Naber failed to reach the final. In the televote he got 20 points, from the jury only a mere 11. It makes sense, since he was struggling with his vocals more than during EMA.

Slovenians prefer BQL

So will the Slovenian public be mad with their jurors after dismissing their favorites for the second year in a row? According to several Slovenian newspapers, online protests have risen to a high level. The brothers of BQL, however, do not wish to be too negative. “We are happy for Lea Sirk. She is a great girl and will make our country proud in Eurovision.”

ESCDaily’s Slovenia expert Brandon McCann was less understanding. “BQL were fantastic,” he states. “They keep the dynamic chemistry between the two while letting the rhythm and vocals speak for themselves. Unbelievable why this did not go to Eurovision.”

Could there be a particular reason that the jury keeps voting down the boyband BQL in Slovenia? It is difficult for duets to sing in harmony and perhaps the jury did not think the quality of the performance of these boys was good enough. Juries also tend to reward solo artists more, except when a group shows special impressive vocal skills, like Il Volo and OG3NE.

Maybe the Slovenian fans will put some extra pressure on the selection committees. Or maybe the professional juries will change their minds next year. Either way, if BQL keep on working on their routine, and have the perfect song, they will go to Eurovision one day.

1 Comment

  1. This year the juries were right ! Lea and Lara had better songs than BQL but last year they should have won.

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