Blasterbra Dropped From Road to V!
A right stink was kicked up by one lone dissenter on the official Road To V messageboard regarding the inclusion of Galway band Blasterbra in the final 14 of the festival competition.
Apparently as the band are Irish and non-resident in the UK, they were not eligible to participate, despite the previous inclusion of the new-defunct The Immediate. V representatives contacted Blasterbra in search of a loophole to ensure they retained their place in the final but efforts proved fruitless and Blasterbra were dropped.
Read the band’s MySpace blog for more…commiserations guys 
To be honest, it’s a fecking farce that V allowed willingly allowed the band to enter despite their Irish status. Or is it another example of British people forgetting Ireland’s a republic?
April 28th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
It’s an absolute shame for the band and while it really is unfortunate that V didn’t think to apply their rules at the initial stage, I’m sure it would have stated it in the terms and conditions of the form
(Personally I don’t know as I haven’t read them)
On an unrelated point, it irritates me how a number of people here the UK say I’m “Southern Ireland” as if the Republic makes up a tiny portion
I also raised eyebrows at a few folk that thought that Dublin was the capital of Northern Ireland
Obviously I know geography isn’t everyone’s strong point, but come on like….
April 28th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Oh and I forgot to ask, this one chap on the V boards - not a bitter non-qualifier, per chance?
April 28th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
oooo not a good topic. im staying out of this one!
April 28th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Yup I’d say he was bitter all right.
The first stipulation in the V T&Cs demands all acts are resident in the United Kingdom. Great as it for Blasterbra to make it to the final, someone at V should have seen this coming and stepped in to avoid confusion.
As it is, the band earned their place fair and square in competition with the other bands. I can understand V disqualifying them when it was pointed out and made an issue but if the admin’d been doing their job properly, it wouldn’t have come to this.
Still, they got themselves noticed. I woulda raised hell :p