September has been a big month for the Long Island Blues Society.  Please join me in welcoming RED EYE as our Long Island Blues Challenge band champion and ROB EUROPE as our solo/duo champion and in cheering them on as they compete in the 2022 International Blues Challenge.
 
     Wait, you say, I thought Felix Slim won the solo/duo category?  As it turns out, he did, and he didn’t.  Let me explain…   Earlier this month, Felix Slim won the solo/duo portion of our Long Island Blues Challenge.  It was a very tight contest, and the judges did not have an easy job that day.  All our solo/duo contestants made great music, and any one of them would have been a worthy champion to represent the LIBS in the 2022 International Blues Challenge in Memphis.
 
    Entering Felix in the IBC, however, was a problem.  The Blues Foundation informed us that Felix was ineligible to compete because he had already competed in the IBC three times.  IBC rules implemented in 2017 set three as the maximum number of times a contestant can compete. Felix has actually competed four times:  three times for different blues societies in Spain and once for the Long Island Blues Society.  Because Felix was ruled ineligible to compete, Rob Europe (the second-place competitor) is our LIBS solos/duo category champion and will compete in the 2022 International Blues Challenge.
 
     The core of the issue is when Felix competed in the past.  His participation in 2014 predated the establishment of the “three times only” rule, and he believed that his 2017 entry (because he qualified in 2016 on the local level) would also not count toward his three appearances.  Felix Slim did nothing wrong, and he entered our Challenge ethically and fairly – I want to be very clear about that. The Blues Foundation explained that while not counting participation prior to the new rule going into effect might have originally been the board’s intent, as the rule is now stated in its official documents there is no “start date” and so the rule is absolute – meaning it applies to all participations in the IBC, even those who competed prior to 2017.  I failed to research this issue properly before accepting Felix’s entry into the 2021 Long Island Blues Challenge and I was wrong to accept his entry.
 
     As President of the Long Island Blues Society, the ultimate responsibility for properly determining a contestant's eligibility to compete in our Long Island Blues Challenge is mine and I accept full responsibility for this error.  I feel terrible that there has been this confusion and the delay in formally announcing the winners.  I sincerely apologize to Felix Slim, to Rob Europe, to their supporters, families, and fans, and to our LIBS members and blues fans who came down to support live blues at the Challenge.   
 
     Should the rules change or be clarified, Felix Slim would be welcome compete in our Challenge again – he’s a great musician and performer and he has represented the LIBS well.  After all, he’s our friend and nothing changes that. But now we need to come together as The Long Island Blues Society and support our champions, Rob Europe and Red Eye, as they prepare to show Memphis that Long Island has absolutely amazing blues talent!
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Shameka Copeland is voted BB King Entertainer of the Year and Rick Estrin and the Nightcats are chosen as best band. Click here to see all the winners.