Well who would have thought that at the beginning of February, Czech Republic would have one of the first songs for this year’s contest? While we wait for the bulk of the songs over the course on the next 6 weeks, Czechia has offered up the best example of what is hopefully to come. They have kept their process simple and inexpensive, and with the quality of songs, they prove that a country does not need a MelFest or MGP type of production to be a strong contender. Just focus on the quality of the songs and the quality of the singer. It helps to have a litany of established artists to choose from, and it is refreshing to see such singers wanting to compete for ESC. Any song of the seven would have been an excellent choice, and we look forward to seeing if Czech Republic can continue what Mikolas Josef and Lake Malawi have accomplished the past two years.
Their selection process started with the announcement of 152 songs in August, and on 4 September, they announced 8 acts to compete for the chance to compete in Rotterdam. Once December rolled around, the plan for a live national final on 25 January had disappeared as had one of the 8 acts. They teased their choices with such things as number of performers, shoe sizes, and the relevant information – genres of the songs. They decided in November to keep with the jury vote paired with the online voting process that allowed anyone and everyone to help choose their song, a difficult task to do this year considering the excellent quality and the variety that offered something for just about everyone.
With that, here are the genres, with my matches to the songs and performers. I hope I got them right!
C. 1. Organic pop A. All the Blood – We All Poop
D. 2. Dream pop B. Kemama – Benny Cristo
G. 3. Indie pop C. Get Up – Pam Rabbit
F. 4. Emo pop D. White & Black Holes – Borbora Morchowa
B. 5. Afro pop E. Wanna Be Like – Elis Mraz featuring Čis T.
E. 6. Reggaetón F. Dark water – Olga Lounová
A. 7. Planned coincidence punk pop G. At Least We’ve Tried – Karelll
We All Poop with their song All the Blood generated quite a bit of buzz with fans expecting a troll song but finding instead some serious comparisons to Twenty One Pilots. The song’s self-description (positive song actually) was matched with quite a lot of votes judging by the polls. Did they just want to hear Edsilia Rombley say We All Poop to 180 million people? Probably not. The anthemic rock song is a head bobber with broad appeal.
The Elis Mraz reggaetón bop left me reminiscing about Malta’s Chameleon, yet Wanna Be Like was no wannabe copy, rather a confident, strong start-to-finish improvement over past songs of that genre. One can only imagine what this would look like on a Eurovision stage with its party song feel.
Last year’s 2nd place Borbora Morchowa offered up another ballad this year in White & Black Holes that is even stronger than last year’s. Disappointed fans who did not get to see her perform in Tel Aviv were very hopeful that this ethereal, emotive dream pop lullaby would get her the ticket to Ahoy Arena.
Olga Lounová and Dark water earned my vote online. It is at once evocative and sophisticated. The juxtaposition of the subtle, tender melody and the passionate chorus tugged at the heart and ears. It is not an all-too-common Broadway type ballad in any way, very radio friendly.
Benny Cristo gave us his upbeat earworm Kemama, a toe-tapping three minutes of happiness that you would hope to hear in a club to get everyone off their seats. It did not seem to get the interest that other songs received in the online polls, but that did not mean that it was not popular. *cough*
Karelll offered up this year’s third ballad At Least We’ve tried, a pensive and slightly plaintive song about breaking up. You would want to compare it to other ESC songs – a mash up of Brendan Murray, Kristian Kostov, and Duncan Laurence perhaps. Yet, it stands out on its own. While to me it was not as good as the other two ballads, it is nevertheless a quality, mainstream and quite memorable song.
Pam Rabbit, Mikolas’ back-up singer in 2017, gives it another try as well with her bold song called Get Up. She counters her measured, alluring vocals that beckon you to listen more closely with a booming and exhorting chorus that gets in your face. It’s an attention getter in all the right ways.
With such good songs, it is a shame that only one could be chosen. Hopefully, the others won’t be discouraged as they really helped put Czech Republic into the spotlight this year. After the voting that started on 13 January, ČT have declared their winner on 3 February. With the most votes this year it is Benny Cristo and Kemama, an excellent choice out of 7 excellent possibilities. One can only hope that this will be how it is every year, and hopefully ESC Radio will put all seven into heavy rotation. Will we see #Prague2021 for Eurovision? Hopefully so as well.
On to Rotterdam in May! Hodně štěstí, Česko!