Czech Republic CZECH REPUBLIC 2015 - Marta Jandová & Václav Noid Bárta - Hope Never Dies

[Edward]

Having known Marta's work for over a decade I am certain that she is eclectic enough to pull off some very impressive impersonations of other artists.
However the fact the she is entering this sort of contest makes me wonder (plus a few recent facts of her career).

This format debuted in my country years ago, first season was interesting to follow for the novelty of the format. The next one and still the third possibly were watchable on the aftermath. However this format grows old pretty quickly. Here in Portugal those who took part were artists "looking for scraps"...like a sidejob sort of thing, they were really not in the limelight - not famous enough or have-beens.
So I wonder what's the actual situation of Marta...seems she turned her focus more to her birthplace for a few years now? Would it be fair to say that she is more on the spolight in her native Czech Republic than the place that really saw her building her career, Germany? Probably some German input will be needed here, if available.

I'm sure the format will be a success just like it was in here and that Marta will grow even more popular in Czech Republic for a while. I'm more concerned about her status in Germany. It's a much bigger market after all. Die Happy were never really huge but still pretty mainstream. But looking at their recent record seems that the band is falling out of favor, so to speak.

I wonder if this re-approach of Marta to her native land is related to the fact that she married a Czech, represented the country in ESC, etc.
As in, is she exploring alternative options for her career at the moment because she feels like doing it or would it be not so wrong to assume that her career is not going up so much anymore?

Really hope not, she's a really talented and super energetic artist. I hope that this opportunity brings her chances to at least get in touch with her idols (some of those she will impersonate) and may open her some doors unopened until this moment.

But obviously I can't help but think of the winners of the Portuguese editions...nobody really cares for them. Very ephemeral TV show.

Best of lucks to Marta still.

 

[nofuxCZ]

^
Well, her career certainly saw better days.
However her focus on Czechia is not a recent thing, it all started in 2009 when she became judge on Czechoslovak Idol singing show. Before that there weren't many people that had known her here - she was more famous in Germany. However, thanks to her being a judge on the show and thanks to the fact her father is a famous singer and musician here, she became known quickly and people then started to listen to her music more.
In recent years, she has participated in many popular shows, like being a coach on The Voice, then starring in a popular TV series and then Eurovision.
I think nowadays she has the status of a "TV Celebrity" among general public. Sad but it's true. She is capable of much more than that.

 

[Ritararita]

I wonder if this re-approach of Marta to her native land is related to the fact that she married a Czech, represented the country in ESC, etc.
As in, is she exploring alternative options for her career at the moment because she feels like doing it or would it be not so wrong to assume that her career is not going up so much anymore?

I don´t know that much about showbusiness conventions in Germany and even less (absolutely nothing, tbh) about the Portuguese ones, but in the Czech Republic is not unusual that singer also plays in films, tv series, dozens of stage musicals or in tv shows like this. In fact, I would have a hard time trying to remember some relevant Czech singer over thirty who is (or at some point was) NOT at the same time an actor/entertainer/tv host/film composer/something else. Partly it´s because of the huge local tradition of various forms of musical/cabaret theatres, partly because of the Czech way of teaching students on conservatories - which is quite complex and includes even such specialized trainings as horse riding or swordplay - and partly it´s simply because Czech market is not big enough to generate money by sale of recorded music (many of Czech bands or singers simply give their CDs for free or some symbolical price to their fans at concerts).

It´s a good and a bad thing at the same time. Good part of it is obviously the wider spectrum of opportunities, the bad one is that to be active on multiple fronts can easily distract you from what you want the most. And yes, that is possibly Marta´s case. She is talking about her plans to do a solo album/tour since she arrived here 7 years ago, but then she always ends up in some jury or musical or Eurovision or something. I think it´s only a matter of time when we will see her dancing in StarDance, cooking in some special edition of MasterChef or fighting for keys of Fort Boyard. But I am not complaining and I don´t find it "sad". It would be sad in case of someone who has no other than singing talent and who would be forced to do things he is not comfortable with. Marta is a multi-talented woman and the fact she is not afraid of trying new things is an important aspect of what I like about her.

But I am sure she didn´t give up her original plans completely. I recently read somewhere that she was asked to write and sing a song (or possibly more songs, that wasn´t clear) for a currently filmed picture called Muzzikanti. It seems to be a musical comedy about an ageing rocker who somehow finds himself in a Moravian village, where he is confronted with an appalling existence of local folklore music. Marta will be a singing voice of Polish actress Michalina Olszanska, who is playing a girlfriend of the protagonist.

 

[GianlucaTomoe]

Well, as long as she keeps doing things related to music, like Eurovision and such, it's okay I guess.

 

[Edward]

Thank you Czech users of ESCUnited for your insightful replies to my wondering of Marta Jandová's current professional situation. Nice to read about her past, present and future endeavours in her native land Hope that she finally gets to record that solo album at last since that is what I have been missing from her side for a couple of years now.

 

[Ritararita]

I just found out that two weeks ago, Marta and Václav had a joint rock concert with Zlín Filharmony.

The only relatively watchable and listenable Youtube video from the concert seems to be the one bellow, but much better are their streams from it on Facebook: 1 2 3 4

And here is a playlist of all 12 Marta Jandová´s performances in Your Face Sounds Familiar in chronological order (Alice Cooper, Beyoncé, Annie Lennox, Bonnie Tyler, CeeLo Green, Petr Janda, Katy Perry, Adele, Kaoma, Meat Loaf, Mariah Carey and Jessica Rabbit). She won 3 episodes (with Beyoncé, CeeLo Green and Meat Loaf) and ended on 3rd place in the final.