Czech Republic CZECH REPUBLIC 2020 - Benny Cristo - Kemama

[escYOUnited]

 

[nofuxCZ]

I have to say there is no song which I dislike in our selection Jan Bors was right this time, it's a really strong NF.
I don't even know how to rank the songs - it's impossible for me right now. I will make up my mind and vote after hearing all the live performances (plus I am on a business trip abroad now anyway, so I want my vote to be counted in Czech televote )

I didn't expect anything from Olga, Elis and We All Poop but all of them positively surprised and the latter two are among my favourites.

We All Poop especially, I expected the worst after realizing two of their members come from band Perutě which I despise. But All The Blood is what I'd listen to outside ESC and as many others, I get Twenty One Pilots vibes, which is good.

Wanna Be Like is a bop which I can see working with televoters. Čis T could motivate our Slovak brothers to come back

Olga's song is solid, standard ballad - nothing exceptional and we can hear something similar every year. I think it misses the power to do really well (top 10). I wouldn't be mad if it won, but I prefer other, more unique / fresh entries.

Karelll was dead last in my ranking in the morning but it's grown a lot during the day, so I have no idea now. It's definitely a bit on the generic side though.

Atmosphere and the whole vibe of Barbora's song is mesmerizing. It takes a tad bit long to get somewhere, but the buildup is really nice and the last minute is breathtaking. You can still hear a bit of Lana Del Rey but this time only because of Barbora's voice, otherwise she managed to create something more unique to her. I can picture amazing, mystical staging. I am just not sure if it would work at Eurovision and I can see her coming 4th again or even 5th in our televote which would probably mean no Rotterdam for her.

I had high expectations from Ben and maybe that's why I'm a bit disappointed - not that I don't like the song, it's among my faves with Elis and WAP, but Ben has definitely released better songs in the past. Kemama is fresh and kinda unique in ESC context, but it misses a bit of oomph. Despite that I have no doubt that he will still be our televote winner, his fanbase is too huge and devoted for him not to win. I think he might not make it in jury's top 3 and someone who will make it to top 3 in both will win in the end.

Pam Rabbit surprised with her song as I also expected more r&b. It's really good although I think dubstep is probably past its prime now so not sure if that hurts or helps in this song. I like the Billie Eilish-like part towards the end too.


I am really curious about the voting. This is the first year since we introduced this NF that there is no clear winner.
2 years ago Mikolas was the clear winner and last year it was a two horse race between Lake Malawi and Barbora.
This time I have no idea, especially with the juries.

And last thing I have to highlight - if I checked correctly, all of the songs were written or at least co-written by the artists themselves or by Czech / Czech-based songwriters. which is in line with what the CZ team and Jan Bors said - that they want songs that were not tailored for Eurovision but have some connection with the artists.

 

[Mrm]

Please Czech jury, whoever you are, vote Ben Cristovao, pIeaseeeee, I beg you!!!

Let it be Mikaela Minga who decides!

 

[Diego]

Please Czech jury, whoever you are, vote Ben Cristovao, pIeaseeeee, I beg you!!!

Let it be Mikaela Minga who decides!

There will be no Czech jury, only online voting

 

[Mrm]

There will be no Czech jury, only online voting

Only online voting, no panel??? Yas!

 

[Mrm]

@Diogo

Unfortunately, you are not right!

"The winner will be determined from among seven competing entries by the combination of votes from a public vote and a ten-member international jury panel."

 

[Diego]

@Diogo

Unfortunately, you are not right!

"The winner will be determined from among seven competing entries by the combination of votes from a public vote and a ten-member international jury panel."

Yes, international panel. And in that jury there will be no one from the Czech Republic (Albania take note)

 

[Mrm]

@Diogo

I don't like that fact at all...
If there is jury it should be Czech jury, that is a Czech entry after all..

Please international panel, vote for Ben Crsitovao, I beeeg you!

 

[Diego]

@Diogo

I don't like that fact at all...
If there is jury it should be Czech jury, that is a Czech entry after all..

Please international panel, vote for Ben Crsitovao, I beeeg you!

But who will vote for the Czech song on Eurovision will not be Czechs but people from other countries. I think it's important to have an international jury just to know which song is better accepted outside the country.

 

[Diego]

Who would I call for the international jury (from 2019)

Mahmood
Keiino
Tamara Todveska
Miki
Bilal
Luca Hänni
Tamta
Sergey Lazarev
Tulia
Duncan Laurence

 

[tuorem]

International panel, vote for Ben Crsitovao, I beeeg you!

Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry for you (spoilers below)

JURY #1

JURY #2

JURY #3

 

[Mrm]

But who will vote for the Czech song on Eurovision will not be Czechs but people from other countries. I think it's important to have an international jury just to know which song is better accepted outside the country.

Okay, then it should be Mikaela Minga, she is not from Czech Republic..

 

[Mrm]

@tuorem

 

[LontraCanadensis]

Views on MVs so far (might be somewhat indicative of public results):
"Kemama" - 46k
"Wanna Be Like" - 21k
"All the Blood" - 12k
"White & Black Holes" - 11k
"Get Up" - 10k
"Dark Water" - 9k
"At Least We've Tried" - 8k

 

[Koori]

Hope international jury will do the same to Ben as last year to Spice Sushi so 12 from the televote won't help; God bless their souls

 

[Alaska49]

kemama would be a fine winner i don't want the juries to sink it

the video for wanna be like really helped sell the song to me though. it's a fun one. i could see it getting top 5 indeed.

 

[HayashiM]

I am progressively more and more fangirling about WAP, this really cracked me up

"What do you think is your advantage compared to the other finalists?"
Benny and Olga: (reciting a practised marketing stunt along the lines of) "I am sooooo experienced!"
Pam: "I am soooo experienced with Eurovision, because I had already been there with MJ!"
Barbora and Karelll (both fighting some rather cute nervousness): "I have a really really good song... Or at least I hope so."
Elis & Čis T (in a quite believable way, actually): "We don't care because we are just having sooooo much fuuuuuun!"
...
WAP (without skipping a beat): "We have a super strong hidden fanbase!"

It's maybe not as punch in this example, but I think they have a huge potential to become this year's Hatari-ish act. Their song is serious, but otherwise they are just sweetly carefree with a great sense of absurd humour. Can't get enough of their chemistry!

 

[Etanna]

If you have any questions for We All Poop, there will be a Q&A with them at 5:30 p.m. CET on instagram (@escz_official). You can post your questions now on the official Czech Eurovision facebook page or during the livestream on instagram.

Who's my biggest grower so far is All the blood - especially after I've seen the guys on our TV. They are so charismaticaly clueless-yet-certainly-not-stupid and punk-in-everything-but-the-music-itself, that I just gotta love them.

Thank you! That's exactly what they're like, I couldn't find the words to describe them. They're hilariously awkward. Plus their song is really good and I love their message about our poor treatment of animals. I think I'll vote for them (provided that their live performance isn't a disaster)

 

[Loindici]

kemama would be a fine winner i don't want but the juries to has chances to sink it

i mean we also don't know the list of juries yet so jury overall tastes aren't easy to predict.

To note the 2019 juries are cesar, rassmusen, elina nechayeva, ira losco, AWS, Alma, Ari, JOWST, ZiBBZ, and Ryan -- which were pretty diverse in taste. With a jury lineup as diverse as this, kemama might have a chance of placing at least top 3 in juries.

 

[Diego]

At Least We've Tried is growing a lot in me. My current third place.

 

[ESCDenmark]

Well done
I like all the songs from this NF
I have a really hard time to rank the songs and my ranking keeps changing. It´s all depends on my mood.