Czech Republic CZECH REPUBLIC 2021 - Benny Cristo - Omaga

[escYOUnited]

Honestly don't care
I'm happy you're here
Tryna make you smile for a while now
I'm like, "Omaga, you're so beautiful"
Why don't you come over and have it?
Why don't you let me have it? Oh

I did a lot of dumb shh
Lot of things I wish I didn't do, aye
Baby, come back, won't you?
Back, come back, he-ey
Oh, I'm crazy
Is it crazy to love you?
Baby, come back, won't you?
Back, come back

You said you're still too mad 'bout them things I did
But I don't know what I did, my baby, yeah
You said you again feel down, to blame apocalypse
There ain't no apocalypse
Long as you're here on my lips

Honestly don't care
I'm happy you're here
I'm tryna make you smilе for a while now
I'm like, "Omaga, you're so bеautiful"
Why don't you come over and have it?
Why don't you let me have it? Oh

You've been home too long
I've been home too long, yeah
We both need to feel love, nothing wrong with that
Můžeš bejt u mě klidně mužem dělat jakoby

There ain't no apocalypse
Long as you're here on my lips

Honestly don't care
I'm happy you're here
I'm tryna make you smile for a while now
I'm like, "Omaga, you're so beautiful"
Why don't you come over and have it?
Why don't you let me have it?

Like omaga, omaga
You're so beautiful
Omaga, omaga
Why don't you let me have it?

You said you're still too mad 'bout them things I did
But I don't know what I did (what I did, what I did)
You said you again feel down, to blame apocalypse
There ain't no apocalypse
Long as you're here on my lips

Honestly don't care
I'm happy you're here
I'm tryna make you smile for a while now
I'm like, "Omaga, you're so beautiful"
Why don't you come over and have it?
Why don't you let me have it?

Like omaga, omaga
You're so beautiful
Omaga, omaga
Why don't you let me have it?

Omaga, omaga
You're so beautiful
Omaga, omaga (yeah)
Why don't you let me?​

 

[nofuxCZ]

For my Czech friends, ČT did a podcast with Ben and Kryštof (HoD) about Czech ESC participation this year

Kavky - iVysílání | Česká televize

Zajímá vás, jak probíhá příprava nových pořadů a jak to chodí v České televizi? Poslechněte si debaty s těmi nejpovolanějšími v novém podcastu Kavky!

www.ceskatelevize.cz

• Ben describes Omaga was not initially created for Eurovision
• Ben's favourite scene from the music video is the Lady and the Tramp reference
• Ben lists his love for performing, creating big shows and opportunity to show his music to other people than Czechs as his reasons to participate
• Kryštof, when asked whether he believes in the song so much that he would bet on Omaga, said he believes in a top 10 placement if the staging/performance goes as desired
• Kryštof likes Kemama better but thinks Omaga has a higher potential at placing better. Ben doesn't have a preference as he sees both songs as being from completely different genres.
• When it comes to Ben's previous exposure to ESC, he had mostly seen the more bizarre side of the show before and started being interested in it only after Mikolas Josef's participation
• Kryštof was asked whether selecting Ben was a calculated move to bring more viewers to Eurovision (due to Ben's popularity).
  Kryštof said it was not a calculated move in this sense. Kryštof set himself a personal milestone few years ago - to get someone popular with no need of ESC (he specifically had Ben in mind already a few yrs ago), willing to participate in ESC, regardless of all the prejudices about ESC in our country. For Kryštof, reaching this milestone would be a sign that they did a good job in showcasing ESC as a good platform for promoting their music.
• Ben has not heard any of the other songs this year - except for the Ukrainian one
• Kryštof loves Switzerland's entry
• Czech TV is ready to host if Ben wins :-)) Kryštof thinks it would be a good way to kick start music/culture industry for any country after the corona pandemic but emphasized that their goal is mainly to showcase Czech music, not necessarily win.

 

[Shadowfuxcs]

He is a very charismatic performer and does his best to sell the song... unfortunately the song is what it is, painfully repetitive and unoriginal. It is upsetting because "kemama" was one of the most apologetically non-conforming songs in 2020.

 

[nofuxCZ]

Another interview with Benny in Czech for escarena https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyuJA7Iq9sc

• Benny mentions they will not use pre-recorded vocals. It was his decision, explaining he wants to be real/authentic.
• He praises collaboration with Marvin Dietmann
• Live-on tape vs. current state of the planned performance/staging - improved by 300%, he would not be happy if live-on tape performance would be used seeing how they improved since then.
• Benny has heard 2nd song of this year - Australia. He praised Montaigne's vocals and mentioned why he doesn't want to watch other contestants - as it distracts him from focusing on his own performance.
• They take strict precautions regarding covid, everyone who has been meeting Benny needed to have negative PCR test for a while now. They will take a bus to travel to Rotterdam instead of flight to minimise the risk of getting infected.

 

[hijirio]

I often forget is participating this year. There's very little coverage or any update about them this year. Not a good sign.

 

[nofuxCZ]

Longer, 2 min video of Benny's rehearsal from the arena
I think this was the first run-through where he wore glasses (he took them off for the next run throughs)
Matt & co. mentioned in the livestream that Benny's best rehearsal was the last one which is not shown on this video

 

[Slabsson79]

Longer, 2 min video of Benny's rehearsal from the arena
I think this was the first run-through where he wore glasses (he took them off for the next run throughs)
Matt & co. mentioned in the livestream that Benny's best rehearsal was the last one which is not shown on this video

Definitely leaving a slightly better impression, than the official snippet video, albeit his vocal technique still needs to improve itself, namely to fit his dancing. Or he should simply dance less singing should have priority. Overall, hope never dies for Czech Rep, but this year will be tough....tougher, toughest

 

[goncalovieira]

Love this song, but I am starting to fear the worst...

 

[Ana Raquel]

What happened to his voice

I-

 

[Slabsson79]

What happened to his voice

I-

Omaga, I wish I knew but tbh, he was never the best vocalist of the Czech Republic anyway....maybe he just does not regard the rehearsals as important in terms of showing your vocals, but rather adjusting the routines...albeit in his case, these routines affect his singing, so he shouldn´t be that relaxed....kind of demonstrates, why online selections have the tricky part of not displaying the live abilities of an artist....so you might end up getting a pig in a poke...looking for ESCZ 2022 already btw

 

[EscGeek]

I refuse to live in a world where Kemama ends up higher on my 2020 rank list than Omaga in 2021. The latter sounds so much better, so get your act together, Benny
Pre recorded vocals are allowed.. use them

 

[Etanna]

Longer, 2 min video of Benny's rehearsal from the arena
I think this was the first run-through where he wore glasses (he took them off for the next run throughs)
Matt & co. mentioned in the livestream that Benny's best rehearsal was the last one which is not shown on this video

I'm not a dancer but the choreography doesn't look very professional to me? They're just kind of jumping around? And how could Benny have forgotten his dance choreography if he's practically not dancing?

 

[Slabsson79]

I'm not a dancer but the choreography doesn't look very professional to me? They're just kind of jumping around? And how could Benny have forgotten his dance choreography if he's practically not dancing?

That is modern contemporary choreography Soudobá taneční česká moderna....

 

[Etanna]

That is modern contemporary choreography Soudobá taneční česká moderna....

I know but modern contemporary dance can be way more interesting/complex than this as we've seen in many Eurovision performances.

 

[Slabsson79]

I know but modern contemporary dance can be way more interesting/complex than this as we've seen in many Eurovision performances.

Actually, I was being sarcastic it is "modern" in a way, but I think that the 2 girls would have been enough..there is no need for that many dancers...but that is the problem. It is nice to have M.Dietmann for the stage, but when he takes care of more teams in one year...would have been better to stick to local sources...one factor against BEnny as well....Czechia is indifferent towards the ESC, so there is not a huge community swarming the internet a pushing a hype...

 

[Etanna]

Actually, I was being sarcastic it is "modern" in a way, but I think that the 2 girls would have been enough..there is no need for that many dancers...but that is the problem. It is nice to have M.Dietmann for the stage, but when he takes care of more teams in one year...would have been better to stick to local sources...one factor against BEnny as well....Czechia is indifferent towards the ESC, so there is not a huge community swarming the internet a pushing a hype...

Haha, okay, sorry I thought you were serious

MD sure put more thought into other stagings. But I would have though Benny would make sure the performance is top-notch given how successful and experienced he is.

You're right, the lack of interest in Czechia isn't helpful but I think it's getting better every year. I hope people don't turn their back to Eurovision again if Benny doesn't do well like it happened with Kabát. That failure really affected Czechs' approach to Eurovision.

 

[Slabsson79]

Haha, okay, sorry I thought you were serious

MD sure put more thought into other stagings. But I would have though Benny would make sure the performance is top-notch given how successful and experienced he is.

You're right, the lack of interest in Czechia isn't helpful but I think it's getting better every year. I hope people don't turn their back to Eurovision again if Benny doesn't do well like it happened with Kabát. That failure really affected Czechs' approach to Eurovision.

I don´t really see a promotion in Czech TV for the contest tbh. So it is rather important to attract good and skilled musicians / songwriters to submit their entries and to attract the viewers thru each contestant´s fandom and social media followership...but even here, Benny having 800K Instagram followers, I do not feel a hype pushed by those...
The biggest mistake, that the Czech Rep has done, and which cannot be undone....the simply joined the ESC too late. Slovakia joined immediately in 1993, although failing in the Ljubljana pre-Q for Millstreet....Czechia was sticking to Jeux sans frontieres as the other big Eurovision project....we could have had plenty of Czech participants since 1994 and an according reputation, but no...we waited till 2007...I don´t think btw that Benny´s NQ would affect something...of course, 3 or more subsequent NQs would be more detrimental...

 

[nofuxCZ]

I'm not a dancer but the choreography doesn't look very professional to me? They're just kind of jumping around? And how could Benny have forgotten his dance choreography if he's practically not dancing?

Yeah, I also mentioned in the rehearsal thread that the choreo seems too basic. I don't know the girls but I know Alberto and Robin are great dancers and can do much better.

 

[Etanna]

I don´t really see a promotion in Czech TV for the contest tbh. So it is rather important to attract good and skilled musicians / songwriters to submit their entries and to attract the viewers thru each contestant´s fandom and social media followership...but even here, Benny having 800K Instagram followers, I do not feel a hype pushed by those...
The biggest mistake, that the Czech Rep has done, and which cannot be undone....the simply joined the ESC too late. Slovakia joined immediately in 1993, although failing in the Ljubljana pre-Q for Millstreet....Czechia was sticking to Jeux sans frontieres as the other big Eurovision project....we could have had plenty of Czech participants since 1994 and an according reputation, but no...we waited till 2007...I don´t think btw that Benny´s NQ would affect something...of course, 3 or more subsequent NQs would be more detrimental...

I think that Benny's NQ would have a negative impact. I think it would make established musicians less likely to try for Eurovision in the future.

I'm not sure if we should have joined earlier but 2007 probably wasn't the best year as at the time Eurovision was at its craziest which put people off.

I hope Slovakia rejoins in the future, though. It would definitely help to have them here to spark up some healthy rivalry in people but also to not feel like we're up against the whole Europe on our own.

 

[Slabsson79]

2007 was definitely a bad year for two reasons. It was the era of wacky entries, which as you had said, put the people off...and it was the time of one semifinal, where it was hard to Q. And to make things even worse, Czechia decided to send Kabát....but hey...10 points in 3 years....what a record
I hope, that CT once returns to televised finals...with a reasonable pre-pick of the candidates and a good voting systems, mishpas such as Kabát can be avoided...if they have $ for Star Dance and all the other formats....they might have one for ESC as well...

 

[nofuxCZ]

I think high quality (both song and production-wise) national final would help a lot. Nowadays no one except hardcore ESC fans know there is an online NF. People would be more likely to tune into ESC in May if they were invested in selecting the participant. I hope it will be possible next year.

Other scenario could also be withdrawing... you know, there is this group of politicians and their buddies who hate ČT and who are trying to seize the power and get rid of ČT's director who was actually one of the main reasons we came back. EBU made a statement about this worrying situation as well..

Public service media in the Czech Republic under threat

The EBU is alarmed by the increasing politicisation of Czech Television's governing body and attempts to challenge and undermine the senior management team

www.ebu.ch

As we know who these people are, ESC would be one of the first things they would get rid of. Let's hope the elections in October will prevent this scenario.