Czech Republic CZECHIA 2023 - Vesna - My Sister's Crown

[ESC United Mod Team]

 

[Looren]

Am obsessed by Vesna's song

It's so powerful, I need this in ESC !

 

[boyardor]

We're fifth in the odds because of Vesna. VOTE for them.

 

[Diego]

Regardless of what happens to Vesna or anyone else who wins ESCZ, it's wonderful to see how the Czech Republic has evolved at Eurovision. The Czech public doesn't mind the competition yet, but it's great to see that great artists from the country are submitting quality songs to try to make it to ESC.

 

[boyardor]

1st Semi-final, 2nd Half

 

[Slabsson79]

1st Semi-final, 2nd Half

2nd half is always good. Not sure about the semi, but we will have to know more about the competitors.
And as Germany is voting in this semi, I am sure Czechia will have some votes

 

[Slabsson79]

Regardless of what happens to Vesna or anyone else who wins ESCZ, it's wonderful to see how the Czech Republic has evolved at Eurovision. The Czech public doesn't mind the competition yet, but it's great to see that great artists from the country are submitting quality songs to try to make it to ESC.

Well, nobody is even trying to make the Czech public mind it
But if they want a sustainable development of ESC in Czechia, they will have to approach this huge task too, it is inevitable.

 

[honzak11]

Vesna published explanations to some of the symbols used in their official music video. I think it's worth sharing as it might clear up some of the confusion that has appeared e.g. in YouTube comment below the video

https://imgur.com/rFNJFiX

 

[AlekS]

Great
Though, for that message alone she can be arrested in Russia. In this case we're in this fight together

ps. I kinda like the song, but the only thing that I remember is the chorus in Ukrainian, naturally. I detest the music video aesthetics. Mixing borderline clownery make up and pan-Slavic culture doesn't work for me. Glad they ditched that for their NF performance

 

[Ezio]

Dear Czechia,

please grant us the privilege to let us enjoy My sister’s crown at Eurovision and pay our humble tributes to them with our televotes.


Dvanact ….. na Cezku ……. (Damn my Czech class didnt age well)


Mnohokrát dėkuju!

 

[Mainshow]

Great
Though, for that message alone she can be arrested in Russia. In this case we're in this fight together

ps. I kinda like the song, but the only thing that I remember is the chorus in Ukrainian, naturally. I detest the music video aesthetics. Mixing borderline clownery make up and pan-Slavic culture doesn't work for me. Glad they ditched that for their NF performance

I interpreted the "clownery" make-up as that country which brought "shadows to the Slavic world" trying to "dress other Slavic countries as their dolls/puppets for their amusement and neglecting their freedom" (It's also presented in the lyrics "we are not your dolls").

That "country" tries to literally feed them (borsch), feed them propaganda ("the dancers wearing TVs and making the dolls watch it"),trying to reach out to them (trying to catch them through the mirror, walking towards them).... it can be seen as the country treats them as little toddlers, dollsand treat them as clowns..using them for their amusement instead of taking all the other countries seriously and as independent entities.

The clown as a metaphor can also symbolises the biggest fear of yours. The biggest fear of RuZZia is a united Slavic world/Europe fighting for their own rights and independence / moving away from RuZZian hemisphere.

Personally, I think that the music video is pretty clever and even the clownery make-up highlights the core message of the whole entry.

 

[BorisBubbles]

Megara > Fusa Nocta > Agoney > Sharonne > Twin Melody ( ) > Sofia > Meler > Aritz > Alice

Quals um.... Megara, Agoney, Alice, Fusa?

 

[Looren]

Megara > Fusa Nocta > Agoney > Sharonne > Twin Melody ( ) > Sofia > Meler > Aritz > Alice

Quals um.... Megara, Agoney, Alice, Fusa?

Wrong thread Boris

 

[AlekS]

I interpreted the "clownery" make-up

You don't have to. It's an obvious nod to how certain Slavic women applied makeup back in the day, a few centuries ago.

It can be misenterpreted by those who don't know our history. Personally, I don't like how they did it in the video. The male part of the video is repulsive to me (even though they're supposed to be like that).

 

[AlekS]

Vesna are #10 in Ukrainian YT trends among songs.

 

[Mainshow]

That's really interesting!
I haven't known about that make-up styling before. I just interpreted the clownery/clown metaphors in a modern context and based on commonly used metaphors and associations but this is genuinely interesting.
I didn't know they would be referring to a former commonly practiced way of make up styling.
I need to find some writings about it tomorrow evening. Thanks for mentioning it!

A modern interpretation, however, can still lead to viewers and listeners across Europe authenticate the song/core message of the song. It's a very clever and interesting way to make their message visually heard, imo.
It may be a matter of taste and it depends on where the listeners and viewers come from but that song is universal despite referring back to Slavic "sisterhood". It still amazes me how much potential this entry got! Oo

 

[AlekS]

I need to find some writings about it tomorrow evening. Thanks for mentioning it!

I'll save your time.

https://yulianovozhilova.ru/make-up-rus/
https://russian7.ru/post/pochemu-zhenshhiny-na-rusi-chrezmerno-kras/

Though, these are about more "modern" Russian style, from 17-18th century.

Ukrainian women have been using natural makeup at least in 9th century already (usually men didn't write about women's makeup back then, so not many material was left, maybe this tradition was much older).
They used flour as a powder, beetroot as a blush, raspberry as a lipstick, painted their eyebrows with soot. It wasn't so exaggerated like Russian one, but it was based on high contrast of white face and bright red cheeks and lips.
Though, queen Helga Olga (10th century) prefered very pale makeup, very similar to our days. We were more influenced by Scandinavia rather than Asia.

 

[nofuxCZ]

Vesna is also #6 in Czech Youtube music trends as well. Since no one cares about Eurovision here, it must be thanks to our Ukrainian friends living here But now that it made it into the trends, it will be noticed by Czechs as well

 

[nofuxCZ]

Just listened to our HoD Kryštof Šámal on The Euro Trip podcast

- There was a chance we would withdraw from ESC 2023 and the team was worried about it - due to difficult situation of ČT, which needs to save a lot of money
- Decisive green light from ČT to participate in ESC 2023 given at the end of October, so everything they did was last minute this year (collecting songs, organizing ESCZ). ESC one of the few shows that stayed, probably thanks to the dedication of the CZ ESC team
- In the song selection process, unlike previous years, they favoured artists with strong presence and artists who know how they would like to present themselves - due to limited time they had for the selection and later for working with the winner of ESCZ

 

[njdevils94]

Voted for Vesna. Think it can be top 10 easily at ESC and even top 5 with good staging.

 

[Mainshow]

Just listened to our HoD Kryštof Šámal on The Euro Trip podcast

- There was a chance we would withdraw from ESC 2023 and the team was worried about it - due to difficult situation of ČT, which needs to save a lot of money
- Decisive green light from ČT to participate in ESC 2023 given at the end of October, so everything they did was last minute this year (collecting songs, organizing ESCZ). ESC one of the few shows that stayed, probably thanks to the dedication of the CZ ESC team
- In the song selection process, unlike previous years, they favoured artists with strong presence and artists who know how they would like to present themselves - due to limited time they had for the selection and later for working with the winner of ESCZ

As an avid fan, it is utterly worrying to read that are basically on the verge of withdrawing due to financial reasons. The fact that Eurovision is not as popular as in other countries does not help either.... it´s even more impressive now that the CZ ESC team convinced the broadcaster to still submit an entry to Liverpool/continue participating in Eurovision.
If leave, they will be deeply missed, for sure.

I just hope to see Vesna getting to Liverpool, delivering a hell of a performance (I don´t mind well-chosen and well-thought ideas/concepts regarding the lights - that´s what most countries come up with nowadays anyway) so that the team and the broadcaster get rewarded by a great Top 10 (or even better) result to not lose the interest/dedication to keep on going.

It´s impressive that they came up with such a decent to good NF in such a short amount of time.