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

[ESC United Mod Team]

 

[Mainshow]

To be fair, Czech Republic has been home to a "larger" Ukrainian community prior the war as well.

Also, Ukrainian has been a minority language of the Czech Republic before - it has even been recognised as such - an official minority language - like Danish, Romani, Frisian or Sorbian in Germany.

I don´t think it´s a problem.. it´s like Hungary submitting a song partly with "Romani" - sounding sounds ("Origo").

 

[nofuxCZ]

And 1 of the members of Vesna is Ukrainian, no? I see no issue.

 

[Slabsson79]

And 1 of the members of Vesna is Ukrainian, no? I see no issue.

Maybe I expressed it inprecisely. Other Slavic languages are not a problem per se, on the contrary, but it could be perceived like i had said. On second and third listening, the English part might work as a glueing element.
It is not a bad song at all and I am sure it would do very well at ESC.
On the other hand, one can not deny the allegoric nature of the lyrics

 

[Mainshow]

Maybe I expressed it inprecisely. Other Slavic languages are not a problem per se, on the contrary, but it could be perceived like i had said. On second and third listening, the English part might work as a glueing element.
It is not a bad song at all and I am sure it would do very well at ESC.
On the other hand, one can not deny the allegoric nature of the lyrics

That´s right as well but I think it´s clever/smart whilst still being "authentic" (due to one member being Ukrainian, Ukrainian being a recognised minority language in Ukraine before the war, etc.) and Vesna hasn´t changed much (regarding their style... but I have to admit that I´ve listened only 3-4 songs before). This song has potential to be part of my Top 10 in May, for sure.

 

[Slabsson79]

That´s right as well but I think it´s clever/smart whilst still being "authentic" (due to one member being Ukrainian, Ukrainian being a recognised minority language in Ukraine before the war, etc.) and Vesna hasn´t changed much (regarding their style... but I have to admit that I´ve listened only 3-4 songs before). This song has potential to be part of my Top 10 in May, for sure.

Well, as far as I know, the language was Ruthenian, which is of course similar, but not identical. And, with this approach - languages of Czechoslovakia 1918-1938 - we could even see a song in German at ESCZ
But i wish Vesna the best of luck. Given the voting strength, they are a hot contender for victory at ESCZ.

 

[Mainshow]

Well, as far as I know, the language was Ruthenian, which is of course similar, but not identical. And, with this approach - languages of Czechoslovakia 1918-1938 - we could even see a song in German at ESCZ
But i wish Vesna the best of luck. Given the voting strength, they are a hot contender for victory at ESCZ.

As far as I know, it´s Ukrainian - I know that Ruthenian/Rusyn is a different language. Rusyn has been a minority language (officially and a protected one) in Slovakia since the mid 90´s - not sure about the "legal status" of the language in the Czech Republic but I don´t think that it´s been officially acknowledged as a minority language (especially since most speakers of Rusyn seem to be living in Slovakia?)

Neither the Constitution does contain any specific mention of an official or state language nor does any other Czech law define the official language or the one of official communication. The status of the Czech language as the official one is, however, implicit in some legal regulations.12 German, Polish, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Romany, Slovak and Croatian are spoken in the Czech Republic, though only the first four are recognized as official minority languages.

http://www.gencat.cat/llengua/noves/noves/hm04tardor/docs/zwilling.pdf

If the Czech Republic had been taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest decades ago, we probably would have had a German song anyway (I mean, just think of Karel Gott )

I wouldn´t mind seeing a Czech entry in German and a German entry in Frisian or Sorbian... I mean (in general) - if people can neglect the most spoken language in their home country to perform in English (or Spanish)... why not in a minority language protected by your own laws?

 

[nofuxCZ]

As far as I know, it´s Ukrainian - I know that Ruthenian/Rusyn is a different language. Rusyn has been a minority language (officially and a protected one) in Slovakia since the mid 90´s - not sure about the "legal status" of the language in the Czech Republic but I don´t think that it´s been officially acknowledged as a minority language (especially since most speakers of Rusyn seem to be living in Slovakia?)

http://www.gencat.cat/llengua/noves/noves/hm04tardor/docs/zwilling.pdf

If the Czech Republic had been taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest decades ago, we probably would have had a German song anyway (I mean, just think of Karel Gott )

I wouldn´t mind seeing a Czech entry in German and a German entry in Frisian or Sorbian... I mean (in general) - if people can neglect the most spoken language in their home country to perform in English (or Spanish)... why not in a minority language protected by your own laws?

Rusyn is an officially recognized minority language here in Czechia as well.

I wouldn't mind being represented by minority language. I mean, we already sent a song containing Roma language in 2009... and I don't think it was as bad as the fandom and the real life voters think it is...

Contemporary Czech artists don't record songs in German. Sure there are many songs which contain lots of German loanwards, but that's because Czech language and its slang especially contains lots of German words...words we native Czechs don't even realize are German words.

 

[Slabsson79]

And 1 of the members of Vesna is Ukrainian, no? I see no issue.

Olesya Ochepovskaya is Russian according to the internet.

 

[Mainshow]

Thanks for the explanation! I think it's a very interesting discussion

If Olesya is the one singing in Ukrainian despite being from Russia, the message will be even stronger. If you check her socials, you can see that she's heavily levelling criticism at RuZZia, condemning the war and wearing a bracelet of the white/blue/white flag.

Does anyone know at what time the national final takes place tomorrow?

 

[Slabsson79]

Thanks for the explanation! I think it's a very interesting discussion

If Olesya is the one singing in Ukrainian despite being from Russia, the message will be even stronger. If you check her socials, you can see that she's heavily levelling criticism at RuZZia, condemning the war and wearing a bracelet of the white/blue/white flag.

Does anyone know at what time the national final takes place tomorrow?

Look, i do not really want to come around as a "Miesepeter" but, i am not really sure if we need more political messages at Eurovision tbh, even if I fully support Ukraine and despise Putin.
In Czech Rep, the ESC is often coined as the Festival of political songs by haters. An event of the former GDR and CSSR. Now if VESNA wins, and i will not be unhappy as the song sounds very good....ESCZ is solely aimed at the foreign public, the show is not live on Czech TV, it is in English and Czechs have 30% of voting. Following the presidential vote, we have an apparent cleavage in our society even with regard to Ukraine. Now i can really imagine the reactions, when the Czech public from a certain corner, will find out, we have a Czech song with a pro-ukrainian political message representing us.

 

[nofuxCZ]

Olesya Ochepovskaya is Russian according to the internet.

They said on instagram there was a Ukrainian member who recorded the song with them, along the Russian one. + 1 Bulgarian and 1 Slovak.

 

[Mainshow]

All songs in English performed by non-native English speakers can be seen as "political" since they support the process of globalisation.
All songs about unity can be seen as political - I don´t give a damn about it and "haters" of Eurovision will always hate the contest because they:
1. don´t watch it, anyway
2. moan about everything
3. are probably the same "Pink Floyd" fans being outraged that there´s a rainbow on the album cover of "Dark Side Of The Moon"

All songs which are slightly empowering and not about love and sex only can be seen as political.
Personally, I don´t want to have a competition of 40 songs which only sings about "I love you".

Let´s have a look at the German preseleciton:
The Lord Of The Lost song - taking part in the German preselection - can also be perceived as political since it´s about "inner strength", "being proud of who you are" = "haters of Eurovision" will probably think of them wanting to "shove down LGTBQ+ agenda on people"

"Dare To Be Different" by Trong is basically about the same political topic

Frida Gold is about empowerment and women´s rights.

Will Church´s got metaphors like "steel", "battlefield", "fall(en soldier)" [referring to war? that´s clearly political!] and somehow to "guide him". This could also be meant in a spiritual way (is it about God?) or even political (looking for a leader).

Most songs are kinda political/spreading a message.

Eurovision has always been political since it wanted to unite a war-torn continent after WWII.
Nowadays there IS a war happening in Europe... if someone wants to sing partly in Ukrainian because a) the artist is Ukrainian or b) is Russian or c) both + d) the language is recognised as an official (minority) language of the country.

If people still complain about it, so be it.

(I love the way how you included "Miesepeter", btw! xD)

 

[Grinch]

To be fair, Czech Republic has been home to a "larger" Ukrainian community prior the war as well.

Also, Ukrainian has been a minority language of the Czech Republic before - it has even been recognised as such - an official minority language - like Danish, Romani, Frisian or Sorbian in Germany.

I don´t think it´s a problem.. it´s like Hungary submitting a song partly with "Romani" - sounding sounds ("Origo").

Yep, I don't see any problem with countries sending songs which are partly/fully in other languages. Let's remember our polylingual queen here

 

[Rocket man]

#Post 48, Nov 2022

Why have I got a feeling that Czech Republic is going to be a contender in 2023? It's based on nothing, I just think the Czechs are going to bring their A-game next year.

Vesna - My Sister's Crown sounds really good. A bit controversial maybe which is my kind of thing.

 

[Looren]

Do we have all the songs ?

 

[A-lister]

Wait did I really read it correctly that someone has a specific problem with some line in Ukrainian but "other Slavic languages would be fine"!?

I mean I get it someone wants just Czech, being a potential Czech entry in ESC after all, but why would other Slavic languages that are unrelated to Czechia be fine except for Ukrainian? If anything that sounds like more of a political statement...

Also, English is not authentic to most countries, especially in a contest where the entries ought to represent the countries' music scenes, so why is that ok?

 

[Koori]

Ok we need this to go They seem to also have Bulgarian here

 

[Mainshow]

I want to make it perfectly clear: Based on the studio version, this is a surefire Top 5 televoting rank.
Seriously, thanks to the ending its message will be universally understood and the Czech and Ukrainia choruses/parts match so well together. The arrangement is Slavic, epic and even got a modern twist.
That's everything I want from a Eurovision entry and despite being absolutely in awe that one of my favourite German bands want to represent us, this song would be my #1 by miles.

Please, Czech Republic and international fans, don't mess this up! Depending on the competition and other entries, I have the feeling that the Czech Republic might be even in to win it.

 

[aardvark]

I'm getting winner vibes for the first time this year. Who else feels like Prague 2024?

 

[Mainshow]

I'm getting winner vibes for the first time this year. Who else feels like Prague 2024?

Me!

I've heard a couple of competitive and good entries across European national finals this year but this is the first time I immediately got winner vibes as well!