CZECH REPUBLIC

The Czech entry was announced on January 29th during a national news broadcast. The songs in the running were announced on 8^th January and televoting was open until  22^nd January. An international jury was also announced made up of past Eurovision artists which would count for the other 50% of the vote. Going to Lisbon is Mikolas Josef with the song "Lie to Me"

The songs were all selected using video clips rather than live presentations although such performances were available if you looked for them. The video comprises mostly of shots of Mikolas singing and dancing (although mostly from the waist up) and a plethora of dancers. He also, quite oddly, appears halfway though singing on a camel! The video is quite brightly shot with vivid backgrounds and “Single Ladies”-esque moving shadows. I think with the right amount of practice and choreography this could be a very fun presentation.

The song starts off with a trumpet earworm. This is repeated several times during the song and you get to know this part of the song probably better than anything Mikolas actually sings. The song starts off in a pretty modern way with a kind of half singing/rapping fast paced way. Unusually instead of getting louder and higher he actually goes down in his register until he is almost at a croak. The ‘lie to me’ chorus is much of a muchness although the rhythm of it saves it more than the lyrics. The ending has an extended trumpet solo which could get the crowd clapping and waving away at.

Like a few of countries this year, the Czech Republic have gone back to a national final (of sorts!) and it is nice to see that delegations are wanting the input of their fellow countrymen as well as the opinion of the wider fanbase. I think that out of the 6 songs on offer this was by far the most ear-catching and visually slick and on that basis I am happy with this result. There are, however, some big questions that need answering. By the sound of it he will need a good set of backing singers as there is a lot of overlapping and a lot of parts that need emphasis. This then impinges on the visual side of it as I feel the show would benefit from some dancers – can they get people who can do both?

The other big stumbling point or the lyrics. There is quite the bit of swearing during the second verse and some of the lyrics seem to objectify women in a stereotypical way andI think with a bit of help these could be re-written in a stronger and less offensive way. On the whole I like this choice and think it is an interesting addition to what is looking to be a very diverse line-up. Not my favourite but not far off.

ARTIST – Mikolas Josef

SONG – Lie to me

MUSIC - Mikolas Josef

LYRICS - Mikolas Josef