The Czech act and song was revealed on December 13th 2023 although the selection show "ESCZ" was broadcast on December 4th. There were two strands to the online vote: 70% International online voting and 30% Czech online voting. Going to Malmö is Aiko performing the song "Pedestal".
Aiko, the stage name of Alena Shirmanova-Kostebelova, was born in Moscow but moved to Czechia as a child where she took singing lessons and started to play the guitar. She took part in the 2015 series of "Česko Slovenská SuperStar" where she made it to the semi-finals. In 2022 she won the 10th edition of the Radio Wave Czeching competition. She has performed in multiple festivals and has supported Alice Morton on tour. Aiko has also released 3 solo albums. She currently resides in Brighton on the south coast of the United Kingdom.
"Pedestal" is a pop-rock song focusing on themes of self-esteem and toxic relationships. Aiko is on stage with two instrumentalists and two female dancers all dressed in different black outfits - Aiko's cutaway catsuit is particularly memorable! The song has a good driving beat and a very shoutable chorus which gets the crowd going. Aiko and her dancers writhe and jump about the stage with a lot of attack which mirrors the immediacy of the backing track. The instrumental is also highlighted by thin red lights strobing in time with the music at the back of the platform. The stage at ESCZ was very small and basic and the fact they were able to do so much with such tight parameters might hint towards a heightened and more free performance on a bigger stage.
Aiko's win was not a big surprise as the song had gone down with fans when the songs were first released but the live show did raise some questions with the fandom. The performance on the ESCZ stage was a little chaotic: a full on dance routine with backing dancers, the encouragement of the crowd and the nerves and adrenalin of live tv all conspired to make her vocals rather shouty and breathy. A larger stage may also open the door to a much fuller stage show - including more dancers. More dancers or not, I feel Aiko's choreo could be made more gestural/positional. This would not only open the way to some memorable camera shots and silhouettes but also, more importantly, to save her voice. This entry has a lot of potential and, thanks to the early running of this national final, the team has plenty time to hone this into something stronger. Plans have already been laid out to improve the song - including making the song longer (it's currently 30-ish seconds short of 3 minutes) and making the song more impactful. I hope they do not interfere too much with the essence of the song as it does have a good core and a memorable spirit.
ARTIST - Aiko
SONG - Pedestal
WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Steven Ansell, Alena Shirmanova-Kostebelova
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