Czech Republic in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Czech Republic participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The Czech broadcaster Česká televize (ČT) organised a national final in order to select the Czech entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. The winning entry was the song Lie to Me performed by Mikolas Josef, which represented the country in Lisbon.

Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Country Czech Republic
National selection
Selection processEurovision Song CZ
Selection date(s)29 January 2018
Selected entrantMikolas Josef
Selected song"Lie to Me"
Selected songwriter(s)Mikolas Josef
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (3rd, 232 points)
Final result6th, 281 points
Czech Republic in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2017 • 2018 • 2019►

Background
Main article: Czech Republic in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2018 Contest, Czech Republic had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest six times since its first entry in 2007.[1] The nation competed in the contest on three consecutive occasions between 2007 and 2009 without qualifying to the final: in 2007 Kabát performing "Malá dáma" placed 28th (last) in the semi-final achieving only one point, in 2008 Tereza Kerndlová performing "Have Some Fun" placed 18th (second to last) in her semi-final scoring nine points, in 2009 Gipsy.cz performing the song "Aven Romale" placed 18th (last) in their semi-final failing to score any points. The Czech broadcaster withdrew from the contest between 2010 and 2014 citing reasons such as low viewing figures and poor results for their absence.[2] In 2015, Czech Republic returned to the contest and once again failed to qualify to the final with the song "Hope Never Dies" performed by Marta Jandová and Václav Noid Bárta, placing 13th in their semi-final with 33 points. In 2016, Czech Republic was represented by Gabriela Gunčíková and the song "I Stand". The country qualified for the final and placed 25th out of 26 entries. This marked the first qualification to the final for the Czech Republic since they debuted in the contest in 2007. In 2017, Czech Republic was represented by Martina Bárta with the song "My Turn". The song failed to qualify for the final and placed 13 in their semi-final scoring 83 points.

Before Eurovision

Eurovision Song CZ

Eurovision Song CZ was the national selection process organised by ČT in order to select Czech Republic's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The winner was announced on 29 January 2018.[3]

Format

Six entries competed in the national selection where the winner was determined by the combination of votes from a ten-member international jury panel and a public vote. The international jury panel consisted of ten former Eurovision entrants while the public were able to vote via the official Eurovision Song Contest app from 8 January 2018 to 22 January 2018. Both international and Czech users were able to vote but only votes from users in the Czech Republic were counted.[3]

The international jury panel consisted of:[4]

Competing entries

Artists and composers were able to submit their proposals to the broadcaster between 26 September 2017 and 17 November 2017. Songwriters of any nationality were able to submit songs, however artists were required to have Czech citizenship and at least one of the lead vocalists were required to have Czech citizenship for groups of a maximum of six.[5] The broadcaster received over 400 submissions at the closing of the deadline, of which 36 were by Czech songwriters.[3] ČT selected six entries from the submissions received and the selected finalists were presented to the public on 8 January 2018.[6][7]

Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Debbi "High on Love" Ellie Wyatt, Jon Hällgren, Mahan Moin, DWB
Doctor Victor "Stand Up" Doctor Victor
Eddie Stoilow "We Rule This World" Jan Žampa, Jan Martínek
Eva Burešová "Fly" Václav Noid Bárta, David Vostrý
Mikolas Josef "Lie to Me" Mikolas Josef
Pavel Callta "Never Forget" Pavel Callta

Final

The winner, "Lie to Me" performed by Mikolas Josef, was selected by a 50/50 combination of votes from the jury and the public, and was announced on 29 January 2018.[8]

Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points
Debbi "High on Love" 54 6 3 9 2
Doctor Victor "Stand Up" 30 3 1 4 6
Eddie Stoilow "We Rule This World" 27 2 2 4 5
Eva Burešová "Fly" 27 2 6 8 3
Mikolas Josef "Lie to Me" 68 8 8 16 1
Pavel Callta "Never Forget" 34 4 4 8 4

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 29 January 2018, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Czech Republic was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 8 May 2018, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[9]

Once all the competing songs for the 2018 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Czech Republic was set to perform in position 5, following the entry from Belgium and preceding the entry from Lithuania.[10]

Semi-final

The Czech Republic performed fifth in the first semi-final, following the entry from Belgium and preceding the entry from Lithuania. At the end of the show, they were announced as one of the ten countries to qualify for the grand final, making it only the second occasion that the Czech Republic have qualified for the final. Subsequently, at the semi-final winners' press conference, the qualifying contestants all drew to see which half of the final they would compete in. The Czech Republic was drawn to compete in the second half. It was later revealed that Czech Republic placed third in the semi-final, receiving a total of 232 points: 134 points from the televoting and 98 points from the juries.

Final

Czech Republic performed fourteenth in the grand final, following France and preceding Denmark. In spite of a back injury that largely prevented Josef from performing too many complicated dance moves, he performed an impressive front-flip to a warm response from the crowd. At the end of the night, Czech Republic finished in sixth place with 281 points, with 66 points from the jury (15th place) and 215 points from the televote (4th place). This is their highest finish in the contest and their first appearance in the top ten, 240 points better than their finish in 2016.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

Points awarded to Czech Republic
Points awarded to Czech Republic (Semi-final 1)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Points awarded to Czech Republic (final)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Czech Republic

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Czech jury: [11]

  • Ota Balage – Chairperson – musician, composer, conductor
  • Jan. P. Muchow – producer, composer
  • Hana Biriczová – radio host
  • Berenika Kohoutová – singer, actress, blogger
  • Jiří Vidasov – musician, composer, producer, pianist, teacher
Split voting results from Czech Republic (Semi-final 1)
Draw Country Jury Televote
O. Balage J. P. Muchow H. Biriczová B. Kohoutová J. Vidasov Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Azerbaijan181413151815210
02 Iceland31089117418
03 Albania575556583
04 Belgium2144421015
05 Czech Republic
06 Lithuania12412868314
07 Israel42123112112
08 Belarus13151614131413
09 Estonia1491510101265
10 Bulgaria133674792
11 Macedonia16181718141717
12 Croatia11111112151316
13 Austria812711810156
14 Greece15161417161612
15 Finland10136131211101
16 Armenia7810799238
17  Switzerland659315611
18 Ireland962123874
19 Cyprus17171816171847
Split voting results from Czech Republic (final)
Draw Country Jury Televote
O. Balage J. P. Muchow H. Biriczová B. Kohoutová J. Vidasov Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Ukraine142222212322112
02 Spain18132316121624
03 Slovenia334454723
04 Lithuania118129810116
05 Austria499646512
06 Estonia15121114111365
07 Norway17182120212311
08 Portugal1671317181425
09 United Kingdom1214810151117
10 Serbia19242019142015
11 Germany1315157131283
12 Albania1107535614
13 France22161618161819
14 Czech Republic
15 Denmark21231723192447
16 Australia20171822202122
17 Finland85315108321
18 Bulgaria54611974101
19 Moldova25252524252556
20 Sweden625173818
21 Hungary101114869213
22 Israel21131112210
23 Netherlands9212412221520
24 Ireland7622221074
25 Cyprus23191025241738
26 Italy24201913171992

References
  1. "Czech Republic Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  2. Jiandani, Sanjay (30 September 2013). "Eurovision 2014: Czech Republic will not participate in Copenhagen". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  3. McCaig, Ewan (5 January 2018). "Czech Republic: Winner of National Final to be Revealed on 29 January". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  4. Weaver, Jessica (22 January 2018). "Czech Republic: ČT reveals international jury members for 2018 national final". esctoday.com. ESCtoday. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  5. Jiandani, Sanjay (Sergio) (26 September 2017). "Czech Republic: CT kicks off preparations for Eurovision 2018". Esctoday. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  6. "Six names for Eurovision Song CZ revealed". escxtra.com. 8 January 2018.
  7. Brown, Alistair (8 January 2018). "Czech Republic: Six Entries for National Final Revealed". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  8. William Lee Adams (23 January 2018). "CZECH REPUBLIC: MIKOLAS JOSEF Wins JURY VOTE…as EUROVISION SONG CZ NEARS WINNER'S ANNOUNCEMENT". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs.
  9. Jordan, Paul (29 January 2018). "Which countries will perform in which Semi-Final at Eurovision 2018?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  10. "Running order for Eurovision 2018 Semi-Finals revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  11. Groot, Evert (30 April 2018). "Exclusive: They are the expert jurors for Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
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