Czech Republic In The Eurovision Song Contest 2016
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The Czech Republic was represented at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2016 The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Heroes (Måns Zelmerlöw song), Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw. Organis ...
with the song "I Stand" written by Christian Schneider, Sara Biglert and Aidan O'Connor. The song was performed by Gabriela Gunčíková, who was internally selected by the Czech broadcaster
Česká televize Czech Television ( ; abbreviation: ČT) is a public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting six channels. Established after breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1992, it is the successor to Czechoslovak Television founded in 1953. H ...
(ČT) to represent the nation at the 2016 contest in
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
, Sweden. Gunčíková and the song "I Stand" were announced as the Czech entry on 10 March 2016. The song was presented to the public on 11 March 2016. Czech Republic was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 10 May 2016. Performing during the show in position 10, "I Stand" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 14 May. This marked the first qualification to the final for the Czech Republic since they debuted in the contest in
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
. It was later revealed that Czech Republic placed ninth out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 161 points. In the final, Czech Republic performed in position 2 and placed twenty-fifth out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 41 points.


Background

Prior to the 2016 contest, the Czech Republic had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest four times since its first entry in . The nation competed in the contest on three consecutive occasions between 2007 and 2009 without qualifying to the final: in
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
Kabát Kabát is a Czechs, Czech hard rock band from Teplice formed in 1983. The members of the group are Josef Vojtek (lead vocals), Milan Špalek (bass guitar), Tomáš Krulich (guitar), Ota Váňa (guitar), and Radek Hurčík (drums). Kabát has en ...
performing "Malá dáma" placed 28th (last) in the semi-final achieving only one point, in
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
Tereza Kerndlová Tereza Kerndlová (born 6 October 1986 in Brno) is a Czech singer. She rose to fame as a member of the trio Black Milk since 2001. After the trio split in 2005, she started a solo career and released the album ''Orchidej''. She represented t ...
performing "Have Some Fun" placed 18th (second to last) in her semi-final scoring nine points and in
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
Gipsy.cz Gipsy.cz is a Czech Romani hip hop group. They performed at the Glastonbury Festival in 2007 and represented their country at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, with the song " Aven Romale". The band plays a combination of hip hop and ...
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. In
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
, 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 Marta Verner (née Jandová; born 13 April 1974) is a Czech singer, best known for being the lead singer of the German alternative rock band Die Happy. She represented the Czech Republic in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 along with Václav No ...
and
Václav Noid Bárta Václav "Noid" Bárta (born 27 October 1980) is a Czech singer-songwriter and actor from Prague. He has released several solo albums, either under his own name or as Noid, and he is the vocalist and frontman of the psy-core band Dymytry, with ...
. The Czech national broadcaster,
Česká televize Czech Television ( ; abbreviation: ČT) is a public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting six channels. Established after breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1992, it is the successor to Czechoslovak Television founded in 1953. H ...
(ČT), broadcasts the event within Czech Republic and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. The broadcaster has used both national finals and internal selections to select the Czech Eurovision entry in the past. ČT confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in August 2015. The broadcaster later confirmed in November 2015 that the Czech entry for the 2016 contest would be selected internally.


Before Eurovision


Internal selection

ČT announced in November 2015 that the Czech entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 would be selected internally. Jan Bors was assigned as the Czech Head of Delegation for the Eurovision Song Contest and managed the selection process. On 11 January 2016, Bors confirmed that three songs had been shortlisted by the broadcaster and that a series of meetings would take place throughout January in order to select the entry. In addition, ČT spokesperson Alžběta Plívová announced that three entries were in contention and that a decision regarding which entry would be selected was imminent. On 13 January, Czech news portal ''iDNES.cz'' reported that the artists behind the three shortlisted entries were singers Dasha and Thom Artway as well as the band Light & Love. On 10 March 2016, "I Stand" performed by Gabriela Gunčíková was announced by ČT as the Czech entry for the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. Gunčíková and the song were selected by ČT together with a five-member jury consisting of music journalists Honza Dědek and Jaroslav Špulák, singer and musician
Michael Kocáb Michael Kocáb (born 28 July 1954) is a Czech composer, singer, and political activist. He is the leader of Pražský výběr, a popular music band suppressed by the Czechoslovak communist regime in the 1980s. At the spring 1989 Kocab with ...
, composer and producer Jan Maxián and composer and 2015 Czech Eurovision entrant
Václav Noid Bárta Václav "Noid" Bárta (born 27 October 1980) is a Czech singer-songwriter and actor from Prague. He has released several solo albums, either under his own name or as Noid, and he is the vocalist and frontman of the psy-core band Dymytry, with ...
. "I Stand", which was written by the Swedish and Irish trio Christian Schneider, Sara Biglert and Aidan O'Connor, was one of three songs shortlisted by the jury and broadcaster from over 40 proposals that the broadcaster received. The song was originally submitted to the Czech broadcaster as a proposal with Dasha as the performer; the singer had been reported earlier in January as a shortlisted artist. The song was presented to the public via the release of the official music video, directed by Uroš Trefalt, on 11 March 2016.


Promotion

In the lead up to the Eurovision Song Contest, Gabriela Gunčíková performed as part of the ''Rock Meets Classic'' concert series where she was one of the vocalists for the Mat Sinner Band, which included Primal Fear members
Mat Sinner Matthias Lasch (born 16 October 1964), known professionally as Mat Sinner, is a German bassist, singer and record producer from Stuttgart. Sinner has been involved in numerous bands and projects throughout his musical career. His main bands ha ...
, Alex Beyrodt and Tom Naumann (guitars),
Voodoo Circle Voodoo Circle, also known as Alex Beyrodt's Voodoo Circle, is a German hard rock band founded in 2008, as a project of Silent Force guitarist Alex Beyrodt (currently also playing with heavy metal band Primal Fear (band), Primal Fear) who had th ...
's Jimmy Kresic (keyboards), Veronika Lukešová (drums) and backing vocalists Tiffany Kirkland, Kolinda Brozovic and Sascha Krebs. The tour, which took place across Germany, occurred between 30 March and 17 April. Between 22 and 23 April, Gunčíková completed promotional activities in Malta by appearing during the
TVM TVM stands for: Television stations * Television Malta * Television Maldives * Television of Mauritania * TVMonaco * Televisão de Moçambique Arts and entertainment * ''Doctor Who'' (film), referred to by fans as the "TV movie" * "TVM", a song ...
talk show programme ''
Xarabank ''Xarabank'' was a prime time talk show produced by Where's Everybody that aired every Friday on the Malta, Maltese national television station TVM (Malta), TVM, till 2020. The show was presented by Peppi Azzopardi, and later by Mark Laurence Zamm ...
'' and performing during the ''Malta Eurovision Party'' at the Aria Complex in
San Ġwann San Ġwann () is a town in the Northern Region of Malta, with a population of 14,244 as of 2021. Prior to its establishment as a distinct municipality, it was a fragmented community comprising parts of Birkirkara and St. Julian's. San Ġwann e ...
. On 26 April, Gabriela Gunčíková performed during the ''Euro Party'' event organised by
OGAE The (; ), shortened to OGAE, is a non-governmental and non-profit international organisation, consisting of 42 Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs from across Europe and worldwide. It was founded in 1984 in Savonlinna, Finland by Jaripekka Koikka ...
Czech Republic, which took place at the Fénix club in
Zlín Zlín (in 1949–1989 Gottwaldov; ; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 75,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Zlín Region and it lies on the Dřevnice River. It is known as an industrial centre. The development of the modern city ...
.


At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the " Big Five" (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 The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...
(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 25 January 2016, 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. The Czech Republic was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2016, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2016 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. The Czech Republic was set to perform in position 10, following the entry from
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and before the entry from
Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
. In the Czech Republic, the semi-finals were broadcast on
ČT2 ČT2 (ČT Dva, Česká televize 2, "''Dvojka''") is the Czech Republic, Czech Public broadcasting, public television channel, operated by Czech Television. ČT2 broadcasts documentaries nature-oriented shows, frequently showing foreign films in t ...
and the final was broadcast on
ČT1 ČT1 (ČT Jedna, Česká televize 1, "''Jednička''") is a Czech public television channel operated by Czech Television. ČT1 is a general-purpose channel, broadcasting family-oriented television, Czech films, news, and documentaries. History ...
. All three shows featured commentary by Libor Bouček. The Czech spokesperson, who will announce the top 12-point score awarded by the Czech jury during the final, was Daniela Písařovicová.


Semi-final

Gabriela Gunčíková took part in technical rehearsals on 3 and 6 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 9 and 10 May. This included the jury show on 9 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries. The Czech performance featured Gabriela Gunčíková appearing alone on stage wearing a long white dress. Gunčíková's look was developed by Blanka Hašková and her dress was designed by Pavel Ivančic. The performance began with a dark stage and a spotlight on Gunčíková which progressed to the LED screens displaying blue and pink geometric patterns and falling flowers. The performance also featured the use of a wind machine. The art director for the performance was Uroš Trefalt, who directed the music video for "I Stand", and the creative director was Jan Potměšil. Four off-stage backing vocalists performed with Gunčíková: Madeleine Jangklev, Elin Åkesson,
Clara Hagman Clara Hagman (born 9 July 1991), known professionally as Clara Mae, is a Swedish singer and songwriter currently signed to Big Beat and Atlantic Records. She has released two major label singles: "I'm Not Her" and "I Forgot". From 2009 to 2012, M ...
and Peter Ericson. At the end of the show, Czech Republic was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. This marked the first qualification to the final for the Czech Republic since they debuted in the contest in
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
. It was later revealed that the Czech Republic placed ninth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 161 points: 41 points from the televoting and 120 points from the juries.


Final

Shortly after the first semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Czech Republic was drawn to compete in the first half. Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Czech Republic was subsequently placed to perform in position 2, following the entry from
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
and before the entry from the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. Gabriela Gunčíková once again took part in dress rehearsals on 13 and 14 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Gabriela Gunčíková performed a repeat of her semi-final performance during the final on 14 May. Czech Republic placed twenty-fifth in the final, scoring 41 points: 0 points from the televoting and 41 points from the juries.


Voting

Voting during the three shows was conducted under a new system that involved each country now 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. Below is a breakdown of points awarded to the Czech Republic and awarded by the Czech Republic in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:


Points awarded to the Czech Republic


Points awarded by the Czech Republic


Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Czech jury: * (jury chairperson)radio presenter, DJ, music journalist *
Pavel Anděl Pavel Anděl (born 1966, Cheb) is a Czech actor, musician, writer, dramaturge and television presenter. He graduated from the grammar school in Cheb. After graduating from briefly acting at Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Pr ...
editor, producer, presenter * Marcela Kočandrlováartist manager of
Warner Music Czech Republic Warner Music Czech Republic (formerly EMI Czech Republic and Parlophone Czech Republic) is a record label based in the Czech Republic. The company was founded under the name Monitor in 1990. EMI purchased the label in 1994 and maintained it und ...
* Petr Králradio presenter, music editor * Markéta Nešlehováfilm director


References


External links

* {{Eurovision Song Contest 2016
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an origina ...