Ben da Silva Cristóvão (born 8 June 1987), known professionally as Ben Cristovao or Benny Cristo, is a Czech singer. He was nominated to represent the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

in the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in

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, after winning the national round with the song " Kemama". After the contest was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Czech Television 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 ...

confirmed that Cristo would instead represent the nation in the 2021 contest. Cristo sings in both Czech and English.

Music career

In 2009, Benny Cristo was one of the finalists on the talent show '' Česko Slovenská SuperStar''. The experiences gained in this show motivated him to focus on his singing career. In 2010, he released his debut album, ''Definitely Different''. A year later, his second studio album, called ''Benny Cristo'', came out. It contains two collaborations with Monika Bagárová, another contestant from ''Česko Slovenská SuperStar''. In 2013, Cristo was nominated for the

Český slavík Český slavík () is an award meant to recognize outstanding achievement and annual popularity in the Czech music industry. It was established in 1996 as the successor to the Zlatý slavík awards, which were established in 1962 in Czechoslova ...

award in the category Music Video of the Year, for the song "Bomby". The same year, he released his third studio album, ''Made in Czechoslovakia''. In 2016, Cristo won the Český slavík award in the category "Most Streamed Czech Song", with the track "ASIO". He did not attend the award ceremony, however. As he later stated to the media, he did not want to be in the same room as the Czech group Ortel, known for their

xenophobic Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

texts. Also in 2016, Cristo recorded a cover of the David Koller song "Nic není na stálo", which was released together with songs by artists such as Katarzia, Kato, Mucha, and Vladimír 518, on the album ''David Koller & Friends''. In 2017, Cristo issued the EP ''Poslední''. In 2018, he performed at the

Anděl Awards The Anděl Awards () is a Czech music award ceremony organized by the Czech Academy of Popular Music. History It is a successor to the Annual Czechoslovak Music Award (Czech: ''Výroční československé hudební ceny'') established in 1991 ...

ceremony, singing his song "Nohy", with the guest appearance of Jiří Korn. He later collaborated with Mária Čírová on the theme song for the movie ''Backstage'', directed by Andrea Sedláčková. The song is called "Padam". Cristo himself appears in the film as a judge in a dance competition. The same year, he became a judge on ''Česko Slovenská Superstar''. In 2019, Cristo released the six-song EP ''Kontakt''. He was selected to represent his country in the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, after winning the national round. He was to perform in

, Netherlands, with the song " Kemama". However, the event was cancelled as a result of the

. In May 2020, it was confirmed that Cristo would sing for the Czech Republic in the 2021 event, with a new song. His entry for 2021, " Omaga", was released on 16 February 2021. He sang in the second semifinal of the contest but did not qualify for the final, finishing 15th, with 23 points.

Activism

Benny Cristo is

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

and an

animal rights activist The animal rights movement, sometimes called the animal liberation, animal personhood, or animal advocacy movement, is a social movement that advocates an end to the rigid moral and legal distinction drawn between human and non-human animals, ...

. He takes part in various projects and campaigns supporting animal rights. In 2018, he worked together with the organisation Obránci zvířat (OBRAZ) and made a voiceover for one of their campaign videos, called "Jak to snáší", dealing with the issue of caged hens.

Sport career

Alongside his musical career, Benny is also an active sportsman. He has competed in Brazilian jiu-jitsu around the world. In September 2016, he participated in the Asian Championship and placed third in the medium heavy (up to 88 kg) white belt category. In October of the same year, he participated in the international championship Madrid Open and won the gold medal in the same category.

Personal life

Cristo's mother is Czech, and his father is from

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. His sister Bianca is a

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Filmography

* ''

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

'' – Adjar, a

Cuman The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Rus' chronicles, as " ...

mercenary (2022)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cristovao, Ben Czech rappers Czech pop singers 1987 births Living people English-language singers from the Czech Republic 21st-century Czech male singers Czech people of Angolan descent Sportspeople from Plzeň Czech male judoka Musicians from Plzeň 21st-century Czech sportsmen Eurovision Song Contest entrants