Benny Cristo wins Czech national selection for Eurovision 2020

How the public and jury voted

The Czech national selection received close to 35.000 individual votes, which is almost 10.000 more than last year. Benny received 22 points; 12 from the public vote and 10 from the international jury. Elis Mraz & Čis T came 2nd and Barbora Mochowa ended up in 3rd place.

The outcome of the Czech national selection was decided by both public voting through the official Eurovision app, as well as the vote of an international jury. The international jury consisted of previous Eurovision Song Contest participants from Europe and beyond:

• Isaiah (Australia 2017)
• Katerine Duska (Greece 2019)
• Kasia Mos (Poland 2017)
• KEiiNO (Norway 2019)
• Kristian Kostov (Bulgaria 2017)
• Michela (Malta 2019)
• Miki (Spain 2019)
• Sebastian Rejman (Finland 2019)
• Stig Rästa (Estonia 2015)
• Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl (Slovenia 2019)

About Benny

Benny Cristo has been a regular on the Czech music scene for over 10 years. In 2019, he released his EP Kontakt, which contains a total of 6 songs including hits Aleiaio and Plan. His biggest hits so far are Bomby (24 million views on YouTube), Asio (14 million views) and Padam (24 million views).

Over the years, Benny has built a strong fan base on social networks, he's followed by nearly 800,000 people on Instagram. In addition to his musical career, he is a professional jiu-jitsu competitor, holding prestigious awards from international tournaments in his category.

Let's get social!

You can follow Benny Cristo on the following social media platforms:

• Instagram
• YouTube
• Spotify

Do you think Benny will be able to top Lake Malawi's score at Eurovision 2019 for the Czech Republic? Let us know in the comments!

===

Posted 20 January 2020 at 08:00 CET

Vote now for your favourite Czech Republic act!

Voting is open for the national selection of the Czech Republic. 7 artists have been selected, from which the Czech Eurovision Song Contest 2020 representative will be chosen. The final outcome will be a combined result of the international public vote and an international jury vote.

Now that all songs are published, you can cast your vote via the official Eurovision app (DOWNLOAD) by going to the 'ESCZ 2020 · VOTE NOW' tab.

• Barbora Mochowa - White & Black Holes
• Benny Cristo - Kemama
• Elis Mraz ft. Čis T - Wanna Be Like
• Karelll - At Least We've Tried
• Olga Lounová - Dark Water
• Pam Rabbit - Get Up
• We All Poop - All The Blood (Positive Song Actually)

Scroll down to watch the accompanying music videos.

Be sure to follow ESCZ on Facebook and Instagram for more information and the latest updates

===

Posted 13 January 2020 at 13:30 CET

Czech Republic presents 7 hopefuls for Rotterdam 2020

Česká Televize just announced its national finalists for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. Their competing songs will be announced at 8:00 CET on Monday 20 January. Like last year, you will be able to vote for your favourite song with the official Eurovision app.

Check out the biographies of the 7 artists below. The international public will be able to vote for their favourite artist and song. Once the songs are published on Monday 20 January, you can cast your vote via the official Eurovision app (DOWNLOAD).

• Monday 20 January 2020: Voting starts at 8:00 CET through the official Eurovision app when also all songs and music videos will be published
• Sunday 2 February 2020: Voting ends at 20:00 CET
• Monday 3 February 2020: Winner will be announced

Aside from the public vote, an international jury will also review the finalists and cast their vote. From this combined vote, the act that will represent the Czech Republic at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 will be selected.

Barbora Mochowa - White & Black Holes

Barbora was born in Trutnov in 1993. When she was 7 years old, she participated in a television contest Rozjezdy pro hvězdy, and then appeared in several more television shows afterwards. Barbora wanted to play the violin, so she started studying voluntary art school in Trutnov. As a result, she still has a very close relationship to classical music, and thinks this is also reflected in her own productions.

In 2019, Barbora attended the first Czech song-writing camp where she met the producer Viliam Béreš. Together, they composed the song True Colors which was selected to the Czech national selection of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. As of now, they're working on her second album with Viliam Béreš, and the album will also include the current song for the national selection.

Benny Cristo - Kemama

Benny Cristo has been working in the Czech music scene for 10 years. In 2019, he released his new EP Kontakt, which contains a total of 6 songs including hits Aleiaio an Plan. His biggest hits so far are songs called Bomby (24 million views on YouTube), Asio (14 million views) and Padam (24 million views).

In September 2019 he performed at the almost sold-out O2 arena for 15.000 people, which he decided to do again in 2020.

In addition to his musical career, Ben is a professional jiu-jitsu competitor and holding prestigious awards from international tournaments in his category.

Elis Mraz & Čis T - Wanna Be Like

Elis Mraz is a Czech singer and songwriter. Her writing skills are evident in the collaborations on her forthcoming album for which she took writing and recording trips to Los Angeles and London.

Early in her career, she reached the semi-finals of NOVA Voice of the Czech Republic and became the summer face of an advertising campaign 'Say it through Song'. She won the Czech Nightingale Mattoni 2014 award in the 'Discovery of the Year' category.

Čis T (Čistychov) is an urban hip-hop artist from Bratislava, Slovakia. He started to record tracks in 1996. He was active with his first group L.U.Z.A. and founded and was part of the legendary crew NAZOV STAVBY which was defining the hip-hop sound in Slovakia at the time. He has released 13 studio albums so far.

Karelll - At Least We've Tried

Karelll is a Czech singer-songwriter and a music producer. He studied songwriting at the BIMM Institute in London. During his studies, he gathered so much experience that made it possible for him to launch his career right after he finished university. When he came back home from the United Kingdom, Karelll opened his own recording studio and started to utilize his experience.

Nowadays, he writes and produces songs for himself and for many other artists. He has also started a band with whom he is planning to perform live.

Olga Lounová - Dark Water

Olga Lounová is a singer, composer, activist and rally driver who has found success with over 1500 concerts, multiple millions of YouTube views and numerous hits in her country to her name. She opened for P!nk during one of her concerts in Prague.

Olga has recently lived in Prague and Los Angeles, where she already recorded several tracks for her new upcoming record with well known and respected producers. She is also involved in various humanitarian activities.

Pam Rabbit - Get Up

Pam Rabbit is a singer and writer from the Czech republic with Armenian roots. As a young girl, she found a passion for music and dancing. She creates her own music videos. Pam is a student at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory and makes her living by singing in bands and writing songs for other singers.

Pam really cares about freedom, this can be heard in her lyrics. She found a big connection with animals and that‘s how she got her nickname Rabbit.

She is not new to the Eurovision Song Contest; Pam was a backing vocalist at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 for Mikolas Josef and took part in the Czech Republic's national selection in 2019.

We All Poop - All the Blood (Positive Song Actually)

We all Poop is a pop-rock band consisting of 4 people.

Jakub Božek – lead singer

Since he was 14, Jakub has been doing music, especially playing the guitar. He attended music lessons at a basic art school and started singing at the age of 27. He never formally learned to sing, he only started taking lessons recently. He is a co-founder of an asylum for livestock - The Hope Farm - where he has worked since its establishment until the summer of 2019. He has been active in the field of animal protection in general since 2010.

Vojtěch Božek – bass guitar

Vojtěch (Vojta) is 25 years old and was born in Prague. He has been doing music since he was about 15, but also has a pilot license having majored in aviation mechanics. He founded a music label named Stone Smoker, who mostly works with psychedelic bands from all over the world.

Šimon Martínek - guitar

Šimon has been playing in several bands, where he is the guitar player, but also songwriter and vocalist. Besides being in a band himself, he is also a guitar teacher at the International School of Music and Fine Arts in Prague. He currently attends the Prague Conservatory himself and majored in Arts management between 2014 and 2018.

Michal Jiráň – drums, main composer

Michal studies the piano when he was 10 and added guitar and bass guitar at the age of 14. A year later, he started to play the drums and started studying at an arts school. During his studies, he worked as an assistant editor at TV Nova, and later as a sound engineer in the theatre of the international conservatory and at a recording studio.

He currently works at the Divadlo v Dlouhé theatre, plays the drums in the Perutě band and is working on music production.

These are the 7 finalists of the Czech Republic's national selection. Stay tuned for their competing songs!