Checking in on Czechia: Their Top 5 Eurovision placings to date

Czech broadcaster ČT recently announced that they're all set for Basel 2025. Same, besties!

Plans are already afoot for an internal selection of their song for Switzerland, meaning that its national final ESCZ will be taking a break after 6 editions.

ČT has put out an open call for song submissions, and interested creatives can find out all about the application process over on their website. The closing date for submissions is just before the strike of midnight on 30 September.

All of the selected songs to make it through to the next round will be evaluated by a demoscopic jury, which will be managed by a Czech firm and will account for 40% of the decision. An international jury will also weigh in with another 40%, while a ČT selection committee will contribute the final 20% and resolve any ties.

The Czechia news has us gazing back across the country's comparatively short but tanatalisingly sweet history at the Eurovision Song Contest. We've long had Czechia on a Pedestal; a participant with whom you can really Have Some Fun!

Results wise, Czechia got off to a rocky start at the Eurovision Song Contest, and that's not just a reference to the genre they debuted with in 2007. After a streak of low scores kept them from the increasingly elusive Grand Final, the country unfortunately took the decision to withdraw, staying away from the Contest for half a decade.

Returning to Eurovision in 2015 with the aptly titled Hope Never Dies, Czechia soon hit its stride. And it's in this participation run that Czechia has achieved all of its best results to date. 

Shall we revisit? Shall we reminisce? Shall we recollect?... Let's take a look at the Top 5 times that Czechia thrived. 

Czech this out:

5. Gabriela Gunčíková - I Stand (2016)

25th place with 41 points

A chapter in Czechia's Eurovision Song Contest history that’s always a delight to revisit. This was the first time that the country had qualified to the Grand Final. At the time, 4 non-qualifiers since its debut in 2007, and 5 years of subsequent departure from the Contest, meant that I Stand's success in the Semi-Final (where it earned 161 points and finished in 9th) was cause to celebrate.

It felt like the entirety of the Eurovision fandom stood with I Stand, Gabriela Gunčíková’s bombastic ballad and its breakthrough. And since that Grand Final debut in 2016, Czechia have yet to miss a Contest.

4. We Are Domi - Lights Off (2022)

22nd place with 38 points

2022 saw Czechia rejuvenate their national final ESCZ with a whole new look and a new format that included not just an international jury, but an international televote, too. The winner was Lights Off by the lovable trio of music scholars We Are Domi.

Turin’s top-tier show opener set the night in motion via a spectacular laser-light display; We Are Domi’s dance banger proceeded to go off as the lights (and all the lights, at that) went on. And that song’s been sailin’ around in our peripheral ever since!

3. Lake Malawi - Friend of a Friend (2019)

11th place with 157 points

"Ladies and gentlemen watching Eurovision, we are Lake Malawi from the Czech..iaaaaaahhh!"

The boys of Lake Malawi had already achieved some considerable success at home and abroad, so their inclusion in the Czech national final of 2019 was welcome news when it was announced. The group won, and ended up travelling to Tel Aviv, finishing runner-up in their Semi-Final (Czechia's highest ever placing) and getting their country into that Grand final.

The Lake Ma-lads served up a thoroughly charming performance with smiles aplenty against the backdrop of a vibrant colour palette. And they even had us pining for sweater weather in May. No small feat.

2. Vesna - My Sister's Crown (2023)

10th place with 129 points

With a catchy assertion that they "are not your dolls", this talented group of performers had us singing along with them in Czech. And in English. And in Bulgarian. And in Ukrainian! My Sister's Crown was *that* multi-lingual mash-up of musical merit; a statement of sisterhood that was undeniable. 

And just as awe-inspiring as the song itself was the attention-commanding performance that accompanied it. We'd had hair-ography at the Eurovision Song Contest before, but it had never looked like this.

1. Mikolas Josef - Lie To Me (2018)

6th place with 281 points

In 2018, Mikolas Josef rocked up to Lisbon with his bag of tricks and pulled out of that backpack Czechia's best result to date, and one which has yet to be beaten.

No clip compilation of this past decade of Eurovision is complete without either a pose, a flip or a wiggle from Mikolas. And it's fair to assume that few viewers across Europe will have approached a plate of spaghetti in the weeks that followed Lisbon 2018 without sparing a thought for Czechia's golden boy. 

You can listen to all 37 songs of Eurovision 2024 via your favourite streaming service or watch the music videos on our YouTube channel.

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