Image Credit: Aloha Burn (Rodan) // Instagram – @pam.rabbit // David Cleary (Markéta Irglová) // Instagram – @vesna__music // Beáta Máthé (Maella)
Welcome back ESCZ! The Czech Republic’s selection for Eurovision 2023 returns on the 30th January 2023, live from Prague.
With ‘Lights Off’ by We Are Domi returning the country to the Eurovision final in 2022, this years contestants will be hoping to follow in their footsteps and bring success to the Czech Republic at the contest once again this year.
The 5 artists competing were released on the 16th January, and even though we won’t officially find out their songs until the show, there’s some potential entries out already. Let’s meet this years competitors!
Maella
Maella is a singer/songwriter who alternates her time between Prague and London. Her lyrics are written from her own emotional experiences in life, which she then pairs with music she describes as ‘dark alt-pop’. She’s been featured on BBC Introducing, and is a rising young talent that may get her big break at Eurovision.
Her most recent release is called ‘Flood’ – which is likely to be the song we hear at ESCZ. You can hear the song below!
Pam Rabbit
Armenian/Czech singer Pam Rabbit has put her name forward for ESCZ once again, and will be known to fans for her entries in 2019 & 2020. In 2019, her song ‘Easy To Believe’ came 3rd, and in 2020 ‘Get Up’ came 7th. She says she writes music to “show people what is happening in [her] head and find other people who can relate”. She’s been to Eurovision before as a backing vocalist for Mikolas Josef in 2018, but now sets her sights on being the lead artist in 2023.
Her most recent release is called ‘Ghostin’, and came out on January 27th 2023. It’s just 2 minutes and 18 seconds long, making it eligible, yet fairly short for Eurovision. Could this be her song? You can hear it below!
Markéta Irglová
You may recognise Markéta Irglová – but not from ESCZ. In 2022, she took part in Iceland’s Söngvakeppnin with the song ‘Mögulegt’, which came 4th in semi final 2. She started her career in 2006 as a member of The Swell Season, winning an Academy Award in the category Best Original Song for their track ‘Falling Slowly’ which featured in the film Once. She then went on to create the music for the broadway adaption of the film, which won 8 Tony Awards and a Grammy for Best Musical Theatre Album.
On January 17th, she released a 3-minute long song called ‘Happy’, which could well be her ESCZ 2023 entry. You can hear it below!
Vesna
Vesna are a folk band with members from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Russia. Formed in 2016 from the idea of celebrating Slavic culture and femininity, they have been creating music ever since – recently heading out on tour with Norwegian singer AURORA.
Their song is expected to be ‘My Sister’s Crown’, representing female empowerment, with the motto ‘choose love over power’ being used by the band in the songs lyrics and when promoting it online. It features the English, Czech, Ukrainian and Bulgarian language. With an incredibly positive response online, could Vesna be the ones we see in Liverpool for the Czech Republic? You can hear their song below!
RODAN
RODAN is fairly new to the music scene, making his debut in 2020 and releasing his first album ‘Glasses Off’ in 2022. He mixes alternative pop music with indie folk, catching the eye of Czech Radio Station Evropa 2, who nominated him for a ‘Discovery Of The Year’ Award in 2021.
His song ‘Introvert Party Club’ is likely to be what we hear at ESCZ, released on January 27th & coming in at 2 minutes and 57 seconds, making it eligible for the contest. You can hear it below!
ESCZ will be live on the Official Eurovision YouTube Channel at 9pm CET // 8pm GMT on January 30th. The winner will be decided by 30% Czech votes, and 70% international votes. Fans will be able to vote via the Eurovision app. The winner will be announced on February 7th.
Who are you excited for in ESCZ this year? Let us know in the comments below!
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