The
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
participated in 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" by Måns Zelmerlöw. Organised by the European Broadcasting ...
with the song "I Stand" written by Christian Schneider, Sara Biglert and Aidan O'Connor. The song was performed by
Gabriela Gunčíková
Gabriela Gunčíková (; born 27 June 1993), also known as Gabriela Gun, is a Czech singer. Her singing voice has been described as a cross between Sheryl Crow and Ann Wilson from the band, Heart. She was the runner-up of the second season of ...
, who was internally selected by the Czech broadcaster
Česká televize
Czech Television ( cs, Česká televize, italics=no ; abbreviation: ČT) is a public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting seven channels. Established after the Velvet Revolution in 1992, it is the successor to Czechoslov ...
(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, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
, 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
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
. 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
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
Kabát
Kabát is a 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 enjoyed ...
performing "Malá dáma" placed 28th (last) in the semi-final achieving only one point, in
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
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 th ...
performing "Have Some Fun" placed 18th (second to last) in her semi-final scoring nine points and in
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
Gipsy.cz 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
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
, 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 Czech Republic in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, represented the Czech Republic in the ...
and
Václav Noid Bárta
Václav Bárta (born 27 October 1980), known as Václav Noid Bárta, is a Czech singer, songwriter, and actor.
He comes from an artistic family. His father is a writer and director, and his mother a singer.
At age 17, he formed the Czech nu-met ...
.
The Czech national broadcaster,
Česká televize
Czech Television ( cs, Česká televize, italics=no ; abbreviation: ČT) is a public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting seven channels. Established after the Velvet Revolution in 1992, it is the successor to Czechoslov ...
(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
Gabriela Gunčíková (; born 27 June 1993), also known as Gabriela Gun, is a Czech singer. Her singing voice has been described as a cross between Sheryl Crow and Ann Wilson from the band, Heart. She was the runner-up of the second season of ...
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 Mic ...
, composer and producer Jan Maxián and composer and 2015 Czech Eurovision entrant Václav Noid Bárta
Václav Bárta (born 27 October 1980), known as Václav Noid Bárta, is a Czech singer, songwriter, and actor.
He comes from an artistic family. His father is a writer and director, and his mother a singer.
At age 17, he formed the Czech nu-met ...
. "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
Mat Sinner (born Matthias Lasch; 16 October 1964 in Stuttgart, West Germany) is a bassist, vocalist, and record producer from Stuttgart, Germany.
Sinner has been involved in numerous bands and projects throughout his musical career. His main ...
, 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) who had the idea to re-think ...
'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 talk show programme ''Xarabank
''Xarabank'' was a prime time talk show produced by Where's Everybody that aired every Friday on the Maltese national television station TVM, till 2020. The show was presented by Peppi Azzopardi, and later by Mark Laurence Zammit. Various topi ...
'' and performing during the ''Malta Eurovision Party'' at the Aria Complex in San Ġwann
San Ġwann is a town in the Central Region of Malta, with a population of 14,244 as of 2021. Previous to its separate administration the town used to form part of two separate localities being Birkirkara and St. Julian's.
Places and monuments ...
. On 26 April, Gabriela Gunčíková performed during the ''Euro Party'' event organised by OGAE
The (OGAE) () is a non-governmental and non-profit international organisation, consisting of 42 Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs from across Europe and beyond. It was founded in 1984 in Savonlinna, Finland by Jaripekka Koikkalainen.
Four non-p ...
Czech Republic, which took place at the Fénix club in Zlín
Zlín (in 1949–1989 Gottwaldov; ; german: Zlin) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 73,000 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 ...
.
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; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...
(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 List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
and before the entry from Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
.
In the Czech Republic, the semi-finals were broadcast on ČT2
ČT2 (ČT Dva, Česká televize 2, "''Dvojka''") is Czech public television channel, operated by Česká televize. ČT2 broadcasts documentaries nature-oriented shows, frequently showing foreign films in the original versions with Czech subtitles ...
and the final was broadcast on ČT1
ČT1 (ČT Jedna, Česká televize 1, "''Jednička''") is the Czech public television channel, operated by Česká televize. ČT1 is a general purpose channel, showing family-oriented television, Czech movies, children's programming, news and docum ...
.[ 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
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
. 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, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
and before the entry from the Netherlands
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.
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 Anděleditor, producer, presenter
* Marcela Kočandrlováartist manager of Warner Music Czech Republic
* Petr Králradio presenter, music editor
* Markéta Nešlehováfilm director
]
References
External links
*
{{Eurovision Song Contest 2016
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...