I felt the same way, the song didn't do anything for me in the live show, and I was surprised it won. But the studio version is gorgeous! I hope they can bring that sound to Liverpool!
I am czech and I just want to say, we have 0 budget for the ESC studio. Nobody in here cares, Thats why our voting is mostly done by outside vote. They will get more resources on the ESC stages, its up to them how they can use it
The only song that makes me cry this year (it was De Diepte last year). The live version was quite disappointing but if they bring the visuals to the Eurovision stage this is definitely one of my potential winners this year. The harmonies are haunting, you are right.
You can still call our country Czech Republic, now both options - the shorter version "Czechia" or the longer version "Czech Republic" - are officially possible (btw most Czechs still def prefer Czech Republic, but it's not that practical than the newer shorter version 😅)
many of the European Republics have the Formal name of "_______________ Republic" or Republique/Reppublica _________". Italia, Czechia, France, Germany.. all are short versions of a formal name (No one wants to spit out Bundesrepublik Deutschland every time LOL)
@@ZakhadWOW Yep, I know. But non of these countries were using it in a common conversation, sports events.... Eurovision. Only for the formal (political) occasions. Don't know how a citizen of Norway would feel about using a term "Norwegian Kingdom" while referring to their home country in a common communication with their foreign friends, a citizen of Serbia using the term Serbian Republic etc... I have never seen these forms in the sport events, Eurovision etc. either... We Czechs (well, I can talk only for myself, but pretty much all Czechs that I know feel it the same way) just got used to it, using it in every common conversation while referring to our country, we were using it in the sports events, Eurovision... unlike the (most) rest of countries. So now hearing "Czechia" instead of "Czech Republic" is prety much odd. But it's just a matter of time till we get used to it 😄
Czechia is a lot better. Using political names in non-political situations (like sports and music contests) is just absurd and useless. Thank God the short name is becoming a lot more common in English.
@@Ogeroigres Idk, I think it actually doesn't matter that much. Ofc the shorter version is more practical, but that's probably it. Most Czechs will still refer to our country as the Czech Republic (since it has always been like that and so it's gonna probably take some time for people to get used to it, for now I'm still gonna use "Czech Republic" too) and I don't see anything bad about it. Dominican Republic is using the word "republic" in their name since its official existence too (as we did) and I don't see any problem in this case either.
I did it the other way around: I watched the video first & was floored, then I watched the national final performance & was just sort of charmed by its no-frills approach. This is my top song of EV 2023
My top 3, maybe nr 1, based on the video. It's hauntingly mysterious, almost religious. I can't describe what it makes me feel. It takes me somewhere back in history, into a world I never knew. Because I love it so much, I'm very nervous about their staging and performance in May.
This song just hits different when you're Slavic. Apart from uderstanding the Czech language, (being Polish I can understand pretty much the whole thing) the message they send is just so powerful when you know the history of eastern Europe and obviously the recent events. These women are queens ❤ I actually would love the lyrics to be fully in Czech
I was the same as you, Matt. Saw the NF performance first after hearing the hype and didn't like it at all then I listened to the music video and yeah it's so much better. We still need to see a proper live performance from these girls though.
Yes, like you said, the Czechia NF was very low budget this year. I can understand how someone would be underwhelmed by the song if that’s all they saw, but the other NF performances weren’t any better. As you saw from the music video, this song has endless potential in Liverpool!
and who the hell was that clueless dweeb introducing the acts? Hells bells, I could have done it with more enthusiasm, and I'm 61 with very bad joint problems LOL
This is easily in my top 3 this year. 2023 has been such a terrible year for entries. This is a great surprise and a definite finalist. Well done, Czechia!
Agree with you Matt - the live performance was not very good - but the official music video changed my mind too. Hope they are able to do a better staging in Liverpool ! 💞
I feel like the vocals were there in the NF, but the sound and production quality not so much. I have really high hopes for Czechia when that high Eurovision kicks in.
I think semi final 1 is really though. But I think 🇸🇪🇳🇴🇫🇮🇲🇩🇨🇿 are 100% qualifiers. I just cant see any scenario where these wont advance. For now I also think 🇷🇸🇨🇭 go through. Or it will be very shocking. I have good hopes for Israël and Azerbaijan, but we have to wait for that. For the last spot it could be any of the other songs in the semi I think
I think Serbia is sure qualifier. People love this song. For Croatia 50% and Sweden, Norway, Finland and Czech Republic is 100%. Moldova i don't know. Same as Croatia i guess
This is shaping up to be my favourite...it's been stuck in my head since I first heard it. The national final itself was not the best to any of the entrants. If Vesna can bring the visual feast of their video ie: the costumes, the make up, the sass, the craziness and haunting melodies to the ESC stage then I can see them being a strong contender for the win. I have my fingers crossed for them. ps:Does anyone from Czechia know if Vesna have funding from their broadcaster for their travel costs to Liverpool?
All costs associated with participation in Eurovision are certainly fully covered by Česká Televize (Czech broadcaster). I don't know if there are any additional expenses that the participant would pay for themselves.
I keep changing my mind about this song - do I like it or not? Am I being too swayed by other opinions? It's not my kind of song but it is interesting and has a nice beat. I wonder if they will be able to perform this live the way they perform it in the video? I think this will be in the middle of the pack for me.
@@Ogeroigres I get that, it’s more to do that we always been Czech Republic - or in czech Ceska Republika or short Cesko. Now someome decided without some proper discussion with people about czech rp being replaced for czechia which I can understand why but don’t understand why there wasn’t any discussion about it… most of the world still think our name is czechoslovakia, we still didn’t manage to teach them over 30 years we are czech republic and now we changed it to something else again 🤷♂️
@@petrmysicka9764 Your country needed a short geographic name like any other NORMAL European country instead of using a political name like a failed poor state (Donestk Republic, Luhansk Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo). Besides, the word "Czechia" had its first recorded use in 1541 in Latin and in 1795 in English. U.S. newspapers commonly used Czechia between 1918 and 1960 to refer to the western part of Czechoslovakia (as opposed to Slovakia, its eastern part) i.e. to the contemporary Czech Republic. There was no need for a discussion since Czechia is merely the English translation of Cesko, a word that Czechs themselves use in their own language. Do Germans complain that their country Deutschland is called Germany in English? of course not so the same logic applies here. Czechia makes a lot more sense and it's here to stay, thankfully. No more nonsenses like CR (which actually means Costa Rica), "Czech" (which is an adjective) or "Czech Rep. Be glad that the English language has finally adopted a proper name for your country, no more "republic" mambo-jambo.
@@Ogeroigres bit abbreviation is not CR BUT CZ but who cares what it is in english, it’s not Czechia in czech language so it doesn’t bother me how people call is, of czechia works for them it’s fine with me. It will not change my life :))
The sound quality and mixing in the National Final was actually atrocious and did a complete disservice to all of the artists. The Czech broadcaster needs to do better. Or return to their old format.
Solo was also much better in the studio version. Want to love the song but the live version was a bit tragic. Hopefully it was just the acoustics and lack of budget, but yikes! Hoping for the best though!
Solo had a stage though, the Czech artists had nothing. Ansolutely nothing. A small TV studio "audition platform". I heard the same person that made the music video will help with staging in Liverpool.
I think this is an exception. their national final was so bad it hindered them as well as the other entries. you look at countries like Sweden and Norway that treat them like big yearly events. the quality is night and day compared to Czechia who just threw it out and called it a day. this is probably cause esc is not very popular there as well as Slovakia. it can also be a lack of budget. look at Moldova 2022. got absolutely bashed but when it came to the contest itself it got top 10
I usually would agree with you which is why I didn't do one for the longest time. People kept badgering me to react to the Studio version due the dramatic difference. It is true that the Czech NF quality was very poor and didn't do the song any justice.
@@ESCunited thank you for explanation. Othervise Reaction on studio versions and predicting yes/no qualification and building hype around thiese songs is rediculous.
I felt the same way, the song didn't do anything for me in the live show, and I was surprised it won. But the studio version is gorgeous! I hope they can bring that sound to Liverpool!
I am czech and I just want to say, we have 0 budget for the ESC studio. Nobody in here cares, Thats why our voting is mostly done by outside vote. They will get more resources on the ESC stages, its up to them how they can use it
This is my #1 choice. By far.
The only song that makes me cry this year (it was De Diepte last year). The live version was quite disappointing but if they bring the visuals to the Eurovision stage this is definitely one of my potential winners this year. The harmonies are haunting, you are right.
You can still call our country Czech Republic, now both options - the shorter version "Czechia" or the longer version "Czech Republic" - are officially possible (btw most Czechs still def prefer Czech Republic, but it's not that practical than the newer shorter version 😅)
many of the European Republics have the Formal name of "_______________ Republic" or Republique/Reppublica _________". Italia, Czechia, France, Germany.. all are short versions of a formal name (No one wants to spit out Bundesrepublik Deutschland every time LOL)
@@ZakhadWOW Yep, I know. But non of these countries were using it in a common conversation, sports events.... Eurovision. Only for the formal (political) occasions. Don't know how a citizen of Norway would feel about using a term "Norwegian Kingdom" while referring to their home country in a common communication with their foreign friends, a citizen of Serbia using the term Serbian Republic etc... I have never seen these forms in the sport events, Eurovision etc. either... We Czechs (well, I can talk only for myself, but pretty much all Czechs that I know feel it the same way) just got used to it, using it in every common conversation while referring to our country, we were using it in the sports events, Eurovision... unlike the (most) rest of countries. So now hearing "Czechia" instead of "Czech Republic" is prety much odd. But it's just a matter of time till we get used to it 😄
Czechia is a lot better. Using political names in non-political situations (like sports and music contests) is just absurd and useless. Thank God the short name is becoming a lot more common in English.
@@Ogeroigres Idk, I think it actually doesn't matter that much. Ofc the shorter version is more practical, but that's probably it. Most Czechs will still refer to our country as the Czech Republic (since it has always been like that and so it's gonna probably take some time for people to get used to it, for now I'm still gonna use "Czech Republic" too) and I don't see anything bad about it. Dominican Republic is using the word "republic" in their name since its official existence too (as we did) and I don't see any problem in this case either.
#TeamCzechia 💪🏼
I did it the other way around: I watched the video first & was floored, then I watched the national final performance & was just sort of charmed by its no-frills approach. This is my top song of EV 2023
I really hope they can stage it well, the studio version is sooo good. This could easily be a top ten entry with a good performance and stage.
My top 3, maybe nr 1, based on the video. It's hauntingly mysterious, almost religious. I can't describe what it makes me feel. It takes me somewhere back in history, into a world I never knew. Because I love it so much, I'm very nervous about their staging and performance in May.
This song just hits different when you're Slavic. Apart from uderstanding the Czech language, (being Polish I can understand pretty much the whole thing) the message they send is just so powerful when you know the history of eastern Europe and obviously the recent events. These women are queens ❤ I actually would love the lyrics to be fully in Czech
I was the same as you, Matt. Saw the NF performance first after hearing the hype and didn't like it at all then I listened to the music video and yeah it's so much better. We still need to see a proper live performance from these girls though.
Yes, like you said, the Czechia NF was very low budget this year. I can understand how someone would be underwhelmed by the song if that’s all they saw, but the other NF performances weren’t any better. As you saw from the music video, this song has endless potential in Liverpool!
and who the hell was that clueless dweeb introducing the acts? Hells bells, I could have done it with more enthusiasm, and I'm 61 with very bad joint problems LOL
In my top5 since first hear
This is easily in my top 3 this year. 2023 has been such a terrible year for entries. This is a great surprise and a definite finalist. Well done, Czechia!
POLND 12 points
They just need to clean up the harmony live 👍
Agree with you Matt - the live performance was not very good - but the official music video changed my mind too. Hope they are able to do a better staging in Liverpool ! 💞
I feel like the vocals were there in the NF, but the sound and production quality not so much. I have really high hopes for Czechia when that high Eurovision kicks in.
It's a masterpiece
Not sure if it works equally well without the video though
I think semi final 1 is really though. But I think 🇸🇪🇳🇴🇫🇮🇲🇩🇨🇿 are 100% qualifiers. I just cant see any scenario where these wont advance. For now I also think 🇷🇸🇨🇭 go through. Or it will be very shocking. I have good hopes for Israël and Azerbaijan, but we have to wait for that. For the last spot it could be any of the other songs in the semi I think
I think Serbia is sure qualifier. People love this song. For Croatia 50% and Sweden, Norway, Finland and Czech Republic is 100%. Moldova i don't know. Same as Croatia i guess
@@comi2570 Yes I think these six will qualify for sure and maybe the rest depends on live performances. Croatia is a difficult one for me.
Only reaction is we get is just "okeyy okeyy okey x3737733"
This is shaping up to be my favourite...it's been stuck in my head since I first heard it. The national final itself was not the best to any of the entrants. If Vesna can bring the visual feast of their video ie: the costumes, the make up, the sass, the craziness and haunting melodies to the ESC stage then I can see them being a strong contender for the win. I have my fingers crossed for them. ps:Does anyone from Czechia know if Vesna have funding from their broadcaster for their travel costs to Liverpool?
All costs associated with participation in Eurovision are certainly fully covered by Česká Televize (Czech broadcaster). I don't know if there are any additional expenses that the participant would pay for themselves.
I keep changing my mind about this song - do I like it or not? Am I being too swayed by other opinions? It's not my kind of song but it is interesting and has a nice beat. I wonder if they will be able to perform this live the way they perform it in the video? I think this will be in the middle of the pack for me.
Finally! Thank you 🎉 don’t worry about Czechia, for most czech people we still prefer Czech Republic 🤷♂️❤️
Why though, if Czechs use Cesko in Czech (and means the same as Czechia).
@@Ogeroigres I get that, it’s more to do that we always been Czech Republic - or in czech Ceska Republika or short Cesko. Now someome decided without some proper discussion with people about czech rp being replaced for czechia which I can understand why but don’t understand why there wasn’t any discussion about it… most of the world still think our name is czechoslovakia, we still didn’t manage to teach them over 30 years we are czech republic and now we changed it to something else again 🤷♂️
@@petrmysicka9764 Your country needed a short geographic name like any other NORMAL European country instead of using a political name like a failed poor state (Donestk Republic, Luhansk Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo). Besides, the word "Czechia" had its first recorded use in 1541 in Latin and in 1795 in English. U.S. newspapers commonly used Czechia between 1918 and 1960 to refer to the western part of Czechoslovakia (as opposed to Slovakia, its eastern part) i.e. to the contemporary Czech Republic. There was no need for a discussion since Czechia is merely the English translation of Cesko, a word that Czechs themselves use in their own language. Do Germans complain that their country Deutschland is called Germany in English? of course not so the same logic applies here. Czechia makes a lot more sense and it's here to stay, thankfully. No more nonsenses like CR (which actually means Costa Rica), "Czech" (which is an adjective) or "Czech Rep. Be glad that the English language has finally adopted a proper name for your country, no more "republic" mambo-jambo.
@@Ogeroigres bit abbreviation is not CR BUT CZ but who cares what it is in english, it’s not Czechia in czech language so it doesn’t bother me how people call is, of czechia works for them it’s fine with me. It will not change my life :))
The sound quality and mixing in the National Final was actually atrocious and did a complete disservice to all of the artists. The Czech broadcaster needs to do better. Or return to their old format.
The live version is so trash, I'm sorry. They're still in my top 5 tho (purely based on the studio versions).
Solo was also much better in the studio version. Want to love the song but the live version was a bit tragic. Hopefully it was just the acoustics and lack of budget, but yikes! Hoping for the best though!
Solo had a stage though, the Czech artists had nothing. Ansolutely nothing. A small TV studio "audition platform". I heard the same person that made the music video will help with staging in Liverpool.
Why didnt you react to all Eurovision entries for 2023. It is not ok/fer.
He can react to whatever he wants on his channel
I dont like reactions to studio version especialy if there is live version. What a use of that reaction if live is out and its not that good.
I think this is an exception. their national final was so bad it hindered them as well as the other entries. you look at countries like Sweden and Norway that treat them like big yearly events. the quality is night and day compared to Czechia who just threw it out and called it a day. this is probably cause esc is not very popular there as well as Slovakia. it can also be a lack of budget. look at Moldova 2022. got absolutely bashed but when it came to the contest itself it got top 10
I usually would agree with you which is why I didn't do one for the longest time. People kept badgering me to react to the Studio version due the dramatic difference. It is true that the Czech NF quality was very poor and didn't do the song any justice.
@@ESCunited thank you for explanation. Othervise Reaction on studio versions and predicting yes/no qualification and building hype around thiese songs is rediculous.