photo: CT
We can not wait for the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. Therefore, we have a closer look at one of the contestants every day. Today: Czechia.
Aiko
Alena Shirmanova, better known as Aiko, is a singer from Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, born on December 26, 1999. She became famous on a show called “Česko Slovenská SuperStar.” Aiko released her first music album, named after herself, in 2018. Her song “Hunt” from her 2020 album “Expiration Date” got a lot of attention. She made history twice: once when her picture was shown on a big screen in New York’s Times Square and again when she joined a special Spotify music campaign. Aiko has performed at big music events and opened shows for famous musicians like Alice Merton. Her songs have been played on TV shows like “Teen Mom” and “Love Island.”
In 2023, Aiko released an album called “Fortune’s Child.” She also won a competition with her song “Pedestal,” which means she will represent the Czech Republic at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. Aiko now lives in Brighton, England, and is getting ready for Eurovision, where she’ll sing in front of lots of people.
ESCZ 2024
Czechia had a national final this year. Seven songs were presented on the internet. They were put online on 28 November 2023. A week later they were presented again in a show, hosted by Adam Mišík en César Sampson. In that show, Czech and international televoters chose a winner. While the Czech audience preferred Elly, the international audience chose Aiko. The latter won.
Czechia in the Eurovision Song Contest
Czechia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007 with rock band Kabát and their song “Malá dáma”. It was not a success: 1 point in the semifinal. Two years later, Gypsy.cz even got no points at all. Czechia quit after that failure, to return in 2015. The best score so far was for Mikolas Josef in 2018. He became 6th.
Mikolas Josef, EBU/Thomas Hanses
The bookmakers
Currently, the odds predict a 34th place for Czechia to win the contest. To reach the semifinal, they even predict a last place. However, still anything can happen, so we stay positive.
The song
This is the song:
