At the second semi-final of Ukraine’s Vidbir 2020 last Saturday, the final three qualifiers were selected for the upcoming grand final. But the episode also featured a performance from the Czech Republic‘s Eurovision act Benny Cristo. He gave the first full live performance of his Eurovision song “Kemama”.
From Prague to Kyiv, Benny brought the feel-good vibes of “Kemama”. He was joined on stage by DJ Fuuse and dancer Natália Felinity.
The staging was simple. The background LED wall displayed blue geometric shapes on black, with Benny Cristo’s name in handwritten text.
But Benny, his DJ and his dancer brought loads of energy to the stage. Benny proved himself an experienced performer who knows how to work a crowd and put across his charisma.
The Vidbir audience enjoyed the performance, with plenty of cheering, clapping and even some audience members dancing along. It established that there’s a lot more to “Kemama” than the studio version.
Next stop: Africa
This might be the only time fans will get to hear a live performance of this particular version of “Kemama”. As Benny shared on his Instagram, he is now heading to Africa to revamp “Kemama” for Eurovision.
Benny previously confirmed that he will be travelling to Kenya to “take the song to the next level”. There he will be joined by his producer Osama Verse-atile.
Earlier this month, Benny Cristo won the Czech Republic’s online’s national final ESCZ 2020. A popular performer in the Czech Republic, Benny Cristo already has a number of hits to his name in his home country. His past songs (under the name Ben Cristovao) have racked up millions of views on YouTube. Now, he’ll be taking the party to Rotterdam and be hoping to win over international viewers at Eurovision 2020.
What did you think of the live version of “Kemama”? Are you excited to hear the revamp? Tell us your thoughts below!
Why are Czech entries always present at Ukrainian selection?
Possibly because they have been chosen ahead of Vidbir the last few years. They’ve also had the French representatives in 2018 and 2019 but not this year.
The song is too urban for me, but I can see people liking it. No hate, just a personal opinion.
The perfomance sells it better than the video. I kind of like it.
This and Lithuania are the best so far.
Songs like this(Cyprus 2018&19 as well) just work so much better live than studio in my opinion. It was my fourth fav in thier selection but I didn’t(and still don’t) hate it. It’s not my type of song but I appreciate it nonetheless. Benny is charismatic and is a good performer so good luck to him and the Czech Republic at Rotterdam.
There’s some real vitriol in these comments about this act, I think it’s quite good, he’s great, the song could just do with a bit more personality. Don’t underestimate how well this could do in Eurovision, if it looks cheap then it could be a sure flop, but I’d trust the delegation behind Lie to Me and Friend of a Friend to make this look really exciting and pop and stage. I see his as a likely top ten finisher based on potential alone.
The same people that is destroying almost all songs are loving the same power ballad that they always say they hate (hi, Attention).
I think he’s great and the song is very catchy. Good luck. :’)
Not the style of music I like ,find no nice song ,for me not candidate for the final ,
Good luck Czech
Song is ok
The song couldn’t be even more cheap. And there’s nothing really fresh in it, as this genre has been around for ages.
Like your taste sadly
Nil points in the semi final
Trust me when i think this can make top 5, he is so cute and the song just works!! They go hand in hand, such a beautiful combination of african and european rythmic!!! 12 POINTS FROM THE NETHERLANDS
I thought the song was much better live than in the studio version.
Great performance and very underrated song!
Nothing else today? 🙂
This cheap, awful, childish song will flop so hard… CZ will regret not sending We All Poop, they’ve got a gold mine in their selection and instead they voted for……this. Wahahahahaha!
Just sit and watch Cristovao reaching top 10.
This won’t make the Top 10, LOL
Wll make
haba haba meets boys with emotions
Bad take
This will be Czech Republic’s best result yet if the revamp turns out better than the current version. I’m calling it!
(In fact, if the televoters love it well enough, Czech Republic might finally win this year!)
Calling it now, Kemama will be one of the big hits of summer 2020
France 2010-ish? Popular even 10 years later on
Ayia Napa, 1998
This is going to be huge with televotes based on the current crop of songs!!
Don’t expect the jurors to be backing this ! But yeah I do like this song ! Czech republic can easily make it through the 2nd semi , is it ?
I’m glad more people are warming up to this one. And I feel that the same is happening with Arilena and Diodato, who also faced some initial backlash after beating fan favorites. Benny is very charismatic and I trust the revamp will solve the minor issue I still have with this entry.
Are people finally coming around to this? 🙂 I can easily see it coming top 10 in Rotterdam. The song is catchy, Benny seems like a guy you want to hang out with – televoters in Western countries will eat this up.
Oh wow! So he really *is* a great performer. Plus the vocals were pretty stable. I love the little dance he does to the chorus. I hope the revamp keeps the spirit of the original but with the Afrobeat turned way up by the last minute.
I know y’all downvoted the Sacha comment below, but she does really well with these dance-type numbers. There’s a deep musicality in the way she does the lighting + camera work, and the way she hits every beat in the song.
I might be too hyped, but I feel like this could enter the top10. Not sure, but this will stand out a lot. Televote will love this and I think that the juries won’t be indifferent to this – they gave him a second place in the national final. So good seeing the Czech success.
This will enter top 10, mark my word.
This was already my second favourite!
I liked it from the start and now I like it even more! It sounded even better than I expected. With a good revamp it could really be a hit. But most importantly, he sounds really good live and you can see that they already have some ideas for the staging (the dance). I wish him luck and can’t wait to see him on the Eurovision stage! Prove the haters wrong!
As others have pointed out, this is history repeating itself for the third year in a row: Czech Republic picks a polarizing song, fan opinion is split, singer(s) kill it at Vidbir, fans like it now. I’ve always dug it, but I wasn’t sure how it could be staged, and this shows how it doesn’t even need anything complicated to be effective. He’s a wonderful performer and I would be surprised if this isn’t a third consecutive qualification for the Czechs.
I think most people don’t realize the full potential of this song. Benny is the Afrobeat version of Mikolas Josef and will come in very high in the Grand Final. I hope the revamp puts the lyrics more clearly upfront as they are very meaningful but at the same time keep the catchy chorus there. This is the only true bop of the 1st 11 songs released so far.
This is it !!! Love it, he served face and it was sooo cool ! This can win but his song needs Sasha Jean Baptiste
No Sasha Jean!! Cheerful entry like this doesn’t need her dark vibe.
It went to spots up in my ranking live he really can sell the song
Maybe go to the final but then botton 5. Dont expect big success in Europ this.
Your taste is botton 5
he did great! not surprising since he’s a great performer
Benny Cristo is huge in Czech Republic right now. I love that song. It is definitely getting my votes this year at the semi-final night and final. I want Czech Republic to win.
Not only now, he’s huge for I’d say 10 years 😀
Liked his performance more in Ukraine. It sounds less chaotic and I can hear the lyrics much clearer. Its still bottom of my list but like it a bit better. Not really my kind of music.
Don’t listen to all the people hating on this song. These are the same people who thought “Friend of a Friend” and “Zero Gravity” were horrible songs and wouldn’t qualify for the final and yet they both ended up on the left hand of the scoreboard last year. I’m getting the same vibes with this song. Czech Republic will get another very respectable result this year, mark my words.
Yep. Kate slapped those haters’ faces.
It will not be hard if the rest of the competition is also weak as it is from now.
To be fair, people were mad because Electric Fields hasn’t qualify. I don’t think anyone simply hated Kate. If EF wasn’t there, there would be no hate for Kate.
Still awful and weak, revamp or not, the juries will put this on their last place…
50 downvotes in 29 minutes… can u see how much of a clown u are?
76 now. Of all the spicy takes, this is apparently the one with the biggest consensus of distaste.
Now it’s -92. I have never felt the wiwibloggs comment section feel more united.
Make a screenshot of this and we’ll talk in May after the 2nd semifinal, you Bozo!
@Andrei go hate your own country 🙂 And BTW this is not France or Spain 😉
Congrats, you broke the record for the most downvotes!
123 downvotes in 7 hours.. Benny, just mock this guy already.
Jesus, this is by far the most amount of downvotes I have ever seen on a single Wiwi comment. That’s pretty impressive!
He can say what he wants, he should let it go.
I think this could win, given that is completely different to anything else we’re likely to see and about as far from Sweden as is Angola. Eurovision voters often reward acts who do their own thing and the main clip proves he can do it live.
Yes it could come top 5 – we haven’t heard all the songs yet, but I don’t think we will hear anything like this from other countries.
Not my type of thing but this will qualify for final with a decent stage performance .. mid table placing possibly and a respectable result for Czechs ..
Am I the only one who LOVES this!I think it’s refreshing, fun and charismatic
This will shine in Eurovision. I’m sure.
My #1. Go get em boi!!!!
We repeat 2019.
They choose their song, the Eurovision community online is disappointed, the winner performs at Vidbir, people realize through the live performance that the song is actually very pleasant and start rooting for it. Next step: Finals in Rotterdam 😉
Really want to start listening to the song in full, but I’m holding out for the revamped version. I feel like I am not going to enjoy he revamped version if I am more used to hearing this version (also why as of now, the song is not included in my ranking).
Smashed it, something tells me that CZ is gonna be a contender in Rotterdam…
My spotify only have this and Don’t Break Me. I can jam on them all day long.
I don’t understand the negativity it’s a pleasant song with a current sound.
Kudos to the Czechs for sending yet another fresh song.
Weak vocals, this the typical autotune ‘fresh song’ as you said and singer.
it’s just too urban for basic eurofans who only like dated “bops”.