When Aiko sat down to write her Eurovision 2024 song “Pedestal” she wasn’t in the best place. As she told our Youyou ahead of the ESCZ 2024 final, the song was born of anger.
“I had a moment of realization that I’m not really putting myself first in a relationship,” she said. “I loved the person. But like at the end of the day you only have yourself and you will have yourself, so you should really prioritize yourself and put yourself on a pedestal.”
And with the “Pedestal” revamp, Aiko is doing exactly that. She’s invested in herself and her song, delivering a major glow-up that deserves your attention.
Czechia’s Aiko shares “Pedestal” revamp and music video
The new version is slicker and shinier, more polished and better paced. It’s evolved from an excellent demo to a potential chart-topper.
The music video portrays a more sophisticated and elegant Aiko. Gone is the H&M jumpsuit from the national final and in its place comes a refined ball gown with elbow-length sleeves.
The Old World elegance masks a woman on fire. Aiko smoulders as she lets out her rage. She affirms self-love with some spirited dancing, at one point spinning and flailing her arms in the middle of a circle. The looks come thick and fast – a leather coat, a silky cocktail dress with faux fur stoll, and a little black dress.
Two minutes in and there’s a break where Aiko, serving a delicious English accent, stands up to her partner before having a moment of introspection in the bridge. The quiet repetition of “loving me, loving me” gives her a moment to pause before she lets out a final roar that takes us home. There’s even a cat call flourish to punctuate the drama.
Loving her, loving her, loving her? Absolutely. The girl-power firebrand we loved in the original remains in tact. But it’s punchier and elevated. This is precisely how a revamp should be done.
Aiko is a great singer but she needs to optimise her staging and make sure she does not make it messy, just advice, because if she doesn’t do it, I don’t see it qualifying for the final
And Aiko remains Besa’s rival for the last place…
spoiled rich woman Besa is last place anyway with her duller than dull TiTan ballad
i doubt Aiko will be last or near last, maybe qualifying or maybe just nq’ing as 11th? this genre has its fans though
I thought I had better check out the infamous “live performance” but I had not expected it to be quite so erm raunchy. That will secure a few votes at least.
Love the song itself, but her live vocals will cause her to miss out on the final
Still awful…
I can’t identify the differences although I admit I have not been a fan of the song. It’s not bad, and it serves its style. I still feel her live performance at the NF was very bad. If she improves, she can qualify. It will be a nice addition to the lineup.
great rock song, easy qualifier
my third fave rock song at ESC behind Yuksek Sadakat – Live It Up, Minus One – Alter Ego
Aaaaaaaaand it still sucks. Sorry, Czechia 🙁
This will not progress out of the semi
Slop, no chance, thankfully, to qualify.
So so underappreciated. This needs to qualify and a top 10 placing. Very uplifting and energetic. Hope she has put some work on the vocal because the song itself is really interesting.
I agree. The song is great but it needs a massive improvement in vocals. What we heard in the NF was a shame.
Its more Florence and the Machine & Marina and the Diamonds like. The finishing minute is much better. Still it will be hard for CZ to qualify in the semi with more hard songs.
Nice pure punk !!! The song is great. The problem is that she looks not able to perform live…in an appropriate manner.
OMG! The original was already a banger but she managed to elevate it even more! I just hope her live performance lives up to the song *praying hands emoji*
Ahh bravo on one of the best ESC revamps. This is the best that I could have hoped for with the video. Their next big challenge will be the live performance – How to stage this? Use a big platform and have actors do the argument scene in shadow? Or, do the whole thing with a band set? Or, hook Aiko up to a harness and lift her onto a very high “pedestal”? (It’s in Sweden, so it’ll probably be the harness.)
I dont think the talking will be in the live act. Might be projected or something on the LED wall.
On some photos Aiko is standing in front of some fabric with a projection of her arguing with some dude – maybe that will be an element in the staging. Also green colour is quite prominent.
It is great, my winner at the moment . Go Aiko!
Best rock song in the contest
I liked the original and I like the revamped version even more… but can she sing it live? That’s the big question. I hope this new version is easier for her to sing, because her vocals are the only thing keeping her out of my top 15.
If her live performance lives up to the song, this could be my winner
Winners Vibe
I always thought the song was quite catchy. it’s the live performance that was terrible so hopefully she’s working on her vocals
Having faith Helps a lot
Good job! I prefer this end.
Good luck Aiko, good luck Czechia!
Jumped straight from a 5/10 to a 7.5/10 rating for me. Still not included in my qualifiers but it is much more polished than before and I wouldn’t be mad if it actually managed to do qualify for the Grand Final.
Well said Pikos
the thing is imo I’m not worried about the song I’m more worried about her singing it
Love the song, but the revamp still sounds a lot like All My Pride from Black Honey.
First time listening to this song, for me it is really good, the ending is great, the chorus is catchy, it’s up to her vocals and the staging, it could easily qualify.
It’s remarkable how revamps can make an entry more competitive. We can see it now with Albania and Czechia. In the case of Albania, Titan now is being considered as a potential qualifier.
Titan a potential qualifier? By who? Albania is not seen as a qualifier at all, maybe by some ESC fan but not by any professional or odds or the general public.
This song’s lyrics are still a very big problem for me. Can’t like it, sorry.
I’m baffled to see this go so unnoticed by fans. Yes she might have not done her best on her NF but I trust she’ll deliver on May. She’s my current top 3 and out of all the rock entries this is by far the more approachable. Crossing my fingers to see her succeed on the stage 🙂
I like it even moreeeee! It’s on repeat now on my mind
Very great revamp. i think the best one in this years edition.
The new hook at 2.15m is very well done.
I hope she has the strong vocals bringing this live to the stage at Malmö.
Congrats Czechia.
All the best of good luck.
This is an excellent revamp and I’m particularly happy with the addition of the bridge that is really memorable and can potentially create a moment on stage (and also allow Aiko to take some breaths before the final chorus). If -as already suggested by the Czech Eurovision team- Aiko is also working on her vocals and breathing technique this is moving to potential qualifying territory. “Pedestal” is going back to my playlists once re-released in the platforms and that’s a good sign from my perspective. Good luck Czechia!
You guys, this revamp is great! I think Aiko is the only one this year serving “Paramore Hayley Williams – pop-rock girl” vibes and I’m here for it! This is a million times better than Megara’s song, I’m sorry, but this one sounds more full and rich in production. It’s going straight to my top 10! I just hope that her performance will be badass, I can already imagine some dark staging potential with sick lights and her musicians going crazy like rock artists love to do when they perform. Please, Aiko, take this advice (*fingers crossed*), haha.
But she can’t sing. A new version will make no difference
It will if it will allow her to improve her breath control (along with some vocal training of course) – that was her main issue, she doesn’t have a bad voice otherwise.
Bejba, it’s kaina krejza that after so many years you think that only vocals matters in Eurovision. Remember Blanka from Poland last year? She did qualify to the final by the way.
Blanka Lives In Your Mind For Free . You Are So Jealous It Makes Me Sick , Get Ower Yourself Because Blanka Is A Real Star
She can sing – and with changes done to the song it’ll be much easier for her to sing this song and if she won’t be jumping up and down the stage like a maniac, that’ll help too.
I don’t see a lot of change except for some lyric changes and the bridge at the end, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The song was great even before the revamp. The bridge was a bit sudden and I’m wondering how it will look like live. Anyways I’m loving the changes and this song, and I really hope Aiko can prove everyone wrong and get Czechia to the Grand Final.
Was in my top ten before and still is. l love the song, the message and the singer.
I will be sad if she did not qualify, but there is fierce competition in semi2 especially it’s an almost entirely female first half.
Yes it really is a delicious English accent
She lives in Brighton
Much better than the original. Aiko now has chances to qualify as well, if her live performance is good. That bridge was needed.
What I’m a bit disturbed by is the fact that we’ve been getting Russians in Eurovision every single year since Russia itself was banned. Last year we got Mia and Alika, this year Aiko… seriously?
Especially Aiko seems like an asset, since she won the ESCZ international vote by a large margin despite not being anywhere near the favorite. So watch out on her
The World Figure Skating Championships (on now) are the same. There are Russians popping up everywhere.
@Fatima: Touchée
What a rude and unnecessary comment..
Since she won, she was a favourite, right?
Just not within the fandom.
Russia Is Banned For No Reasons And It Is The Least That Countrys Can Do To Share Supoorts To Us By Alowing Russian People To Represent Countrys . A Lot Of Russians We Dont Live In Russia , And We Deserve To Share Our Woices And Songs Too .
Why Dont You Speak About The Izraelis Popping Up On Nationaly Final Across Europe Like Luxemburg ??
She was just born in Russia, to Czech parents iirc
She’s Jewish tho.
Now onto Luxembourg and Slovenia to release theirs. And be quick!
Personally, I think the revamp is kind of a mixed bag. Some of the production changes are great. “I love me more than you once did” is arguably a better lyric. At least initially, the changes to the last minute are less good. Those yelps at the end are my very favorite part of the song, and I feel like they don’t pop like they used to. That whole added section robs the song of a lot of momentum, though after a couple of listens, it might be growing on me. I really liked this song as a *punk rock… Read more »
Oh, she says “I love me more than you once did”, to me it sounded like “I love me more then your monsters”, but what you said makes much more sense.
I mean, she had to take out the profanity in the song because that’s not allowed at Eurovision.
WOW now that’s how you do a revamp!
and the new bridge is ACE!
Does anyone know when the order of performances in the semi-finals will be announced?
Last year they were revealed 23rd of March but knowing how everything takes longer with Sweden, I would expect them after Easter at the start of April