Benny Cristo was due to represent the Czech Republic at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam with the afro-dance song, “Kemama”.
Benny emerged victorious on the third edition of Eurovision CZ, a uniquely constructed national final that has yielded great results to date. After a couple of revamps, we ended up with a final version that enhanced his original offering.
And now, without any further chit-chat, here are 10 facts we’ve compiled about Benny Cristo. Let’s do this!
Czech Republic at Eurovision 2020: Facts about Benny Cristo
1. He got his big break on Idol
The Czech-Angolan star’s big break came with the very first season of SuperStar, the Czech and Slovak iteration of Idol, back in 2009. The series saw him share the stage with the future Slovak Eurovision 2012 singer Max Jason Mai. Benny finished seventh, kickstarting a fruitful music career in his native country.
2. He’s a martial arts prodigy
As part of the Jungle BJJ team, Benny managed to win a bronze from the Asian Jiu Jitsu Brazilian Championship in September 2016. Then, in October of the same year, he snatched a gold medal at the Madrid International Championship. All his medals were in the 88 kg white belt category. Going for the top is in his blood!
3. He’s skilled at other sports too
Before he started singing, Benny was also an accomplished tennis player and snowboarder, competing professionally in the latter and placing first in the Czech Cup series 4×4 in 2006. It wasn’t until his SuperStar appearance that he realised that music was his true passion.
4. He raps in English and Czech
Despite the nature of his preferred genre of rap and love for afrobeat tunes, the “Kemama” singer can showcase his talent in both English and his native Czech. He combines fire-hot urban beats with the Slavic language and ethnic arrangements as flawlessly as he does in English.
5. He’s a vegan
As a vegan and animal rights activist, Benny has been involved in multiple campaigns across the Czech Republic. He has worked with Obránci zvířat (OBRAZ) on a campaign that focused on the issue of caged hens. Benny’s involvement runs so deep, he even has his very own vegan panini inspired by him in the Czech and Slovak OMV gas station chains.
6. He has a large following
With close to 800,000 followers on Instagram and over 400,000 on Facebook, he is constantly referred to as one of the celebrities with the largest following in Czechia and Slovakia. No wonder he managed to score the maximum 12 points from the public in Eurovision CZ!
7. He releases music in creative ways
When he debuted his 2017 album Poslední, he did not release it as a regular CD. Instead, fans downloaded the album via a QR code on a T-Shirt specially designed by Benny himself. And for a concert in the Prague Yellow Spa, recordings of several songs were released in video format for virtual reality glasses. Looking to the future!
Muj prvni obraz "Racek v mo?i ". pic.twitter.com/YSO9ZC0jOv
— Ben Cristovao (@BenCristovao) July 9, 2017
8. A frequent collaborator
Benny has collaborated with several artists over his ten years in the music industry. These range from fellow SuperStar alums like Monika Bagárová, to music greats like Jiří Korn, and many others in between. There’s also Mária Čírová and The Glowsticks — the cowriters for “Kemama”.
9. He won clip of the year
In 2013, “Bomby” netted Benny a Český slavík award in the category music video of the year. “Bomby” was part of the project of the civic initiative Nikagda nězabuděm. The campaign’s goal was to, which appealed to encourage higher voter turnout in the Czech elections of 2013. He worked together with other musicians, such as David Koller, Dan Bárta and Michael Kocáb.
10. He listens to his fans
With the aim of cultivating a new international audience, Benny first announced his intention to revamp “Kemama” to have it in top shape for Eurovision. After the initial redo received a mixed reaction, he promised his fans that he would rework the song to bring back some elements. His hard work culminated in a version that critics have received warmly.
Eurovision 2021 update
As of 8 April, it has yet to be confirmed whether Benny Cristo will represent the Czech Republic at Eurovision 2021.
Would Benny have maintained the Czechs’ strong string of results? Should he come back next year? Sound off in the comments below.
Also how nice is it to finally read the words “maintain the Czechs’ strong string of results” ??
They had to wait a long time, so glad they’re still in the Contest and finally having some success!
Not my favorite song this year (though still in my top 10), but as a person I’d say he’s my #1 for 2020. All-around stand-up human being. 🙂
Even though he was not at all my winner in the NF, I hope he returns next year. He seems like such a nice and down-to-earth guy, and while I didn’t like Kemama that much, one of his songs, Uzasna, is one of my favourite Czech songs. I hope he comes back and retains that Afrobeat flavour, but just within a better song.
Hope he ends up representing them in 2021.
Only right for him to do so