Last year Czechia decided its Eurovision 2025 artist with a televised selection inside a club, which ultimately resulted in Aiko singing “Pedestal” in Malmo. But today the team at Czech Television revealed they won’t be using the ESCZ format against ahead of Basel. Instead, they are bypassing a national selection and will go internal with a closed-door selection process.
In an official press release, the team said this is to ensure “that we can allocate resources more effectively towards staging and promotion.”
Last year’s national final was criticised by many fans for its poor sound quality. However, others saw it as an exciting step in growing the contest’s following in Czechia — and one that helped build hype among Eurofans across the continent.
The submission period for potential songs is now open. The deadline is 30 September at 23:59.
Czechia breaks with ESCZ national selection for Eurovision 2025 (PRESS RELEASE)
After six successful editions of ESCZ, Czech Television’s management board and Eurovision delegation have made the difficult decision to take a break from this national selection process. ESCZ has been an essential platform for the Czech music scene internationally and in selecting our entry for the Eurovision
Song Contest, but we believe it is necessary to make this change in light of the current budget constraints and our commitment to maintaining the highest
standards of quality.
New Selection Process for Eurovision 2025
Instead of ESCZ, our upcoming entry for the Eurovision Song Contest will be selected through an internal competition, ensuring that we can allocate resources more effectively towards staging and promotion. We are pleased to announce that the submission period for potential entries is open, with the final date for submissions set for September 30th, 2024 at 23:59.
Selection Criteria and Competition Process
All the selected songs will be evaluated by a demoscopic jury, which will be managed by a Czech firm and will account for 40% of the decision. An international jury will also weigh in with another 40%, while a ČT selection committee will contribute the final 20% and resolve any ties. We are making an open call to all artists with careers based in the Czech Republic, regardless of nationality, to submit their entries. There is no limit to the number of songs an artist can submit. Additionally, composers from any country are welcome to submit demos that are not tied to specific artists.
A Message from Krystof Samal, Head of Delegation:
“It has been a wonderful journey to showcase Czech music on an international stage through ESCZ. Moving to a closed competition process encourages established artists to participate discreetly, without the added pressure of public competition. This approach also allows us to focus our resources on staging
and both internal and external promotion. Our new direction is aimed at achieving the best possible result for Czechia, recognizing the potential for Eurovision to become the phenomenon here as it is in other European countries.”
A message From Ahmad Halloun, PR and Engagement Manager for Eurovision.
“Eurovision is a show with tremendous potential, especially among younger audiences, who are often difficult to engage (TV wise). This year, we will focus on a variety of activities both nationally and internationally, not only to promote our act but also to elevate the profile of the contest itself. We are collaborating with the EBU, various broadcasters, platforms and organizations to increase its visibility on screens and make Eurovision a more prominent part of Czech pop culture”
This strategic shift aims to save resources that can be better used to enhance our staging and promotional efforts. By selecting our entry at an earlier stage, we aim to break our personal best record (6th place) and ultimately to bring home a victory for Czechia.
We look forward to receiving your submissions and embarking on this exciting journey towards Eurovision 2025.
Sincerely,
Czech Eurovision Delegation
Prague, 9th September 2024
Happy for them to switch the format but after We are Domi, Vesna and Aiko I have to say, the song and artist quality are all there. The Czechs were robbed in 2022 and 2024, those songs deserved SO much better than they got (and even Vesna as well).
I’m not a big fan of internal selections as opposed to having a national final, but if that’s what it takes for the Czech Republic to participate then so be it.
Prague will be an amazing host, it’s been long time coming.
Are they telling us that they were allocating a lot of money for the ESCZ? I love Czechia as a country and I’m waiting for them to win Eurovision but their national selection is always a complete mess.
Send Pam Rabbit!
Wise decision
Well, at least we know that Czechia is going to participate at Eurovision, and if going internal is what it takes for them to Better, than so be it. We’ve seen the Netherlands and Switzerland do very well with internal selections, and I hope that if Czechia picks the right artist, they’ll do really well.
I agree – though Pedestal should really have been in the final
Moment of silence for ESCZ and its 30 people who watched it every year </3.
If that ensures we’ll still have Czechia participating I’m ok with it
Good idea. Either do that selection properly, or don’t do it at all. I hope that they find success again, I’d love to see Prague host ESC.