Mikolas Josef: The Best Czech Result in Eurovision So Far

Mikolas Josef this year not only added another qualification to the list but also the best Czech result so far – 6th place with 281 points. In 2016 Gabriela Gunčíková ended 25th with 41 points.

Josef, who performed the song Lie to Me, was only the second Czech singer to reach the final of the Eurovision and achieved the highest ever placing for a Czech artist.

For the 60th anniversary in 2015, Česká Televize announced their comeback to the Eurovision Song Contest, which was very happily received by the Czech Eurovision fans. The entry was chosen completely internally, both the artist and the song. It was a duo Marta Jandová & Václav Noid Bárta with a dramatic duet called Hope Never Dies. In the end, the duo took 13th place in the second semifinal with 33 points and even though they did not qualify, it was the country’s best result at the time.

That seemed like the boost that the Czech Republic needed, and for Eurovision 2016 they also approached foreign composers when the internal selection process began. As a result, they chose Swedish/Irish team with the song I Stand for which they got Gabriela Gunčíková, who studied and worked in the USA recently. In the semifinal, she received 161 points which were enough for a 9th place. 

With the results going better every year, for the Eurovision 2017 there was another change in the selection process. This time, the submissions were completely open so the Czech delegation had a lot to choose from. As a result of that, they chose the song and the artist individually, which was My Turn, a ballad with jazzy vibes, sung by Martina Bárta. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for to qualify to the final, but the result wasn’t bad neither. Again 13th place, this time with 83 points.

Author: red