Announcement of the winner of the national round of Eurovision, February 7, 2023, Prague. Girl group Vesna.
Prague – The girl group Vesna will represent the Czech Republic at this year's Eurovision music competition held in Liverpool in the first of two semi-final rounds on May 9. The final will take place on May 13. Musicians from a total of 37 countries will strive for victory. ČTK reported about it on behalf of the Czech delegation at Eurovision.
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The group made up of female musicians from the Jaroslav Ježek conservatory in Prague advanced to the semi-finals with the song My Sister's Crown thanks to the victory in the national round, where they received 22,000 votes. However, apart from appreciation, the song and music video are getting negative reactions from various quarters. According to Vesna leader Patricia Fuxová, the authors wanted to support Ukraine facing the Russian invasion. The song and clip were banned in Russia and Belarus, but some Ukrainians also criticized it. Among other things, they are bothered by the participation of a Russian member of the band, which is the keyboardist Olesja Očepovská. They also criticize the use of the narrative about sister Slavic nations, which is often used by Russia itself.
“Art opens up social issues and does not always meet with understanding. But we receive an immense wave of supportive messages from Ukrainians who have understood the meaning songs,” singer Fuxová told Super.cz.
The slogan of this year's 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest is United By Music. The band therefore used lyrics in English, Czech, Bulgarian and Ukrainian in the song. “In the song My Sister's Crown, we decided to choose a Ukrainian chorus. Ukraine is currently having a very hard time, so we wanted to support this Slavic language the most. As this year's Eurovision is supposed to be a tribute to Ukraine, we wanted to express the same thing. Solidarity, support and empathy in this difficult time with the idea of #chooseloveoverpower (love over power). We hope that the song will succeed in showing the absurdity of what can happen if we choose the opposite path instead of love and support,” said Fuxová about the song.
< p>My sister's crown is a joint work of Fuxová and Production Lovers with the contribution of musician Tanita Jankova and Ukrainian artist Kateryna Vatchenkova. In addition to Češek Fuxová (vocals), Bára Juránková (violin) and Markéta Mužátková (drums), the Slovak Tereza Čepková (bass guitar), the Russian Očepovská (keyboards) and the Bulgarian Janková (violin) are also included.
The winner of last year's international Eurovision song contest was the Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra with the song Stefania. Although the competition presents itself as apolitical, a number of foreign politicians congratulated Ukraine on its victory. The organizer, the European Broadcasting Union (EVU), decided last year that Russia may not participate in this year's contest due to its invasion of Ukraine.
Politics entered the Eurovision Song Contest in the past as well. The winner of the Ukrainian national round of the Eurovision Song Contest, Anna Korsunová, was not allowed to go to the finals in Tel Aviv in 2019. The decision was made by the Ukrainian public radio and television station NSTU. The reason was the fact that the performer sometimes performed in hostile Russia. In 2017, Ukraine hosted the final of the Eurovision Song Contest and banned Russian disabled performer Yulia Samoilova from entering the country because she was traveling to Crimea without the consent of the Ukrainian authorities. A year earlier, Ukrainian singer Dzhamala caused outrage among Russians, who won with a song called “1944” about the deportation of Tatars from Crimea during the reign of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
