Following Mikolas Josef’s sixth-place finish in Lisbon this year, the Czech national broadcaster ČT, has confirmed on Facebook tonight that the Czech Republic will take part in next year’s contest in Israel.
The entry submission window has also been opened
As well as announcing their participation in the contest, the broadcaster has also announced an open call for entry submissions for next year’s contest.
The rules state that the song cannot have been released or published anywhere before 1st September 2018 and entries must have a maximum length of 3 minutes. Interested entrants must also be of Czech nationality.
The broadcaster has stated that there are no genre or language restricitions and that “more variety is welcomed”. Entries must be submitted to the broadcaster by 31st October via email [email protected].
The post does not explicitly confirm a return to Eurovision Song CZ, the selection process used to select Mikolas last year, however, back in May the Czech Head of Delegation did announce plans to continue using this format for the 2019 contest.
Czech Republic at the Eurovision Song Contest
The Czech Republic debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007 with the song “Malá dáma”, performed by Kabát. The song finished in last place in the semi-final, with only 1 point (from Estonia). The Czech Republic also failed to qualify in 2008 and 2009, finishing in 18th place in 2008 and in last place again in 2009 with 0 points – only the second song in the history of the contest to score 0 points in a semi-final.
The Czech Republic took a break from the contest between 2010 and 2014, before returning in 2015 with “Hope Never Dies”. Despite not qualifying, it scored Czech Republic’s highest position to date (at the time), placing 13th in the semi-final. In 2016, they made the final for the first time with “I Stand”, however, they failed to qualify again in 2017.
The Czech Republic scored their best result to date in Lisbon, however with Mikolas Josef and his entry, “Lie to Me”. After a third-place finish in semi-final one, it went on to finish in sixth place in the grand final, scoring 281 points, breaking the previous Czech points record set in 2016 by 240 points. It was also the first time since the Czech Republic returned in 2015 that they used a national final to select their entry.
