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The Xtra Files 2018: We review the Czech Republic’s ‘Lie to Me’ by Mikolas Josef!

Welcome to The Xtra Files, our series which will give you an insight into what the team at ESCXTRA think of your favourite entries into this year’s contest! Today, we review the Czech Republic.

Now that all the songs have been released, we are able to review each and every one of them. Our honest and brutal reviews will keep you entertained until the rehearsals start on 30 April! We will also each give a score out of 10 for every entry, and create an ESCXTRA leaderboard of the entries!

Today we have reviews of the Czech Republic entry, ‘Lie to Me’ by Mikolas Josef, from Nick, Dominik, Lisa, Rodrigo, Tim and Vincent. Let’s get started!

The Reviews

 Nick

Plenty of those kiddies wanna eat his spaghetti! This Czech entry is on absolute fire and I’m not going to lie: This is my favourite of this year. The lyrics are gross, but who cares? This tune is a bop of the highest order, the boy has star potential. He is an asset to this contest and should take us to Prague.

Dominik

The Czech Republic is probably the biggest surprise this year. I’m sure they will get their best result in history and they will get their first televoting points in a grand final. I hope they’ll go very far this year. They deserve it and deliver one of the biggest bops of the year. This can be a good example for all the countries complaining about bad results each year. Send a bop and reach for the top 😉

Lisa

The revamp has cleaned it up a bit, but I still find myself side-eyeing some of the lyrics. I’m still not keen on all the acapella ad-libbing either. It’s a catchy earworm, but it is a bit of a nerdy version of ‘Jason Derulo – Talk Dirty’ with a heavier emphasis on the jazz elements. Mikolas is a charismatic performer though and this comes across a lot better live, as seen in his Vidbir guest appearance. It’s definitely a top 10 contender.
Rodrigo
What.a.banger! Seems as though the Czech Republic finally are in this to win. ‘Lie to me’ ticks every single box from my perspective. Great tune, weird af but amazing lyrics (wish they would have stuck to their guns with the f*** and stuff), Mikolas is a phenomenal performer, the song is an absolute earworm, and this has every potential to become a hit ouside of the Euroverse. One of the best songs in the last few years and without a doubt the most solid effort by the Czechs so far. If this doesn’t see them reach the top 5 (win, even?), I don´t know what will!

Tim

Is a bop coming along to Eurovision??? Why yes it is… When I first heard this song, I thought to myself, is he is trying to be like JT? but when I listened to it properly and when he showed that he can perform this live, it looks like he can give Czech Republic their best result ever.. would not mind going to Prague next year.

Vincent

Oh my god, I LOVE THIS. It’s catchy, and Mikolas is a hell of a peformer, and a very good singer. Intially, I found the lyrics vulgar, but then I actually realized they are not really gross, but more like raw, blunt and authentic. No self-censorship, the rage bitterness and jealousy switch Mikolas on libido mode, just like grief and rage make Ors from AWR almost hate his dead father. So actually, the lyrics are f****** good (how appropriate, eh?).

Scores

Dominik  10 Nick  10 Tim  9
Hlynur  6 Riccardo  9.5 Tom  8
Lisa  4 Rigmo  10 Vincent  9
Luke  8.5 Rodrigo  10 Wiv  4
Matt  6.5 Ryan  9.5 Yassia  8.5
Miki  9 Sami  9
Nathan  9 Simon  9

Therefore, the average score for the Czech Republic is 8.34.

Leaderboard

Woah, no lies to be found here as Mikolas Josef and Czech Republic jump all the way to 2nd place and grab the silver medal (there is no actual medal, but let’s pretend there is) on our leaderboard. This means we finally have scores in for ALL 43 entries and can now reveal the FINAL standings:

  1. Israel – 8.52
  2. Czech Republic – 8.34
  3. Finland – 7.66
  4. Bulgaria – 7.63
  5. France – 7.50
  6. Belgium – 7.39
  7. F.Y.R. Macedonia – 7.24
  8. Sweden – 7.21
  9. Cyprus – 7.13
  10. Switzerland – 7.08
  11. Poland – 7.08
  12. Germany – 6.95
  13. Ukraine – 6.92
  14. Austria – 6.79
  15. Australia – 6.76
  16. Denmark – 6.55
  17. Lithuania – 6.50
  18. Italy – 6.39
  19. Spain – 6.29
  20. The Netherlands – 6.26
  21. Azerbaijan – 6.05
  22. Portugal – 6.05
  23. Slovenia – 6.00
  24. Greece – 5.95
  25. Estonia – 5.86
  26. Croatia – 5.74
  27. Latvia – 5.61
  28. Norway – 5.55
  29. Albania – 5.50
  30. Ireland – 5.34
  31. Serbia – 5.05
  32. United Kingdom – 5.03
  33. Belarus – 4.97
  34. Malta – 4.97
  35. Moldova – 4.92
  36. Romania – 4.73
  37. Montenegro – 4.71
  38. Hungary – 4.65
  39. Armenia – 4.29
  40. Georgia – 4.18
  41. Iceland – 4.18
  42. Russia – 4.05
  43. San Marino – 4.03

Tomorrow, it will be…Saturday! Just a regular Saturday. Yup, no more Xtra Files, we are all done with these. Congratulations to Israel for the victory on OUR leaderboard, which also matches the current standing in the odds as Israel is the big favourite to win the  whole competition. Will that actually come to fruition? We’ll find out in just a little over 2 weeks from now, so be sure to stay tuned for more news and Eurovision coverage heading your way from all of us over at ESCXTRA!

Do you agree with our reviews of the Czech Republic? What are your thoughts on Lie to Me?

Let us know in the comments below and on social media @ESCXTRA!

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