The Nation On-Stage


     The Eurovision song contest has brought many countries together through song and performance since 1956 (Eurovision, 2019). This contest has not only been a key experience for Europe to come together as one construct, but the contest has been a large stepping stone for individual national identities. With the performances from the Czech Republic in 2017 and 2018, several identities and themes have been presented in unique and individualistic ways. Some of the aspects of the Czech performances have posed some controversy in terms of content, be it suggestive lyrics or even strange background images within a live performance, the Czech Republic has shown unique and dazzling performances. Within the performances there are even some questions into the clothing of the performer(s) representing cultures from neighboring countries such as Germany.

     The song “Lie to Me” by Mikolas Josef (2018, The Czech Republic) was released in 2017 by Sony Music Entertainment Germany. At first glance and even first viewing this song appears to be your run-of-the-mill American pop song, specifically about a bad break up or a cheating girlfriend. In this case it sounds as if Mikolas was seeing a girl who might have been seeing another man at the same time, a tricky yet commonly occurring theme in many American pop songs. U.S. Billboard has noted many pop songs released in the last few years share a similar theme to “Lie to Me” such as “Cry Me A River” by Justin Timberlake and “Unfaithful” by Rhianna (Partridge, 2016). This is a song about a breakup that did not end on the best of terms, however, there is more than break up content within this piece.

      The lyrics, as well as lyrical content, costume choices, and language choices are all major factors within the performance itself and provides a unique experience for all Eurovision viewers and fans alike. To begin with lyrics, the song itself is sung in English while the national language of the Czech Republic is in-fact Czech at 95.4% of the people there speaking it (CIA, 2019). Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the song itself is chalked full of sexually suggestive lyrics and even some suggestive dance moves within the on-stage Semi-final 2 and Grand Finale Eurovision performances (Josef, 2018). In addition, the lyrics that were sung in the 2018 Eurovision performances were not the original lyrics themselves. The original release of the song by the young pop singer contained explicit language and more vulgar sexual expressions but were dulled down in the competition as using explicit lyrics and language is against the rules (Eurovision, 2019). Addressing the lyrics that beg some question into the hidden suggestive meaning behind them, I will highlight one in the first verse of the song, “By the way she moved got me making a puddle”, this is one of several lyrics in the song that provides a theme of mature sexual content (2017, The Czech Republic).

     Moving to the topics of costume choices and language choice, we are presented with a plethora of different cultural aspects. To start with the costume choice, Mikolas and his team of dancers were all dressed in rather dapper clothing, especially the colorful jackets that this team was wearing. While the clothing at first glance might reflect the style choices of young adults today, there is something about Mikolas’s clothing choice that strikes me as anything but Czech. Resting over his white shirt, connected to his blue pants, there are is a set of suspenders, but upon closer inspection, they bear a more passing resemblance to a pair of German lederhosen. These lederhosen looking suspenders combined with the bright white dress shirt and the blue pants give an almost passing resemblance to traditional German dress. According to the Oktoberfest Drindl Blog (2013, Jul. 5), “…lederhosen and dirndls get more ornate and are worn with a range of other articles and accessories…all of the fashionable Bavarian gear you can buy and wear as a tourist is based on these more delicate, colourful items”. This combined with the fact that Germany and the Czech Republic are neighboring countries and that they share central European culture shows that perhaps this Czech performance amplifies less Czech specific nationalities and more central European identities.

     Moving along to the song “My Turn”, by Martina Bárta (2017, The Czech Republic) performed for the Czech Republic at Eurovision 2017, this piece takes a turn most would not expect at Eurovision. In the “post card” or introduction to the performance, broadcast by BBC reporters in this case, there is comment upon the strange and unusual visuals displayed behind Martina’s performance (Bárta, 2017). She starts on stage dressed in lavish, silver leather-like outfit. While she may have been fully dressed and presentable for an on-stage performance, the visuals in her background did not meet the same requirements. In her visuals there were several men and women dressed in nothing more than their underwear. This is a rather strange and unusual visual to put into a performance as the lyrics as well as performance itself are seemingly unrelated at first glance. However, upon a further look into the background images and camera angles used during the performance, one can begin to see a mild correlation between the lyrics and visuals. When Martina sings “From the billion hearts to choose between”, as the camera pans to a mid shot of Martina in front of the display behind her, the people are all looking around in an aimless manner, all of them searching for someone or something (2017, The Czech Republic). It seems that Martina is attempting to spread the message of searching for the one that means the most to you, even in a world of billions of people.

      While one could conclude that the visuals behind Martina Bárta and her performance have little in common to the song, there are some underlying Czech identities placed within her performance. For starters, the visual is many different loosely clothed individuals wondering about, all in search of something or more likely, someone. If you look closely during the mid and wide-angle camera pans that highlight the visuals, you can see that the people all appear to be searching for a sense of belonging, a significant someone to who they can belong with. In the later parts of the song, the lyrics read “Oh I was your choice, I was your choice, so let me be your salvation and joy”, Martina is clearly singing about finding her special someone. Someone she can find a sense of belonging with (Bárta, 2017). “Nedomová (1997) brings to light that the national identity of the Czech Republic can be encapsulated within the sense of belonging, “…Czechness is still very much perceived solely in terms of ‘blood’ and does not distinguish between Czech ‘political’ identity and Czech ethnic or national identity” (Nedomová). Nedomová and Bartá seem to be sending the same message, though through different methods of communication.  

     While the Czech Republic may have recently joined the Eurovision song contest, with their first appearance in 1993, the Czech performers have shown a great deal of diversity and individuality (Eurovision, 2019). Mikolas and Martina took bold leaps to go up on the stage and represent their country, from which they were both born in, and shared their unique performances with the world (Eurovision, 2019). Throughout the 2017 and 2018 performances, the Czech stars have shown homogeneous themes in their performances, themes of central European ideals and a sense of belonging to their own identities.

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References

Bartá, M. (2017). My turn. (The Czech Republic). Eurovision Song Contest 2017 Kiev.


Central Intelligence Agency. (2019). Czech Republic. The World Factbook. Retrieved

from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ez.html

Eurovision Song Contest. (2019). FAQ. Retrieved from https://eurovision.tv/about/faq/

Eurovision Song Contest. (2019). Martina Bartá. Participants. Retrieved from


Eurovision Song Contest. (2019). Mikolas Josef. Participants. Retrieved from


Josef, M. (2018). Lie to Me. (The Czech Republic). Eurovision Song Contest 2018


Nedomová, A., & Kostelecký, T. (1997).  The Czech National Identity: Basic Results of

the 1995 National Survey. Czech Sociological Review, 5:1, 84.

Oktoberfest Dirndl Blog. (2013). The history behind lederhosen and dirndls. Retrieved


Partridge, K. (2016, May 2). Billboard. 15 Best Songs About Cheating. Retrieved from

https://www.billboard.com/photos/7350317/best-songs-about-cheating


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