Czechia are headed to Basel next year with a new selection process.
Czechia have become the latest country to confirm their participation in Eurovision 2025. At the same time, they have also confirmed the end of their national final, ESCZ, to ensure “that we can allocate resources more effectively towards staging and promotion.” Czechia will move forward with an internal selection to find their song and singer for Eurovision 2025.
The submissions window for Czechia’s internal selection for Eurovision 2025 is now open to artists of any nationality based in Czechia. There is no limit to the number of songs one can submit. Alternatively, composers from any country can submit a demo / multiple demos, without an artist. The submissions window will close on Monday 30th September at 23:59. You can apply here.
Once the submissions window has closed, all of the songs will be evaluated by a demoscopic jury managed by a Czech firm. This will count towards 40% of the final decision. A further 40% of the final decision will be made by an international jury. The final 20% will come from a ČT selection committee, who will also be resonsible for resolving any potential tie-breaks.
Head of Delegation for Czechia, Krystof Samal, welcomes the change in direction for his country chosing their Eurovision representative: “It has been a wonderful journey to showcase Czech music on an international stage through ESCZ. Moving to a closed competition encourages established artists to participate discreetly, without the added pressure of public competition. This approach also allows us to focus our resources on staging, and both internal and external promotion. Our new direction is aimed at achieving the best possible result for Czechia, recognising the potential for Eurovision to become the phenomenom here as it is in other European countries.”
Ahmad Halloun, PR and Engagement Manager for Czechia at Eurovision is excited for the country’s new Eurovision journey as they embark on a new internal selection: “Eurovision is a show with tremendous potential, especially among younger audiences, who are often difficult to engage (TV wise). This year, we will focus on a variety of activities both nationally and internationally, not only to promote our act, but also to elevate the profile of the contest itself. We are collaborating with the EBU, various broadcasters, platforms and organisations to increase its visibility on screens and make Eurovision a more prominent part of Czech culture.
This strategic shift aims to save resources that can be better used to enhance our staging and promotional efforts. By selecting our entry at an earlier stage, we aim to break our personal best record (6th place), and ultimatley bring a home victory for Czechia. We look forward to receiving your submissions and embarking on this exciting journey towards Eurovision 2025.
ESCZ: the end of an era
ESCZ began in 2018, and was used as Czechia’s national final for Eurovision every year until 2024 (with the exception of 2021). This national final brought Czechia some success at Eurovision, which includes three left side finishes in the final. Their best Eurovision result came in 2018 when Mikolas Josef achieved 6th place. Second to this were Vesna who finished in 10th place in 2023. Lake Malawi finish of the trio of left side finishes with an 11th place finish in 2019.
Eurovision 2025 will mark Czechia’s fourteenth participation since their debut in 2007. The contest will be returning to Switzerland for the first time since 1989, and to Basel for the first time, following on from Nemo’s victory this year with “The Code”.
Are you excited to see Czechia returning to Eurovision next year? Are you sad to see the end of ESCZ? Let us know your thoughts on this in the comments below!
Photo credit: Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU
