Lake Malawi has come out on top in the Czech Republic national selection show for Eurovision 2019, titled Eurovision Song CZ. Their song, “Friend Of A Friend” was the international jury’s favourite and also one of the general public’s favourites, easily coming top.
The show was done online, but latest reports state that the Czech Republic plan on televising the 2020 contest, which certainly is exciting. Lake Malawi beat out televote favourite Jakub Ondra with “Space Sushi” which came second, and the other jury vote favourite Barbora Mochowa with “True Colors” which came third, with the same amount of points as second place.
The international jury for the national selection show consisted of 10 members who all were past Eurovision contestants who represented their respective countries, these acts were Cesár Sampson for Austria, Rasmussen for Denmark, ZiBBZ for Switzerland, Ira Losco for Malta, Elina Nechayeva for Estonia, AWS for Hungary, Alma for France, Ari Ólafsson for Iceland, JOWST for Norway, and Ryan O’Shaughnessy for Ireland.
The winner of the contest, Lake Malawi, will go on to represent the Czech Republic at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song “Friend Of A Friend”. The track was written by Jan Steinsdoerfer, Maciej Mikolaj Trybulec, and Albert Cerný.
Watch Lake Malawi’s Music Video For His Eurovision 2019 Song “Friend Of A Friend” Here:
This three-piece band – consisting of Albert Cerný, Jeroným Šubrt, and Antonín Hrabal – are an established act in Czechia, having dropped their debut single back in 2014, titled “Always June” which charted at number 34, but it was their follow-up that became their biggest hit to date, titled “Chinese Trees” which charted at number 25. We’re pretty sure that this track will launch them even higher up the chart. They’ve released a variety of other singles, an EP in 2015 titled We Are Making Love Again, and a debut album in 2017, titled Surrounded By Light.
Could their experience help them when it comes to the Eurovision Song Contest 2019? Could they even win the show? Well, the country hasn’t had a great track record, having debuted at the contest in 2007, and never won. They’ve only made the Grand Final twice, in 2016 and 2018 where Gabriela Guncíková with “I Stand” came 25th and Mikolas Josef with “Lie To Me” came sixth, respectively. Can they make the Grand Final twice in a row? This song sure is catchy, but is that enough?
To win the show, Lake Malawi will have to gain more points than the other 41 countries that are competing. Announced acts so far are Srbuk for Armenia, Tamta for Cyprus, Jonida Maliqi for Albania, Eliot for Belgium, Miki for Spain, Serhat for San Marino, Duncan Laurence for The Netherlands, Tamara Todevska for FYR Macedonia, Michela Pace for Malta and Bilal Hassani for France. The other countries are expected to reveal their acts in the forthcoming months.
The 2019 Eurovision Song Contest will be hosted at the Expo Tel Aviv in Israel after Netta won last year with the song “Toy”. The two Semi-Finals will take place on 14 May and 16 May with the Grand Final taking place on 18 May. A total of 42 countries will compete in the contest.