If you had nothing better to do on a Monday night in early December, you will have seen the Czech final on the internets – or on ČT art if you are lucky/unlucky enough to own a television.
ESCZ 2024 was presented on 4 December 2023, with the online vote remaining open until 11 December. On 13 December, ČT announced – and by “announced” I mean revealed quietly – that Aiko had won. Nearly 98,000 votes were cast overall.
There was a weighted results system whereby 70 percent of the result came from international viewers and only 30 percent from Czech televoters – because they presumably don’t trust them or something! In other words, this was not a conventional broadcast-night televote.
That result, with adding up because we’re good like that, is shown below.
| Song | Performer(s) | CZ Vote | Int Votes | CZ (Weighted) | INT (Weighted) | Total | Psn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pedestal | Aiko | 2,410 | 33,107 | 723 | 23,175 | 23,898 | 1 |
| The Angel's Share | Elly | 24,679 | 7,817 | 7,404 | 5,472 | 12,876 | 2 |
| Starlet | Gianna Lei | 372 | 773 | 112 | 541 | 653 | 7 |
| Good Enough | Lenny | 4,216 | 1,586 | 1,265 | 1,110 | 2,375 | 5 |
| Red Flag Parade | Mydy [cs] | 6,443 | 7,283 | 1,933 | 5,098 | 7,031 | 3 |
| Dopamine Overdose | Tom Sean | 3,331 | 3,573 | 999 | 2,501 | 3,500 | 4 |
| Out of My Mind | Tomas Robin | 728 | 1,563 | 218 | 1,094 | 1,313 | 6 |
| Place | Artist | Song | Czech votes | International votes | Weighted total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aiko | “Pedestal” | 2,410 | 33,107 | 23,898 |
| 2 | Elly | “The Angel’s Share” | 24,679 | 7,817 | 12,876 |
| 3 | MYDY | “Red Flag Parade” | 6,443 | 7,283 | 7,031 |
| 4 | Tom Sean | “Dopamine Overdose” | 3,331 | 3,573 | 3,500 |
| 5 | Lenny | “Good Enough” | 4,216 | 1,586 | 2,375 |
| 6 | Tomas Robin | “Out of My Mind” | 728 | 1,563 | Approximately 1,313 |
| 7 | Gianna Lei | “Starlet” | 372 | 773 | Approximately 653 |
The interesting bit is the split between the two voting publics. Aiko was only fifth with Czech voters, while Elly won the Czech vote comfortably. Aiko, however, won the international vote by a very large margin, which was more than enough to carry her to the overall victory.
Born in Moscow, Aiko – Alena Shirmanova-Kostebelova – is a popular television talent-show alum, having appeared in season four of Česko Slovenská SuperStar. She has released albums and is currently based in Brighton. Does that mean the UK can claim her? No, she is representing Czechia.
She was going to sing the song “Pedestal” at Eurovision 2024 – and here it is:
