2016 Reviews – Czech Republic – Gabriela Gunčíková – I Stand

The Czech Republic has yet to make an appearance in any Eurovision final, and this year will be their 5th attempt at reaching the final. This year they are sending Gabriela Gunčíková, with a ballad titled I Stand. The song took fans and critics by surprise, and this may well be the first time we see the Czech Republic in the final!

Compared to previous years (maybe with the exception of 2015), you can tell the nation is genuinely trying to succeed in the contest. The song is very much a good quality song, and the singer is very much a good quality singer. Even from the official clip, it shows that the nation is making a determined effort at creating something more modern which will hopefully give the nation the best results to date.

The song is a slow one, but there’s nothing to say that this will be a disadvantage. The song does start quite plainly, however once the first chorus drops, the song continuously builds throughout the entire 3 minutes. There is a peak moment in the song, around 2:30, but I wish that peak was right at the end, and instead of her voice tapering off, I think this would have ended fantastically with a huge note at the end.

There is no doubt that Gabriela can sing. On a recent Maltese tv show, she performed the chorus of her song a cappella and it was pretty impressive. It’s a shame we didn’t see her more on the promo tour, as I think that would have boosted her popularity. Regardless, the fact that her official video on Eurovision.tv has over a million views is telling us something. This song is a hit for a lot of people, and this is probably the first real chance the nation has had at qualifying.

I hope the stage performance is simple, but also references some of the artistic elements shown in the official video. Something quite creative and modern would look great on stage, and give them the best possible chance to make an impact. The first semi is tough, and if it does qualify, I think it will only just scrape through, but a qualification is a qualification.

I think this song does deserve to qualify. It isn’t my favourite song, but I can appreciate the song while listening to it. I’m going to give this song a 6/10.

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