Benny Cristo will represent the Czech Republic at the Eurovision contest this year. The song Kemama, won the country round and sent Cristo as the representative. European, according to the show, includes both Australia and the U.K., so for all you Eurovision lovers in the U.K. no worries, you will not lose your chance to vote for your favorite piece. Also the Caucus countries are part of Europe, meaning Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Kazakhstan will not be offered a “guest invitation” as confirmed by the European Broadcasting Union. Some others like Hungary or Montenegro are passing this year for reasons not given.
Who is Benny Cristo? Benny Cristovao was born in Plzen into a Czech-Angolan family, editing the “vao” out of his name for the contest and music career. At 23 years old he will perform in Rotterdam on May 14th, with finals taking place on May 16th. Cristo added that “together with his producer they wanted to compose a different sound then the others will probably have. Afropop is not well known in the Czech Republic, but it’s a rhythm which fit me and I have wanted to try for some time.” The information was released to press by Ceska Televize who will be broadcasting the contest.
According to the contests rules, all songs are to be in the English language. The contest has taken place each year since 1956. Last year over 182 million people watched Eurovision.
