REACTION: Aiko - 'Pedestal' | CZECHIA Eurovision 2024

[@Novympia]

*CORRECTION* Mydy came third with 13726 points overall, not fifth as Nova mistakenly says.

[@mjm3091]

6:20 The thing is - you can save a good song, by spending all the remaining months to perfect the performance, get good backup singers and rethink choreography. A bad song will stay a bad song and even perfect performance of it, won't bring you to the first place. Unless the country and the artists are willing to work on rewriting the piece (some countries allow that after picking the contestant). A good or catchy song - at least will have some longevity and money potential, especially if picked as a meme or just something good to listen. A bad song can only sell internationally, where people don't understand the language or it can become cult classic for being so bad, making them bring it back every other year to laugh at it. But that's also if it's bad bad and not boring bad. Cause truly the actual bad songs are the forgettable ones.

[@Lunatik21]

Canadian here and I love Eurovision and am genuinely curious, if you had any examples in mind in particular regarding the bad songs that you feel had a perfect performance but was just a bad song? From recent Eurovision years, I'm reminded of Iru singing "Echo". She's an amazing singer and her videos are beautiful but the broken English in the song was awful and would have been amazing, I feel, sung in Georgian without the translation.

[@mjm3091]

@@Lunatik21 commonly a lot of ballads sung in English. A good example of good song + bad performance and bad song + good performance were Polish preselection songs in 2016. Szpak had perfect singing skills, but song was cheesy and quite dated/old; on the other hand you had Margaret with a song that fully made Poland go into first spot in bets, but her performance wasn't perfect (and bad audio during preselections didnt help either). Which ultimately made Szpak qualify, still landing in top 10, but with that song he had no chance of winning. Other different examples - Finland in 2021 with Dark Side - lyrics of their song were super dreadful giving you that 2010 bad teen angst, but performance itself carried them high.

[@everogersdownunder1242]

You have to be *so* physically fit and also have *great* breathing technique to be able to do choreography and singing live on stage. It's *really* hard to do. So if you can't do it. Don't. Just do smaller movements to the best with your dancers but focus primarily on the singing. Also, the sound people effed her on this too.

[@fefobobo]

I agree the studio version is so much better. Czechia last year had some issues with their National final performance and then slayed at Eurovision so let’s hope something similar happens this year

[@ohbitxc9793]

Yesss please continue with these Eurovision reactions!

[@ohbitxc9793]

And yeah this is not a good performance but I wouldn’t discard it, I have high hopes for it in May

[@willardprenfrew4303]

Please keep doing Eurovision reactions!! 💜💙💜

[@sanctusfaeces]

I’m sorry the fair use issue is such a problem, but we appreciate the lengths you go to find workarounds. As an American, you two have really been an entry point into actively checking out Eurovision while it’s happening. Having gone back and listened to both versions, hearty agreement with all your critique. Diction is another concern… I swear I heard “fart myself on a pedestal” in the studio version 😬😬😬.

[@Dashew]

Love your Eurovision reactions!

[@danielb6766]

Dear novympia. Thank you for your videos, always funny, and all the time too smart for me to apprehend. I know you don’t care for the Melfest, but this year it has one of the most dramatic Swedish Hollywood wife’s competing. I would be so grateful if you were to post an reaction 🙏🏼☺️

[@Novympia]

I'm not sure what made you think we don't like Melfest - we watch it every year! We'll absolutely do a reaction to the winner 💕

[@danielb6766]

@@Novympia thank you guys 🫶🏻

[@quiquiqui]

I saw it live in Roxy and let me tell you, most of us were like wtf?

[@danielnight5057]

By the way she mostly won since she's Russian and there was a big push for Russians to vote that's why she vote the international vote by a landslide meanwhile she was 5th in votes from Czechia. So her win is a bit random.

[@c0tr]

Was there? Did I miss the memo? Most of the fans that I know voted for the top 3 in equal proportion

[@danielnight5057]

@@c0tr she won the international vote by a landslide and the regional one she didn't get many votes

[@sullivan__]

I love that you two are doing esc reviews!!

[@NeonUnicorn4321]

When is Olympia's famous holiday cooking special?? 💜 I look forward to it every year 🤓 And Nova's eyebrows look like brown sharpie 😨

[@Costas17G]

I think the studio version is a very good song actually! I was listening to the eurovision playlist without knowing which country has what, and it really made me stop. It's a really good indie rock song, and I hope she does it justice in the performance!

[@RhymesWithSpark]

I watched the contestants and the national final, as well, and thought the audio was off for most. That being said, I thought Elly's angel's share would take it.

[@APerson10003]

It should have for sure. Aiko was awful.

[@DeweyDiMelle]

it would be amazingly awsome if you could react to all those campy entries of the Malta pre selection

[@cuervoxy]

I NEED these reaction videos.

[@joyjohnson8776]

I hate seeing Olympia disappointed

[@HalcyonxTeatree]

So there was this opening song/music video for Eurovision 1991 by Sara Carlson called "Celebration" and it's all that good early 90s kitsch which I would LOVE to see you both react to 💙😅 Edit: I should add that while I've only been watching your videos for over half a year, I am DEFINITELY new to your Eurovision content so what I just said may sound dumb 🙁

[@lkr90]

Celebration woooooah oooh oh oh

[@HalcyonxTeatree]

@@lkr90 yes! That's the one lol

[@madonnko]

Did you buy those eyebrows on sale?

[@gavinpaz]

When you do the British one, can you explain the rules around established artists entering. I’m so confused. Love the UKs choice though

[@Novympia]

There are no rules around established artists. Many countries send their biggest stars💕

[@gavinpaz]

@@Novympia thank you ❤️ For some reason I thought they had to be unsigned or uncharted outside of their country. Not sure where I got that from

[@Novympia]

Nope! Just needs to be a new song is all - there are rules regarding release date of the song 💕

[@garryd7748]

I’m starting a movement to have Nova represent Czechia next year. She’ll have a better voice and shoes.

[@PleaseApplaud]

I don't see any reason why she shouldn't throw her hat in the ring for San Marino...

[@danielo9141]

Denise from Malta, what a coincidence!

[@esctoplist1162]

The guy on the left sang it waaay better than Aiko. She is doomed, NQ. This will not do a Bejba

[@jelbertie]

Re: countries coming for their first win, my eye is firmly on Armenia

[@kieranedmunds2936]

I was rooting for Tom Sean but oh well 😭 We thought Vesna had issues live but Pedestal needs way more work than last years entry, I don't see this placing more than 19th at best as I feel like we have a strong year coming

[@Justitius92]

I quite like the song, actually, but I agree the live vocal needs a bit of tightening in terms of breathing etc., but even then it can be remarkable how a live performance can improve when you mix the audio well

[@aliegg4790]

I really love the song and she can definitely improve by May. I voted for her for that reason. Maybe a bit of a revamp could also be in order? but otherwise it’s so good.

[@Relevart9169]

I can definitely get behind a little revamp as much as i liked the song it feels a bit off

[@treverthetree]

I wasn’t very impressed by Czechia last year in the NF, although it was slightly better, but then they came tenth! I think the song has potential, and that’s really the only part set in stone. She’s got this!

[@Ryanw131]

I'm not commenting this to like tell you guys what to do or anything, it's tricky, but I don't know if I can continue to engage with anything eurovision related at the minute with them including Isreal at the moment, especially when it comes to the live final and receiving points, there will either be a bunch of performative low points, or there will just be a sickening number of countries willing to ignore it.

[@Novympia]

That's a fair comment - Eurovision has existed through numerous wars and was created to bring people together. That being said, wars have played a complicated role in recent years and we're not really sure what the answer is. For now, we've decided to not cover Israel's participation and we'll wait to see how the EBU/Eurovision address the situation further if at all.

[@Ryanw131]

@@Novympia yeah I think that's probably the most reasonable approach, i can understand not wanting to part ways with something you've been invested in for so long and makes up a large chunk of your content each eurovision season ❤️

[@sirprintalot]

@@Novympia thank you both for saying this

[@EvaMetalhankle]

Oh .. tresh! Maybe she had a bad night... I'm trying to avoid being awful, but I believe I'm failing terribly...

[@hotkpoptea388]

I would've been happy with Ellie, Mydy or Tom Sean I thought they had the only songs that could actually do something. Looking at it again I do see the potential in this song but I just find it quite boring tbh. The other 3 songs in the national final where terrible though so at least we didn't get one of them. So happy you're doing more Eurovision videos this year I love your commentary on the contest!

[@PleaseApplaud]

Labels putting claims on you for the tiniest clips in reviews are only hurting themselves. if I see you review a song and something in the review sparks interest, I'm gonna go off and watch their full videos, and maybe play their artist a lot more during the season, whereas normally I might just listen to the playlist of entries on Spotify once they're all confirmed, and not see any videos or have a clue what the artists look like until a few weeks beforehand. They're cutting their own income streams off and apparently too daft to realise it. Thank you for carrying on with the series.

[@dra900nka1n]

I voted for Aiko simply because the ceiling for the Eurovision performance will be higher than the other songs. But this isn't really the world's introduction to the song, the world's introduction to the song will be Eurovision.

[@sirprintalot]

Good catch with 99.9% of people watching it for the first time in May. It's kinda why I think MYDY would have been a good pick as well as Aiko.

[@desiech]

9:33 and here I was thinking I was the only one still suffering from Blancitis.

[@juliachochola2829]

MYDY song - If you are aware of the stages of grief, you obv know anger&healing after is one of them and it is oh so healthy and needed for a persons well being to go through that while also knowing you are not alone. That song is a big hug to all. Practice kindness dudes.

[@Novympia]

The intent behind the song may be a beautiful one but it did not land for us at all, sorry 😅

[@aengusprice8869]

turns out that i [a huge MYDY fan] am now an endangered species lol

[@X.A.V.I.E.R.]

I love your Eurovision reactions fr❤❤. Please consider doing a Jamie Oliver parody

[@orihusky7099]

as a czech, im disappointed and i dont have a hope. I think there is so much to improve and its worse than blanka :/

[@noah1590_]

What’s Novas user on the scoreboard app? x

[@Novympia]

itsnovabish 💕

[@quiquiqui]

We Czechs dont claim this entry. Thank you

[@teddytete.mp3]

I love the shoes xd I have the shoes...

[@aliceread260]

My 10 year old daughter screamed when she saw Novas tshirt. I think with some work this could be quite interesting when full Eurovision season comes around… not the best from this live performance but I’m sure it will get there.

[@kao_0]

Honestly, I'm so disappointed in my country after this like come on 😭

[@APerson10003]

@Novympia I think you should also mention the votes at times. The country voted for Elly, and it should have won based on that. International votes in the country count as 70% of total vote. Over 50% of the Czech voters choose Elly. She should have won.

[@Novympia]

We don't control how the broadcasters allocate the voting percentages. Aiko won according to the rules that were set for the competition and according to how the voting was decided to be split. If a fan favourite won the international vote but not the Czech vote I don't think we'd be having this conversation.

[@cameronkeast1608]

First time winner Australia?

[@Novympia]

Maybe!

[@mtaburet]

It, honestly, seems to me that there must've been technical issues in the Czech national final since basically all the live performances sounded horribly

[@Novympia]

We also think this may have been the case.

[@sophieandthesirens]

'menss shoesss' hahahaha Im not fully sure how it works but this was giving rehearsal, terrible costumes just looks like no effort doesn't it. Love that you do reaction videos I recently found your channel and now i'm addicted! I do like this song also!

[@DecayingAnubis]

lmao the roly x lux edits haha

[@lenariuse]

MYDY my winner :P poland

[@Dragonfighter2013]

Aiko needs to change that staging. Also, I like Mydy's performance and vocals, but yes they didn't have the best song(I like it being campy). Aiko needs to follow the music video ps: Blanka only got lucky, cause she was in the order with songs that have dark staging and unmemorable songs behind it.

[@HZ-fg9sf]

Elly was the most competent vocally. But that song wouldn't fare well in the eurovision mix. I liked mydy's whole package better. Their concept was stronger imo. Generic sexy moves isn't going to cut it visually. Hope Czechia's delegation revamp this like they usually do because this performance from Aiko and staging is atrocious. She needs to do some breath work exercises and vocal training these following months so we can actually hear her.

[@ВероНика-у6с3ы]

No need to be afraid of vocals after Blanka last year😂

[@anntthoo]

The sound mixing during the NF was god awful

[@harleymoffitt627]

Why dose lymp look stoned

[@smileyd5008]

Pedestal was my 2nd last place, (only 2nd due to starlet being absolutely horrid) the song is unbearably repetitive & does a terrible job at trying to replicate paramore's older music, it has no individuality, it's impossible for me to see Aiko as her own independent artist here, unlike some of the other escz artists. like this song just makes me want to listen to misery business, which is an objectively better song.

[@tommybrown8845]

I think the bodysuit was Mugler (or a knockoff) but Nova is right, those shoes she's wearing are awful

[@JanCiMei]

If this has been adressed I'm sorry to be asking again, will you be watching eurovision if israel participates? It's a bit of a disappointment seeing these videos promoting eurovision while they are not adressing removing them from the competition.

[@Novympia]

The EBU have addressed this topic, but it is still very early in the season. There is still a substantial chance we will not see Israel compete. We won't be covering their participation either way, but we are waiting to see how the situation develops.

[@bumblebear7999]

@@Novympialove your channel and respectfully implore you to truly educate yourselves on the incredibly complexed situation in the Middle East before boycotting and essentially introducing politics into your content. This is not a black and white, good vs bad, type of war like Russia and Ukraine for that matter. Hope you consider listening and forging an honest conversation on a very difficult topic, choose love not hate. Peace and Happy Holidays.

[@Leifdk1]

I am so sick of hearing how she has so much time to improve. Did she not prepare for the national final where she served this atrocious performance? I would have thought so. So how much more can we expect then? This was an awful choice. Even the song is mediocre. I can totally see hordes of Russians voting for her as has been suggested. The whole thing seems fishy.

[@Novympia]

We'll find out soon enough!

[@Leifdk1]

@@Novympia indeed.

[@MJMW25]

I CANT WITH THIS LIVE PERFORMANCE OMG💀💀 IT CANT GET ANY WORSE RIGHT?!?! It really should of been MYDY or even Elly

[@sirprintalot]

right? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, this isn't getting magically fixed in 5 months time, this is another Halo 2022, a great studio track that can't really be performed by the vocalist. MYDY and Elly were ready.

[@Relevart9169]

Aiko had my vote from the start, if Blanka can sound ok after that national final, Aiko can improve as well, hopefully

[@hiitsme6214]

omg you're right BAYBEH

[@sirprintalot]

glad we're getting multiple Eurovision reactions this year! as for my opinion, nah MYDY should have won (they came 3rd, not 5th) or Elly. Aiko was good but I fear the 5 months will not change anything as we've seen with many performers from Mae Muller to Pia Maria. I love Pedestal but only as a studio track, so whilst I do hope it works out, I just can't see it happening and I've been let down before by convincing myself it'll magically be better on the bigger stage. I feel too many Eurovision fans are in a "this can be fixed in 5 months" echo chamber right now. I just think MYDY and Elly were complete packages, this isn't.

[@skyblackking9732]

i was rooting for Mydy, they were so unusual and interesting, the lyrics were a bit bizarre sure, but they had a campy and fun vision that i was totally on board with, if they got selected the only thing they needed to work on ,maybe with a revamp, is the staging and some lyric tweaks, but regardless, Aiko has lots of work to do, but i dont see it qualifying

[@sirprintalot]

ironically Aiko winning the vote was the Eurovision echo chamber Nova mentioned at the start, way too many fans have convinced themselves this can be fixed in 5 months when we've seen so many singers not improve.

[@TheQuornstar]

Love your Loreen t-shirt Olympia.

[@aallsopp]

Gudetama ❤ x

[@Novympia]

🥚

[@TheManInBlueFlames]

The results just dont make any sense when we compare what we got!

[@richjdnz]

If the producers can get the live performance up to half the standard of the studio version, it'll qualify for the final.

[@Sphinxp0p]

I hope that clip of Lymp spinning her head around and making some sort of noise will become a part of cutaways in future videos (especially Eurovision reactions).

[@aengusprice8869]

on the topic of first time winners i am getting good vibes from Slovenia!

[@willjohn1717]

netherlands is the best

[@notthatcosta]

Glad I’m not the only one who couldn’t stand MYDY’s song

[@kieranedmunds2936]

There are no excuses for that vocal, take out the venue mixing etc she was shouting and out of breath, it was a cakapeepee mess😂

[@Novympia]

Tom Sean wasn't any better though 😅

[@Leifdk1]

@@Novympia No, but he didn’t win.

[@Novympia]

Kieran's previous comment said they wanted Tom to win, hence our reminder that he was no better.

[@Leifdk1]

@@Novympia Well, I would agree that he was not good enough to go either. He’s not what you’d call a “vocal talent” himself. Song is ok and he’s easy on the eyes I guess… but it ends there.

[@kieranedmunds2936]

@@Novympia Don't expose me like that 😂. Tom just needed male backing vocals to help blend it better as the women made it seem out of tune, then just some better choreo. His overall package, song, staging, and vocal for me was more polished than Aiko, but obviously not perfect. He is 19 he can easily come back in a year or 2 though

[@christinakyleloves]

🩷🩵💜💚🖤

[@sarahwithstars]

Well that was something. And we are sure it wasnt a parody? What the hell is the body suit? Its ghastly

[@HZ-fg9sf]

Malta has Lisa Gauci and Matt Blxck too imo. Lisa has the vocals. Matt has the comedy and his banana song is totally Eurovision.

[@skoolioza]

I’m quite happy. Though I wished for Lenny to be chosen a little more. The song is catchy, energetic, fun, has potential. Yet she sadly chose a choreography that didn’t fit at all. Breathing went outta window.. There’s a lot to practice, let people tell you their opinions when you’re about to represent our country.❤

[@Querviinho]

The song is actually good and current, but the live performance is not it, vocals are really bad and it comes off really off putting, last place in the semis kind of off putting. Historically, the angry howling women from the past have never really done well with neither the jury nor the televote. Maybe Europe is a bit misogynistic cause I’m sure a male performer could get away with this live, but Aiko, I don’t think, either she perfect the vocals and tone it down a bit with the yelling or it’s over for Czechia

[@Lolaarr]

is that bodysuit not just Cheryl Holes enterance look without the fringe ??

[@sheelfjohnson]

Those are some very practical shoes. I think my 8th grade catholic school teacher wore those with her brown polyester pants and navy blue polo shirt. And I can't hear her at all!

[@TheFloon]

Y'all make me feel incredibly seen about the quality of MYDY's song, and I say this as someone who had to be in marching band for all 4 years of high school. Really excited that you plan to continue doing individual song reactions!

[@helendawe5768]

When does it matter about the song? It's all political

[@Novympia]

🙄

[@SaladMcNuggets]

Taramasalata

[@thinking_toomuch]

Great shirt Olympia! I especially love how Loreens face changes trough out the video as you move around😂

[@periferink]

Love your Olympia t-shirt Nova❤ Love from Czechia

[@skog239]

my wig! im loving these eurovision reactions omfg

[@mekakucha]

love ur coverage girls

[@Ms.Laterholmes5253]

Nova, your brows are on point❤

[@henryriley4958]

People need to give her a chance to resolve the issues she had in ESCZ. Not everything was her fault. She has basically 6 months to sort this shit put and just deliver something perfect. The song ticks the box, just needs to work on delivering a perfect live

[@Ms.Laterholmes5253]

Olympia I want to see what is on your shirt

[@Novympia]

It’s Loreen!

[@vojtaracek895]

As someone who have seen Aiko perform live four times - she is usually shouty, it’s her style. But here it was a bit different. As someone who was in the audience for ESCZ this year, some of the singers, mainly Aiko Mydy and Gianna, had sound mixing problems live, where they basically had to scream so we could even hear them so the singing part… I don’t know, I know it sounds like a cop-out cause I’m her fan, but this performance should not be the one to judge her singing talent on

[@Novympia]

No this isn't a cop out we think it may very well have been the case - what are the odds that EVERY ACT sounded bad? We'll reserve final judgement until we get another live performance from her 💕

[@shortcake66]

The bodysuit looks like it might be the Mugler x H&M one. I actually like it, but it doesn’t work very well in this setting

[@Novympia]

Omg I think you're right! It just doesn't feel appropriate for this song 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@shortcake66]

@@Novympia Not right for the song, but also for the staging… I t’d work for lingering close-ups in a music video but here it just looks like she’s wearing something comfortable for a rehearsal. (But then maybe I’m just bitter because everything I wanted had sold out by the time I got into the website 😆)

[@williamdacic]

I should have known better but I kinda expected you to board the hate train. I'm sorry for doubting you and happy you're keeping an open mind. Nova, keep rooting for Denise, I'm there with you!