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The HoD Spotlight: In Conversation with the Czech Republic’s Jan Bors Written by on March 27, 2016 | 1 Comment

The Czech Republic will present their fifth entry for the Eurovision Song Contest this May, with Gabriela Gunčíková and ‘I Stand’. As part of our Head of Delegation spotlight series, John Lucas speaks to Jan Bors about his first year in the role, the challenge of finding the right song and why the Czech public are finally starting to take the Eurovision Song Contest seriously.

When the Head of Delegation meeting convened in Stockholm early in March, the group would have been greeted with a sea of largely familiar faces. However, at least one attendee would not have been recognised by many of his new colleagues. At 29 years old, Jan Bors is both one of the youngest and the newest of the delegates charged with carrying the hopes and expectations of their country at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016.

If the pressure of joining this exclusive community made Bors’ nervous, he doesn’t show it. “I’ve been in charge of big TV shows before,” he explains “so this wasn’t totally new to me, it was just on a bigger scale.”

Grounded In Czech Television

That is, frankly, an understatement. As Senior Editor and Creative Supervisor for a number of popular Czech television shows including Můžeme dál? (Cash at your door), Taxík (Cash cab) and Star Dance VI – the Czech version of global ballroom franchise ‘Strictly Come Dancing / Dancing With The Stars’ – Bors has enjoyed a rapid career ascension at home. But the global audience of almost 200 million who will be tuning in to watch the Song Contest in May represents his largest platform yet by any measure.

“It’s the biggest international project I can do in entertainment,” he agrees. “It’s like the World Cup of music and it was great for me to have the opportunity to meet all these people who’ve been involved with it for ten to fifteen years or more, plus guys like me who are experiencing it for the first time.”

While most other new delegates will have the benefit of stepping into an established template for Eurovision participation, Bors is picking up the mantle for a country that still hasn’t fully come to grips with the mechanics of the Contest. “There’s no tradition of Eurovision at home,” he admits. “In some ways, it takes the pressure off, because nobody really expects anything from us. But we’re part of it now, and we really want to help the Czech people to appreciate what it means to be part of something bigger and more international.”

What Does Eurovision Mean To A Czech?

The Czech Republic was one of the last European states to join the Eurovision family in 2007, and their first three entries were infamously poorly received. In their first year they sent Kabát, one of the country’s most popular hard rock acts. However, their song Mala Dama placed last in that year’s semi final with just a single point. Two years later, Romani hip hop group Gipsy.cz managed to do even worse, becoming only the second entry in the modern Eurovision era to score ‘nul points’ in a semi final. The nine points scored by Tereza Kerndlová in the 2008 semi final could generously be described as a resounding success in comparison.

“I think sometimes what the public chooses isn’t always necessarily what’s right for Eurovision”, Bors explains. We had no experience, we didn’t know what Eurovision was like or what it was looking for. I can’t speak for my colleagues at the time, but based on last year I think an internal choice works better for us at the moment, because we know exactly what we want and we have the freedom to put together the best possible package.”

After 2009, the Czech Republic withdrew from the Song Contest citing poor results and low domestic interest. In Vienna last year, singer Marta Jandová described the Czech viewers as “like the kid who never got any presents for Christmas, so they decided that Christmas is stupid and they never liked it anyway.” For Bors, one of the main challenges is to overcome this negative perception and restore confidence that the Czech Republic can compete on a level playing field with the rest of Europe.

Not Making Up The Numbers

We really want to compete, to do something special and to show the world that we’re taking this seriously and that we can do it. Our goal this year is absolutely to reach the final. If we can achieve that, people at home and abroad will recognise it. Even though we didn’t qualify last year, it still felt like a success for us because it was our best result so far. In previous Contests we hardly scored any points at all, so to have our song be so well received was a really positive thing for us. It didn’t feel like a failure at all.” 

Jandová and her partner Václav Noid Bárta were internally selected last year via a panel of independent experts, and Bors and his team adopted a similar approach this year. An open call was put out for songs, and ‘I Stand‘, composed by the Swedish/Irish songwriting team of Christian Schneider, Sara Biglert and Aidan O’Connor, was identified as a strong contender. After that, it was simply a case of finding the right performer.

“We took a similar approach to last year, but we feel that because we had that little bit more experience, we were more open to the process” Bors explains. “We approached Gabriela because we knew she was a great singer, and she understood that it was an excellent opportunity for her to showcase her talent on the world stage.”

The combination of Gabriela Gunčíková, an award-winning young Czech singer who came to national prominence as a finalist on the TV talent show SuperStar, and the song has so far been warmly received at home and among the international fanbase. The official video for the Czech entry has racked up over 500,000 views on Youtube in less than two weeks, and bookies currently rank them above heavy hitters like Norway, Greece and Estonia in the betting for this year.

“It’s great to receive such a positive reaction” says Bors. “Our goal is to qualify for the finals, and I have no doubt that we can do it. I’m really excited for people to hear Gabriela sing live, because that’s where she really comes alive. When people hear what she can do, I’m sure they’ll want to hear it again.” 

Winning Over The Locals

As a young creative with a strong pedigree in reality television, is there any ambition to develop a national final format for the Czech Republic in the future? Bors is cautiously optimistic for the moment.

“Right now, it’s about selling the show [The Eurovision Song Contest] to the Czech people, proving that it’s a good thing for us to be part of and that it’s something that we can succeed in. Just from our success last year the pool of artists and songwriters who would be willing to work with us is getting larger. If we can keep building that momentum in the future, who knows?”

Countries such as Hungary and Estonia have successfully put together national final formats that are as focused on celebrating local talent as they are about selecting a Eurovision song. What might a similar Czech song festival look like?

“The Czech music scene is much like the rest of the world. It’s very diverse, there’s no one style of music that defines us. We’re a small country, but with a lot of talent, and many of our young artists have big aspirations. More and more Czech singers are recording in English and really aiming for a global audience.”

“This is great news for us because these artists are starting to recognise the opportunities that Eurovision can open up. It’s a way for us to show the world our culture and our singers. For a small country, that’s extremely important. Our music scene contains many great voices and we know how to put on a good show. We take things seriously, but never too much – we definitely know how to enjoy ourselves.”

About The Author: John Lucas

A writer and content marketing professional with a passion for getting lost in strange cities and a strange fascination with micro states, John has been with ESC Insight since 2015 and has also had his writing featured in publications including The Guardian, Popjustice and So So Gay. Tweetable @JLucas86.

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One response to “The HoD Spotlight: In Conversation with the Czech Republic’s Jan Bors”

  1. Alan Sedgwick says:

    An interesting one to read, thanks. I’d love to read one with San Marino’s head of delegation too, and Bosnia, as both are in rather unique situations. I don’t suppose there’s any chance of speaking to the former head for a country like Slovakia, Turkey, Monaco or Andorra? That would be fascinating too.

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