Lie to Me / Mikolas Josef / Czech Republic | Review

Mikolas Josef chosen to represent the Czech Republic

Česká televize has announced that 22-year-old Mikolas Josef has won the ticket to represent the Czech Republic in Lisbon with the self-penned song, Lie to Me.

It's probably no fabrication to suggest that the nation is the worst performing Eurovision country ever, evidenced by the Czech Republic’s wretched series of results since they began competing in 2007. Whatever the magic prescription is for Eurovision success, the Czechs have continued to miss the target in spectacular fashion.

It’s little surprise, then, that stylistically Lie to Me is a country mile from the likes of Malá Dáma and Aven Romale - as well as My Turn, the song Josef rejected in 2017.

With a beat aimed directly at the dance floor, this year's effort is a definite toe-tapper. Containing an incessant dose of brass, hand clapping and suggestive lyrics Lie to Me is likely to be one of the more memorable entries of the class of 2018.

This change of direction feels like the right approach for the Czechs to follow and it’s hard to find any obvious weaknesses with the end product (bar the necessary change to the profane lyrics). And yet, there’s something about the song that doesn't seem to quite connect. It sounds too American, too "we've heard this all before somewhere" and consequently, when all is said and done, it doesn’t deliver any definable Czech identity.

Nevertheless, there is a competent entry here, and Mikolas Josef's delivery is more than confident (if not - overly - cocky) enough to give the song a distinct chance of advancing to the final. As with every entry, an eye-catching performance and sufficient audience generosity should help it progress -  although it's not distinctive enough to be 2018's winner.

What do you think?

CZECH REPUBLIC 

Artist: Mikolas Josef 

Song: Lie to Me 

Semi-Final 1 | First Half