Pedestal (Aiko song)

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ESCZ 2024

Czech Republic's broadcaster Česká televize (ČT) organized a seven-entry competition, ESCZ 2024 with a singular grand final to select its entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. [20] The edition was the sixth iteration of the national final. The winning song in the final was selected after all entries were shown in the grand final on 4 December, with voting opened until 11 December, with the winner being determined by a weighted combination of an international and a Czech public vote. [21] [22]

Aiko was announced to compete in ESCZ 2024 on 28 November 2023, with her song for the contest being revealed during the grand final. [8] After voting was closed, on 13 December, the song was announced as the winner of the contest. Despite having a lack of votes of the Czech vote, the song earned an extreme majority of the international vote, earning more than 10,000 votes than the second-place finisher. As a result, the song won the right to represent the Czech Republic in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. [23]

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 took place at the Malmö Arena in Malmö, Sweden, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 7 and 9 May and the final on 11 May 2024. During the allocation draw on 30 January 2024, Czechia was drawn to compete in the second semi-final, performing in the first half of the show. [24] Aiko was later drawn to perform fifth in the semi-final, ahead of Switzerland's Nemo and before Austria's Kaleen. [25]

For her Eurovision performance, Matyas Vorda and Vit Belohradsky were appointed as staging directors. [26] It featured Aiko in a Lukáš Macháček-designed dress made out of black mesh adorned with sparkles. She was also surrounded by four dancers which represented the first four stages of the five stages of grief, with Aiko herself representing the final stage. [27]

Charts

"Pedestal"
Pedestal (Aiko song).webp
Eurovision version cover
Single by Aiko
from the album Fortune's Child and Aikonic
Released
  • 22 September 2023
  • 21 March 2024 (Eurovision version)
RecordedJanuary 2023
Genre
Length
  • 2:28
  • 2:58 (Eurovision version)
Label Self-released
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Steven Ansell
Aiko singles chronology
"Lucky Streak"
(2023)
"Pedestal"
(2023)
"The Internet"
(2023)
Music video
"Pedestal" on YouTube
Chart performance for "Pedestal"
Chart (2024)Peak
position
Lithuania (AGATA) [28] 49

Release history

Release history and formats for "Pedestal"
CountryDateFormat(s)VersionLabelRef.
Various22 September 2023Single Self-released [29]
21 March 2024Eurovision version [30]
17 May 2024Stripped [31]

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References

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