Czech Republic - omaga by Benny Cristo review by Lee Rogers
The last we left the cancelled Eurovision Song Contest 2020, Benny Cristo had been selected to represent Czech Republic through a national final process. All the songs were great choices, and despite that, people felt his song was a surprise choice. With the cancellation, countries were left to decide what to do for 2021. Obviously, the Czechs announced quickly on 13 May 2020 to keep Benny Cristo through an internal selection, giving him the opportunity to represent his country on the stage that he missed in 2020.
While the fandom was hopeful for a small national selection process for his song, the Czechs announced on 4 January 2021 that the song would also be selected internally. This was the best decision considering the dire economic and social situation during the pandemic. Benny Cristo aka Ben Cristovao already has success as a rapper in the Czech Republic and his 2020 song Kemama was quite the upbeat toe tapper. Thus, fans were expecting his new song with a bit of excitement. We need more uplifting songs at this point.
The song was then teased in early February, with the final tease being on 14 February as they released a snippet and a short video of Benny filming his video. The release came on 16 February as we were introduced to his song entitled omaga. One would have to hear the song to know the pronunciation, which is coincidentally close to the pronunciation of that interjection where I am from in the southern US. (D? There's supposed to be a D at the end of that?).
Omaga is fast-paced, with a self-confident and driven beat that exudes the "drageur" nature of the lyrics. It is quite commercial, and yet, it still reflects his personal style embodying his roots from his Angolan father. It has personality with the music trying to represent the emotions of the conversation between him and his on again off again girlfriend. The intro starts on a lighter note as if he is trying to sweet talk a little. Then the beat drops as the message changes to a more confident stride trying to explain himself. The twists and turns in the beat represent to me the twists and turns he tries to make to win back his girlfriend. It is cleverly written to me. However, in the end I would still walk away from him if I were the girlfriend. Omaga those lyrics. *cough* *cough*I think he is trying to sound like a pick up artist that's got no game. Hmmm.
While people take note of dance tracks such as Loco Loco, El Diablo, Sugar, Tick Tock and the like, his dance track has its own originality that hopefully will not be forgotten in May. He is already a seasoned professional with great stage prescence. He *wants* to be there and wants to represent Czech Republic on stage. Hopefully, he will continue the streak of Grand Final qualifications.