When Pedestal by Aiko was announced the winner of ESCZ 2024, there were still 150 days remaining until the Grand Final in Malmö — now there are fewer than 20.

Czechia has been selected to perform is set to perform 5th in the running order of Semi Final 2. Aiko co-wrote Pedestal along with Steven Ansell and she has described it as a “self-love, post-breakup anthem” that also deals with the “negative emotions and situations” that manifest at the end of toxic relationships.

During our time with Aiko, she reflected on her journey so far as she has performed at several Eurovision pre-parties, and has learned a lot from them:

“It’s been great to see that, for example, I had the footage from the first pre-party and I was like, ‘oh, so here’s where I make some mistakes’. I analyzed the video and I corrected it and I did it better at the next pre-party. And then I analyzed that video further and further. So I think it really just gives you the opportunity to perfect your performance before the actual big stage. And that’s really cool. And at the same time, you get to enjoy people really loving your song and really feeling your song. You get really big feedback on your art, and that gives you a lot of energy and positive emotions and everything. So it sort of, like, charges you to do and try more. So that’s great!”

— Alena Shirmanova-Kostebelova (Aiko)

While Aiko grew up in Czechia, she has since settled in the United Kingdom, so we asked her how the move has had an impact on her as an artist:

“I think a lot of the impact was because I moved when I was 19.
I went to study there. And just in general, as you grow up, your tastes, your influences, the way you create, changes because you get more experience in everything. I had the luck to go to a university that was very creative, so I had a lot of very creative people around me. I’m also very proactive, so I reached out to different producers, worked with different people, and I feel like the UK way of doing things is more experimental and more open-minded in a way than the Czech. Because the Czech industry is moving, but a lot slower than the UK one. Where in the UK you have a lot more genres, sub-genres, and just in general a lot more is accepted in the UK than in Czechia. It’s not only more me, but you have the space to find what’s you, because you get to know the options and the fact that the options are endless. Whereas in the Czech Republic, the options are also there, but they’re not as visible, so sometimes you don’t even think of it. So it’s just very creative, and just meeting all the people has definitely influenced my style in general.”

— Alena Shirmanova-Kostebelova (Aiko)

Be sure and check out the full interview with Aiko (above) to learn more about the meaning behind the staging of Pedestal, her pre-party experiences so far, her biggest fashion and music influences, and Aiko’s big plans and dreams post-Eurovision! The episode is available now wherever you get your favourite Eurovision podcasts!

How do you like Pedestal? How will Czechia do at Eurovision 2024? Let us know in the comments and on our social media profiles @buildingbridgespod !