The Czech Republic National Selection “Eurosong CZ” is well underway now, with six acts battling it out for the chance to become their country’s representative at the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon

Escbubble were lucky enough to get to chat with Victor, lead singer and guitarist from rock band “Doctor Victor” whose song “StandUP” is included in the selection.

Welcome to Eurosong CZ Victor! Tell us a bit about yourselves
Thank you for the opportunity to present ourselves. We are Rock’n’Roll power trio existing since 2012. I always wanted to be in band and started to play publicly very soon as a kid. I continued to study music by signing up for the Conservatory in Prague and set up a band firstly named as Dr. Viktor. At one point, there were even 12 people on stage. We did covers from Prince, Lenny Kravitz or Joss Stone, but later I became more self-confident, started to compose my own songs and sing in front of the audience. From that point, everything revolved more around rock – legacy of traditional rock and blues.

Your song for selection is “StandUP” and it’s a such a familiar sound to me, like putting on an old pair of metal studded leather slippers 🙂  There are obvious influences to classic rock bands, like AC/DC and Aerosmith, tell us a bit about the song
Yes exactly, in rock we trust!  StandUp is inspired by my personal experience. In the dark days, I had no place to live, so I slept in an old factory where the band had a small rehearsal space. No bathroom and a bit scary at night….pretty much a squat. This song is dedicated to all the people who need to rise up from the bottom, so that they can stand up

How did you end up entering Eurosong?
Eurosong is international platform and therefore attractive for us. Our aim is to go on tour in Europe and thanks to Eurosong we see the opportunity to realise our next dream. I would say we have enough experience as band already represented Czech republic abroad, in Thailand, and won 2nd place. Other crucial fact to submit the StandUP to this song contest was professionalism of Czech television team.

To make further reference to your roots, I see that you supported AC/DC back in 2016, that must have been crazy! What can you tell us about that time (bearing in mind also the recent tragic loss of Malcolm Young)?
It is a “dream came true” story. My parents always supported me with music from the beginning, except for those times when it was after eleven at night and our neighbours would bang on the walls and ring the door for me to stop playing! Even my dad, who was otherwise cool, would get nervous. Otherwise, I have to thank him, because he took me to different concerts since I was young. The concert of AC/DC, in 2001 when I was eleven, was a serious breaking point for me, and my greatest passion became music, even more than ice hockey.

I’ve also found that you toured the UK in 2017 how was that for you?
Again incredible experience. We spent together in VAN more than 48 hours, drove 4116 kilometres, played gigs in 6 cities across United Kingdom within 8 days. True Rock’n’Roll for us!

What are your feelings towards the Eurovision Song Contest as a whole, is it something that you follow?
I admire the monumentality of Eurovision and I am sure that, even though we play a classic rock, our show would fit there cause we love huge stages and “riding” on them.

I’m slightly disappointed that there will be no televised National Final for the Czech Republic, I would have loved to have seen all 6  songs battling it out on stage!  Should you win the ticket to Lisbon in May, any ideas about how you would stage “StandUP”?
Yes, we would love the National Final to be televised. Anyway we will have the opportunity to perform the songs live in clubs in Prague and Vysoké Mýto. We like Rock’n’Roll and showmanship. Our fans know they can expect energising show from us. Everything would depend on technical possibilities the Eurovision could provide. If possible we would use the holograms, huge x-rays (as we re DOCTOR VICTOR ) and definitely we’d love to involve the audience to our show. The rest is our secret.

What plans do you have for 2018? “StandUP” is receiving such a lot of attention, are you going to be building on that?
Definitely. As I mentioned we wanna go on a European tour.

Thanks Doctor Victor, we wish you the very best of luck!

Watch the video for “StandUP” below.  Voting is open via the Eurovision app for all fans, however only the votes from within the Czech Republic will count towards 50% of the result, with the other 50% being from an International Jury. The winner will be announced on January 29th.  For full details, visit the official website.

If Doctor Victor are your personal favorites in the Czech Eurovision selection, make sure you cast your vote for them here: