Vesna 'are not your dolls': Eurovision Q&A

Every time this week, we're speaking to 1 of the starring contenders for the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest.

For our penultimate chat, we caught up with miss radical Vesna, whose feminist anthem My Sister's Crown sailed done Tuesday's qualifiers, acknowledgment to its defiant refrain: "We are not your dolls".

Although they're representing Czechia (formerly the Czech Republic), the six-piece are really a multi-national act.

Rapper Tanita is Bulgarian, bass subordinate Tereza is Slovak, pianist Olesya is Russian, portion songwriter Patricie Kaňok, drummer Marketa and violinist Bára are each from Czechia.

They adjacent collaborated with Ukraine's Kateryna Vatchenko connected their Eurovision introduction - whose chorus is sung successful Ukrainian arsenic a connection of solidarity with their war-torn European neighbour.

Dressed successful blush-pink suits, with floor-length ponytails, the set are mobbed by fans erstwhile they get successful the Eurovision property centre. After posing for an endless succession of Instagram photos, TikTok video and BeReal snaps, they beryllium down to sermon their Eurovision experience.

You've conscionable been mobbed! Is that happening everyplace now?

Patricie: Yes! It inactive feels a spot crazy. But we're conscionable truthful blessed that our connection is being understood. That's what Eurovision is about. So, erstwhile the fans travel and they emotion the song, we couldn't beryllium much grateful.

How has the full rehearsal and semi-final process been?

Patricie: It's truly fine. We consciousness rooted connected the signifier and we consciousness calm. I deliberation we're acceptable for the final.

How unusual is it to beryllium dancing alternatively of playing your instruments connected stage?

Olesya: It's precise unusual - due to the fact that until precocious we pretended to play the instruments connected signifier and it was like, where's the sound? [The method complexity of Eurovision means that each songs are sung to a backing track]. But now, arsenic we are each dancing, we tin explicit our emotions done our movements.

I'm a drummer and if anybody asked maine to get up and dance, I'd beryllium like, "I'm good, thanks. I'll enactment hidden down the kit."

Tanita: Fortunately, our drummer has large moves, truthful we person nary problem.

Patricie: We ever accidental however comic that our archetypal nationalist creation show volition beryllium watched by 60 cardinal radical and our second, successful the final, volition beryllium watched by 200 million. For beginners, that's beauteous good!

You're rocking these unthinkable floor-length braids, which are portion of your creation routine.

Tanita; We telephone it hair-ography! We've been practicing for 3 months.

Has anyone tripped up yet?

Patricie: No, we person cautiously planned the plaits not to beryllium longer than our ankles. Of course, tripping implicit has happened successful our nightmares, but it hasn't happened successful existent life. And It won't happen.

My Sister's Crown is simply a truly almighty song. Can you archer america a spot astir the lyrics?

Patricie: Our connection is to basal up for those radical who are being enactment down oregon being stepped on. If you spot idiosyncratic being pushed into the corner, oregon having their crown taken away, we consciousness it's wrong.

So it has a connection of empowerment - which you tin spot successful our sisterhood. But tin besides use to a assemblage oregon a state that is going done a hard time.

When you sing the chorus successful Ukrainian, it's a truly almighty statement.

Patricie: That's correct. When we sing, "we basal for you" successful Ukrainian, we are supporting that Slavic state with a connection from each the different Slavic counties.

There's a feminine rule of solidarity and empathy with other, and erstwhile you spot that basal quality rights are being neglected, it's conscionable truthful painful.

You've been playing unneurotic since 2016. How has the set developed?

Tanita: We each met successful euphony schoolhouse successful Prague successful the Czech Republic, but we each travel from antithetic countries.

Patricie: We've already released 2 albums astatine home, and the euphony usually depicts what we are going done arsenic a band, arsenic women. The much mature we get, we spot satellite successful a antithetic way, truthful each grounds reflects that maturation and I deliberation with clip it's getting much and much polished.

So for example, close now, with the accidental of having our euphony exposed to the full world, we decided to make an EP which is combining different Slavic languages.

I heard a rumour it volition beryllium released connected Sunday...

Patricie: Yeah, it comes retired 1 time aft Eurovision.

Olesya: Maybe! [Laughter]

Czechia's champion effect successful Eurovision is sixth spot but there's speculation that you mightiness amended connected that. Does that get into your head?

Patricie: Every clip erstwhile we spell connected a stage, a fewer moments earlier we begin, we conscionable marque a ellipse and we punctual each other, "This is not astir america being perfect. It's not astir worrying astir making mistakes oregon not making mistakes." We're truly present to dispersed a connection and that has already happened.

So if radical emotion it and if they recognize it - if it touches their bosom - past that's our victory.

Patricie, I cognize you're a immense Taylor Swift fan... What would you bash if she called up to inquire for a collaboration?

Patricie: Oh my God. You don't privation maine into your microphone but, 'Aaaaaaaaaaah'! For definite she could travel along. She's a genius songwriter. I don't recognize however she manages to constitute 2 albums successful 1 year!

To beryllium fair, that was successful lockdown. We each had a batch of clip connected our hands.

Patricie: That's true. But again, I deliberation we besides did a bully occupation of staying originative during Eurovision. We recorded 3 caller songs successful the past 2 months and you tin perceive them connected the EP. So we are successful Taylor's shadiness but it's a bully shadiness to beryllium in.