Romani musician Tibor Žida advances to the next round of "Czechia Slovakia Has Talent" with his version of the Czechoslovak national anthem
The Romani singer Tibor Žida has surprised the jury of the “Czechia Slovakia Has Talent” (Česko Slovensko má talent) competition with his own arrangement of the full national anthem of the former Czechoslovakia, advancing to the next round. “I have the feeling that we have a musician among us,” said juror Jaro Slávik after Žida described how he interprets music and that he has to be captivated by the harmonies, lyrics and melodies in order to perform a piece.
Accompanying himself on guitar in Brazilian samba style, Žida launched into his own lyrical and musical arrangement of the Czechoslovak anthem and the entire audience rose to their feet in response. “I love these performers who immediately create an atmosphere and bring us along with them wherever they are going,” juror Diana Mórová said before the unanimous decision was reached to advance Žida to the next round of the competition.
Czechoslovakia’s anthem was a combination of anthems already in unofficial use by the Czechs and Slovaks prior to the country declaring its independence in 1918. It was the first verse of the Czech anthem, “Where is My Home?” (Kde domov můj), followed by the first verse of the Slovak anthem, “Storm Over the Tatras” (Nad Tatrou sa blýska).
Each country retained its own anthem after the “Velvet Divorce” of 1993. In his performance, Žida slightly altered the lyrics in the transition between the two sections, singing not just “my home”, but also “your home, our home”, and also singing not just the word “Slovaks” at the end of the Slovak anthem, but also the word “Slavs”.
