ADONXS brings fire and flair for Czechia

A white suit, a high C, and a toxic love story—Czechia’s ADONXS is ready to shatter expectations in Basel.

Czechia isn’t playing it safe in Eurovision 2025. Enter ADONXS (Adam Pavlovčin), the Slovak-born, London-trained, queer pop powerhouse delivering one of this year’s boldest entries: “Kiss Kiss Goodbye.” It’s dark, it’s dramatic, and it might just take Czechia to the top ten—or further.

From street dance to pop opera

ADONXS’s résumé is wild in the best way. Five-time Slovak street dance champion. Classical bass-baritone. Česko-Slovenská SuperStar winner (and its first openly queer champ). Now? The face of Czechia at Eurovision.

His stage name, a riff on the mythic Adonis, isn’t just branding—it’s a mission statement. “Clothes have no gender,” he declared mid-competition, draped in translucent gowns and crimson eyeshadow. Since then, he’s become a figurehead for queer visibility across Central Europe, landing on Forbes 30 Under 30 and bagging Slovakia’s Album of the Year in 2022.

Theatrical and unapologetic

Selected by broadcaster ČT from over 150 internal submissions, “Kiss Kiss Goodbye” is co-written with George Masters-Clark, Ines Coulon, Lorenzo Calvo, Michaela Charvátová and Ronald Janeček. The result is a pop-drama fusion with more reverb than Bon Iver and a scream-it-in-the-rain chorus.

The lyrics sting, the vocal climbs, and the energy doesn’t dip for a second. At Malta’s preselection show in February, an acoustic rendition saw initial wide betting odds shorten.

Rehearsals: precision meets emotion

Staging is helmed by Matyáš Vorda (Czechia 2023 & 2024), and the Basel build-up is sleek and striking: Monochrome staging with English lyric projections. A wardrobe shift mid-performance moves from suit to flowing gender-fluid couture. Close-up facial focus during the whisper-intro, followed by a dance break drawn from his street performance roots.

ADONXS told Eurovisionworld they’ve aimed for restraint: “We don’t want to overdo it. The vocal needs space.”

Winning over Europe—strategically

Since Czech viewers can’t vote for their own entry, ČT went international with 40% of the scoring based on input from an international jury of producers and ex-Eurovision acts. 40% from global fans. Plus a score from a domestic ‘expert’ jury.

The response? Promising. Kiss Kiss Goodbye is tracking just outside the top five in fan polls and sits 7th–9th in current betting odds. Streaming numbers are particularly strong in Nordic and Baltic countries, with vocal coaches praising the controlled delivery.

More than a song

There’s no escaping the symbolism. ADONXS, a queer Slovak artist representing Czechia at a time of increasing political conservatism back home, knows the weight of the stage.

“This is about more than points,” he told iROZHLAS. “It’s about visibility. About saying: We’re still here. We’re creating. We belong.”

Backlash has come—from nationalists questioning why a Slovak is flying the Czech flag, to critics dissecting every falsetto. His reply? “Czechia is my home now. Music has no borders.”

Final countdown

ADONXS performs 12th in Semi-Final 2 on May 15—a strong running order slot for impact. With juries likely to reward technical polish and emotional range, and a televote buoyed by bold visuals and LGBTQ+ solidarity, Czechia could be looking at its best finish since 2018.

Whether or not “Kiss Kiss Goodbye” wins, ADONXS has already broken new ground for Czech Eurovision entries: this is art, attitude, and vulnerability wrapped in velvet and glitter.

And here he is doing something different …