Ben Cristovao

Who is Ben Cristovao

Ben Cristovao (full name Ben da Silva Cristóvão) was born in 1987 in Plzeň; his mother comes from West Bohemia and his father from Angola. He introduced himself to the wider public in 2009 on Česko Slovenská SuperStar, where he finished seventh, and a year later released his debut, Definitely Different. It was followed by the albums Benny Cristo (2011) and Made in Czechoslovakia (2013) with hits such as “Bomby” and “Tělo”; in 2016 the track “ASIO” won him a Český slavík award for the most-streamed Czech song.

He celebrated ten years on the scene in 2019 with a concert at Prague's O2 arena. As Benny Cristo he won the Czech national selection for Eurovision 2020, but the contest was cancelled because of the pandemic, and a year later he represented the Czech Republic with the song “Omaga”. The record PROTENKONTRAST (2022) marked a return to rap, with guests such as Rytmus, Majk Spirit, Calin, KOJO and Ego, while the album Spektrum (2024) reached for guitars and collaborations with David Koller and Richard Müller. In 2025 he released two joint albums with Sofian Medjmedj, Khaosan and Denpasar, and in June he played his biggest solo concert to date at Fortuna arena in Prague's Eden.

Cristovao sings in both Czech and English and moves between rap, pop and R&B. Outside music, he trains in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, collecting medals at international tournaments; he is a vegan and an animal-rights advocate, and he has also appeared in the film Jan Žižka.