It came just before the twenty-first hour, when organizers announced that British singer Ellie Goulding, another major star in the program, would not be performing at the festival on Thursday. He fell ill and the doctor did not recommend his trip to Ostrava.

Although suspicions have been raised in some internet discussions that perhaps the organizers are reducing the financial costs of the event in this way, the bottom line is simple. No good organizer would do something like this because of the reputation and prestige of the festival, things like this only happen occasionally and are basically always bad news.

First of all, OneRepublic introduces itself as a group that has a number of songs in its repertoire that you hear on the radio, but you don’t know exactly which artist is behind them. In this case, the twenty-one year old lineup could easily lean on Ryan Tedder, his singer and songwriter, who wrote hits for him and also collaborated with U2, Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, Miley Cyrus and other famous people.

Although OneRepublic’s performance in Ostrava was a bit disjointed, lacked flow and even Tedder didn’t always seem to sing well, it fulfilled its role. This song was sung by most of the approximately thirty thousand spectators present. Even at an event as big as Colors of Ostrava, that’s what matters.

Who are the organizers’ favorite programs were revealed during the opening ceremony of this year’s edition. It was started by members of the British folk rock group The Longest Johns, who in the afternoon received a standing ovation for their beautiful multi-voice sound, during the evening performance and for its functional relationship with music.

Portugal’s Expreso Transatlantico also received good reviews from organizers at the opening ceremony, but lacked energy on stage during the evening. Good instrumental performances seem to only be found on small stages.

Polish pianist Hania Rani combines modern classical music with electronics and it sounds fresh and unusual, German LaBrassBanda elevates brass bands to good festival entertainment, and Israel’s Garden City Movement again surrenders to the magic of the combination of electronics and rhythm, interesting, but after a while a little confused in terms of settings.

The domestic music scene is well represented by Zrní and singer Pam Rabbit, who is one of those embracing pop in a new way.

Wednesday’s weather in Ostrava was satisfactory for the festival. The organizers’ intention to present an interesting musical phenomenon was confirmed and the audience’s desire to be guided in this direction was clearly visible. Twenty years of connecting the festival with a musically educated audience has paid off.