eurovision 2012 news: Latvia

Showing posts with label Latvia. Show all posts

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Rehearsals: Day 1: Part 2 Latvia - Romania

Unfortunately due to my usual Sunday routine I was not in a position to stay in live mode for the afternoon. Anyhow here's how the rehearsals look to be going for the first half of the the first semi-final.

Latvia - Rehearsal Video
Those who have followed the blog will know that this is far from one of my favourite entries. Anmary's vocal performance today is really, really good but I don't like the display behind her. I think it lacks a strong colour. This is as close to my lovely horse as you can get and I suspect that it will stay this way. Anmary still is a very strange performer onstage too. This needed something really special to stand out onstage and it has not delivered on this. I cannot see this qualifying.

Albania - Rehearsal Video
Without a doubt I am really delighted by how well this is working onstage. Vocally this is just outstanding. The only issue that could be a problem is that Rona needs to make far more contact with the camera for this song to really score well on the public televote, but otherwise it has been a great performance. The extra drum towards the end should lift it and make it a little more anthemic. This does mean though that sound mixing will need to be very, very good for this all to work. Media reaction to this song has been equally positive but no one seems to be predicting this as either a qualifier or not.

Romania - Rehearsal Video
Romania has impressed me today. I found this a bit boring up until now but the extra bass in the song is excellent. If it doesn't come across on TV this will flop. Up until now I have felt that it is just a bit soft. But no, instead it is more like something from a club which I would listen to. This is well listened to and liked by the press and people seem to have a soft spot for this. Vocal concerns were also knocked today with a strong showing from the lead singer. After the first five songs this really should stand out to the televoters.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Beautiful Song, Dire Lyrics: Latvia - The Review.

Because of the earliness of their National Final Latvia actually generated quite a lot of interest in their song. After two semi-finals in January and a final in Feburary Latvia decided to send Anmary to Eurovision with her song “Beautiful Song”. The song tells of a singer who wants to write a song that will be a big hit and everyone knows it and hums it.

Really this is a shocking song. I didn’t expect this to win the national, and when it did, it was more disappointing than surprising. The song is fairly unremarkable, with a fair melody, but the lyrics are just dire. “I was born in a distant 1980, the year the Irish Johnny Logan won”. Does she really think that this lyric actually has anything to do with the rest of the song? Does she think that Irish people are so gullible to vote for a song just because it mentions Johnny Logan? The answer to both is that she is sadly, very mistaken. I think the lyrics of this song were best described by Ewan Spence over on the ESCInsight Podcast this is as close to My Lovely Horse as we’re going to get.

So if there is so much wrong with it why not just declare that I cannot stand it and put an NG at the bottom. Well, the truth is while I am not alone in saying that this is a pretty awful song there are many fans of this out there. This differentiates it from songs like Montenegro or Georgia while are practically fan-less [if you are a fan do leave a comment below]. Latvia has been praised in some quarters of fandom for sending a great song, while I completely disagree with most things these people say; it’s got a great melody etc. The song might have a great melody, but that’s all that going for it.

Latvia are in the first semi-final which is a rather entertaining one so I really think that it could struggle, especially in the face of very polished performances such as Ireland. I’m not convinced that the juries will give it enough support to bring it through to the final either.

Verdict: This is a really poor entry from Latvia regardless of what the fans might say. Personally I really dislike this song but I don’t hate it so I will pass the song with some qualifications [that’s what and E grade means, for your information.]

Grade: E-

Saturday, February 18, 2012

The Next Four Eurovision Songs

My, that was a busy day. This is my reaction piece to the finals that were held today. The reaction piece to the semi-finals is here. So here we have the four songs that were selected today:

At no earlier than 13:00 GMT Ukraine selected their entry sung by ~~Tina Turner impressionist~~ Gaitana with song "Be My Guest" it is rather good too.

Next up is Croatia Nina Badric, with the song Nebo - I am unsure about this song but suspect this could be one of the weaker songs from the Balkans this year. (I wonder is she still off sex too).

Then Latvia delivered a disappointment of a result by sending Anmary with the song "Beautiful Song".

And finally late in the day, Italy came out with an excellent song by Nina Zilli. She was selected with the song Per Sempre. However it is not known if this is her song for Baku. I would love to see it in ESC.

Latvian Reviews In A Rush

Here is our orginal reviews of the songs in the Latvian national final tonight:

Samantha Tina & Davids Kalandija - At first I thought this was a simiple ballad but the chorus proved me wrong, the fact Davids does not come in until the secondd verse does nothing for the song. However it is a little complex and the arrangement is good. The piano in the background is very effective. But I am still unsure if their voices actually work together. Grade: D-

PeR - Finally an easy name to spell. This is an odd song. You sit there and wonder just what is going to develop into. The trouble is the song is so repetitive I can't see this actually standing out. Grade: E-

Paula Dukure - That’s better, much better. This is a little different and actually sounds like ESC material, however it would still need a good vocal performance, but listening to Paula sing she should hold notes on the night. Grade: C+

Ruta Duduma - This stripped back and layed back song could do well if sandwiched between two fast songs. For the genre it is rather good. I am rreally liking the chorus. Grade: B-

Andris Abelite - Another song that came through the internet selection. The retro feel manages to stay on the right side of retro/dated. Though the song has a nice jazzy feel it does have real jazz strenght; think Raphael Gaulazzi. A little over repetitive. Grade: E+

Samantha Tina - While this song is good it just appears to be lacking something. Maybe we will feel it when we see it live. Grade: E

Elizabete Zagorska - Sounds a little more Eurovision. It builds wonderfully well but then….The interlude between the verse and chorus feels just little a car crash that comes out of nowhere. The wind instrument in the background does not help at all. The verse is good though. Grade: D

Mad Show Boys - Oh yeah! Here is a real folk song. However while I enjoy it, all that goes through my head is the Slovenian entry in 2010. I still think this is ok with sentiments from the beatles. Grade: B+

Trianas Park - All of the songs in this semi are just terrible and this really is no different. Grade: E+

Anmary - Despite the title this is not a very beautiful song. The songs lyrics do not make much sense. The song is full of cliques however it seems very average and just needs to shift to another gear. Grade: E-

So hopefully Latvia will select The Mad Show Boys For Baku....

Tonight: It's Another Super Saturday

Today sees a huge marathon of shows across Europe. 4 Acts will be selected today/tonight we know one of those already that is Ukraine who had their final at the ungodly hour of 11:30 CET - here in Ireland that's 10:30 and I wanted a lie on more than I wanted to watch Ukraine. So I didn't see it but I have seen the winner. [full post later].

Otherwise two songs will be presented tonight - that's Italy [who I am very much looking forward to hearing] and Croatia. Croatia will have a special show at 20:00 CET which lasts one hour so we such hear the song around 21:00 CET. Italy will present their song as well tonight and I suspect that it could be very late tonight [after 23:00 CET] before we hear the song I am not sure what I will be watching tonight so I recommend watching the usual channels for information about Italy.

Latvia also will select their entry tonight in a dual final format. The first will be at 18:00 CET [about one hour from now] and the second super final will be at 20:00 CET. I will throw up the review shortly.

Sweden holds the third semi-final of Me.lodifestivalen tonight at 20:00 CET. You can read our reviews of it here.

Lithuania holds a semi-final too at 20:00 CET. Estonia holds one which starts at 20:30 CET. You can read our reviews of the Estonian semi-final here.

This may all be bit confusing so I recommend the page that escXtra have developed.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

UPD: Returning to the odds!

Since my last post there have been some changes to the odds. Ireland has gone from 33/1 to 25/1 which is odd given that we have the same amount of information as before.

Now that we have heard all the songs from Norway (stats based on four bookmakers):
Nora Foss Al-Jabri is the favorite to win the first semi with 3 bookies putting her on favorite. However there is huge differences in what is to come second. The Carburtores and Lise Stokke are favorites to take the second slot with Kim and Reidun coming in after as dark horses.

There is huge spread in the final. Plumbo are the hot favorites to win with Reidun, Rikke Normann and The Canoes lagging behind.

Today we got the odds from Lativa, they confirm what I expected from the start: Mad Show Boys are the favorites (the hot favorites at that) and PeR are just behind, followed by Paula Dukure (all are under 3/1). After that there is a gap starting with Anmary (5/1) to Ruta Dudama (19/1).

Over in Denmark the song Venter (Christian and Patrik) is leading the odds with Jesper Nohrstedt is in second. Sonuna and Aya are in joint third (roughly). Forever I B Young is in last place.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Reaction to tonight's semi finals.

Latvia: We have had reasonable success in dumping a lot of the crap songs in the semi finals. We are happy to see Mad Show Boys made it to the final as did Robert Petersons (our second favorite).

Bulgaria: Our three favorites made it through the marathon show. Ceco Elvisa & Daniela, Desislava and New 5 (in that order). As with Latvia many boring ballads were dumped - Thankfully.

Iceland: Sadly Íris Hólm didn't make it but we were very impressed with Greta Salome & Jonsi.

Iceland will hold their next semi-final on 21 January with a Final on February 11th

Latvia will hold their final on February 18th. Bulgaria will hold theirs on the 29th February

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Review of Eirodziesma: Semi Final 2

Latvia was one of the earliest to publish their songs. So in the run up to their National Final we have reviewed the songs in each of their National Finals.

Niks Dukrus & NBC- Sweet for me is an odd mixture of sounds. However the beat is nice and this could do well given how it is received on the night. I don't really like it. I think the rap is poor and the choruses are very average sounding. Grade: F

Valtars Gleske & Libe Ece - A very nice and pleasant classical song. Classical music is not always suited to ESC though. The big separtation between the male and female verses is not something I like very much. Grade: E

The 4 - Typical band stuff, voices not strong enough. This needs a total rewrite to get it right. So much potenical. Grade: E+

Paul Swan - Is it just me or is the opening line very similar to All The Lovers by Kylie. The chrous feels just a little dated. It's nice but nice never won ESC. Grade: D

Roberts Peterson - This is a lot better than what I have just heard. Staging is everything with this song. This needs a hardrock staging or it just won't look right. Grade: C-

Samantha Tina - While this song is good it just appears to be lacking something. Maybe we will feel it when we see it live. Grade: E

Trianas Park - All of the songs in this semi are just terrible and this really is no different. Grade: E+

In spite of having so many songs this is a poor Semi. However here at The Best Eurovision Blog we like the MAD SHOW BOYS song and hope they win the Semi.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Reaction to Latvian Semi-Final and some other points

So after a relatively uninteresting semi-final, but a fun night on twitter (Thanks to all), we have 5 songs out of Eirodziesma. The qualifiers were good with the exception of Andris Abelite who I thought was below par. I think PeR are the ones to watch from this semi-final. They came second with the juries, which means that they could do well. However I would think the song is over repetitive.

The big disappointment for me was Laura Bicane and Romans Sladzis folk music which surprised me by how good it was. Naturally I was pleased to see Ruta Duduma make it through.

In other news.....

We have not got a list of participates from the EBU yet and we look forward to see if Armenia is on it. I think it is delayed because the EBU doesn't want politics dragged into Eurovision but a draw is expected around 16th January so we will be keeping a close eye on that.

A campaign video has been launched for ~~Rick Santorum~~ ~~Nickolas Sarkozy~~ Jedward? We are unashamedly supporting Jedward for Eurovision and we think this is just great.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Review: Latvia Semi Final 1

Latvia was one of the earliest to publish their songs. Latvia’s national final is also on tomorrow night so in advance we publish our reviews of the songs in the first semi-final.

Atis Levins - This song is like motorway driving you get on, get bored driving and are happy when you get off. It is adifficult song to put a genre on. Grade: F

Maia - This is an interesting little song and does draw you in a little. The interude is nice and very unexpected. Latvia is not known for having a good selection process, and this probably will stand out a little. However taking the macro view, this really is annoying song that doesn't go far but goes a little. Ending is sudden and doesn't suit the song. Grade: E

Samantha Tina & Davids Kalandija - At first I thought this was a simiple ballad but the chorus proved me wrong, the fact Davids does not come in until the secondd verse does nothing for the song. However it is a little complex and the arrangement is good. The piano in the background is very effective. But I am still unsure if their voices actually work together. Grade:D-

Nikolajs Puzikovs - I thought at first this was going to be better than it actually was. Disappointing. The opening screamed so much potenical but this was quickly destoryed. However it has enough redeming features to pass. Grade: E-

Laura Bicane & Romans Sladzis - This song is more like what I was looking for. It is just a little more orginal. We havent heard too much of this at the contest. However it is far from perfect. I fear this only stands out because it has some good points, and would be lost compared to the quality that is already there. Grade: C

PeR - Finally an easy name to spell. This is an odd song. You sit there and wonder just what is going to develop into. The trouble is the song is so repetitive I can't see this actually standing out. Grade: E-

Angelina & Alisa May - Once again I thought this was actually going to good. Vocally good, however the almost childish lyrics are a little distracting. The key change is too late, though good, I'm just a little bored. Grade: E+

Paula Dukure - That’s better, much better. This is a little different and actually sounds like ESC material, however it would still need a good vocal performance, but listening to Paula sing she should hold notes on the night. Grade: C+

Andris Abelite - Another song that came through the internet selection. The retro feel manages to stay on the right side of retro/dated. Though the song has a nice jazzy feel it does have real jazz strenght; think Raphael Gaulazzi. A little over repetitive. Grade: E+

Ruta Duduma - This stripped back and layed back song could do well if sandwiched between two fast songs. For the genre it is rather good. I am rreally liking the chorus. Grade: B-

Based on these reviews The Best Eurovision Blog supports RUTA DUDUMA for the final. However overall I am disappointed with the Latvian songs.

We will have the second part of these reviews; for semi 2 next week.

The Best Eurovision Blog will have coverage of the Latvian semi final tomorrow night on Twitter follow us @besteuroblog from 19:15GMT/20:15CET/21:15EET.

Monday, August 29, 2011

To Baku And Beyond

As I am sure you know eurovision.tv has reported that the reference group are to travel to Baku this week to take care of various aspects of business including receiving official assurances about the contest. Following all this they will give the green light to Azerbaijan for next years contest. I will be looking very carefully at the results of this meeting. I have made my views on Azerbaijan hosting known on many occasions and I won't be repeating myself. However I am calling on the EBU to be very careful in allowing Azerbaijan host ESC 2012

Latvia have announced their National Final will have an internet round and the Final show will be on 18th February. A jury will then decide who exactly will go into the National Final, interesting....or not....I never really follow Latvian selection