After the rollercoaster that was part one of Supernova I must admit that I was quite hesitant getting into the final 8 songs. Fortunately for me (and the Latvian audience) this was a much better bunch! We can only hope and pray that this is not the actual running order for the semi or whoever watching it will need a large thermos of coffee to get through the night. Or a bottle of wine, whichever you prefer.
As promised we have lots of content coming for you this week, but for now please enjoy my honest but fair review of the last 8 songs.
A quick reminder of the line up
- Funkinbiz – Na Chystu Vodu
- Jar of Kings – Wildfire
- Katrīna Gupalo – The Cat’s Song
- Papīra Lidmašīnas – Mind Breaker
- Patrīcija Spale – Heaven’s Raining Down on Me
- Saint Levića – Tick Tock
- Sasha Sil – Love is a Language
- Vēstulēs – Kur?
Funkinbiz – Na Chystu Vodu
Funkinbiz have not stolen their name. This was a lovely start. As the name of the band suggests the song is a mixture of pop with some clear funk and jazz elements. In the famous words of the Lady Dowager herself: “do you think any of them know what the others are playing?”. Of course that is what makes jazz and funk so original. This would be the perfect kind of music for a lounge bar. For a big music competition however, I doubt it’s memorable enough. To make it to Malmö, let alone qualify to the grand final you need something that takes you on a journey, in whatever way imaginable. Sadly this is not that kind of song. Though quite enjoyable, it’s just a bit too linear to stand out in the sea of drums and whistles that is Eurovision.
Jar of Kings – Wildfire
This has 1,5 stars on Eurovision World so I’m very worried about getting into it. Right from the start it’s very loud and in your face. As you can probably already tell, I’m not really much of a rock fan. Tho I enjoy certain sub-genres of it, this is just not my cup of tea. Not that any of them look like they’d enjoy a cup of tea. I don’t pretend to know much about the genre, but the chorus nor the verses have the hook or the rawness that makes rock music so enjoyable to many. Not to mention the lack of layering and complexity this kind of entry needs to grab the audience. Lyrically I also found it rather lazy. I doubt we’ll see this in the final.
Katrīna Gupalo – The Cat’s Song
Phoebe is that you? Lyrically it could well be. Oh this is a lot of fun. I love the melody it’s so catchy! You just can’t help but bop along! The chorus is so ridiculous that it actually becomes fabulous. The purring and the little meows here and there are a fun addition. I’m sure none of us ever realized how much we needed this until we heard it! It’s everything you could expect from a cat song and more. I’m guessing this is all one big euphemism and I’m totally here for it! In fact, never mind the other songs Latvia, just send this! It would go off in the arena!
Papīra Lidmašīnas – Mind Breaker
Another upbeat funky pop song. Honestly I’m quite enjoying this. The melody is cute and fun. The only question, as with many of this years entries in Supernova, is will it stand out? Will the people take out their phone and vote for this? I don’t know how the voting will work exactly, but this is quite a long semi final. If people only get to vote at the end of the show, I fear lots of songs will be forgotten.
That being said I must admit that this one is in my humble opinion probably one of the better songs in this line up. The chorus is quite enjoyable, however, there might just be a little too many la la la’s in there. I doubt they broke their minds whilst writing these lyrics, or maybe they were broken before the start. At least this second part of the show is more fun!
Patrīcija Spale – Heaven’s Raining Down on Me
Time to pull out your phones and turn the flash lights on! Let’s start with her voice, which sounds very soft and warm and friendly. Fits the vibe of the song perfectly. This is your typical love song. It’s quite lovely and simplistic but again very plain and perhaps a little dated. We’ve heard it all before. Nevertheless I could see this creeping through to the final with some thoughtful staging. We’ve quite a lot of up tempo songs in the mix so it could stand out. The song itself is giving country pop realness, which probably explains the cowboy hat in the thumbnail. It doesn’t really have any ups or downs or stand out moments, which seems to be a running theme in this national final. Once again I’m charmed, but not exactly impressed. Tough one to predict.
Saint Levića – Tick Tock
4 star rating! I am curious! We have an actual music video for this one. Immediately it sounds very different from the other songs. I know I’ve been going on about complexity and depth and layers a lot but this is not what I was talking about. There is again some spoken word in this one, and while she has a lovely voice I can’t help but cringe a little. Is it ever done properly I wonder? I think I prefer a nice bit of rap then.
Suddenly we have a change of pace halfway through the song. In fact we have a complete change of genre and it sounds very unhinged. They basically just glued in a piece of a second song in the middle. The ending is very dramatic and quite beautiful to be honest. Just a pity that it’s the only part of the song I enjoyed. I’m sure this’ll have an audience, but it’s not me. I guess I’m just too old to get this. Will probably qualify.
Sasha Sil – Love is a Language
Just 2 more to get through so bear with me here! Instantly this reminds me of “Would You” by Iris, who represented Belgium at the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. And honestly that’s not a good thing. We all know how she fared. This kind of music just puts me to sleep. Which is probably why I didn’t realize it had ended. I was staring into the abyss. A song like this needs at least a vocal moment, a key change or a big finish to make it pop. Sadly it had none of those things. Let’s not dwell… Time for the last song!
Vēstulēs – Kur?
Not entirely sure how I feel about this one to be honest. It starts off with a lovely melody played on a piano. The Latvian language is coming through beautifully in this song. However there are certain parts where the instrumentation is a bit too much and I wished it would remain minimal. The verses are quite nice in al their simplicity. I don’t think it will qualify to the final but nevertheless this was cute.
That’s it! We made it! I hope you’re as proud of me as I am of you guys for sticking with me through this crazy journey. Cause boy was it a journey. Let us know in the comments down below what you think of this years Latvian selection! Do you have a favourite? Who do you think will qualify to the final? Don’t forget we have much content coming for you! In the meantime have a look at our reaction video to UMK’s third song “Paskana” by Sara Siipola (some shameless advertising) right here! Please share, like and follow us on X and Instagram!
