What’s that you say? You want more national final reviews? What better way to satisfy your thirst for content than to review Supernova 2024? Be careful what you wish for though. niallpoints.com is not responsible for any burnt bodyparts or feelings hurt.

There are 15 songs taking part in this year’s Latvian selection and Tomas has just (barely) gotten through the first 7. Read what he thinks of them below! 

A quick reminder of the line up

• Agnese Rakovska – AI
• Alekss Silvers – For The Show
• Avéi – Mine
• B/H – Amsterdam
• Dons – Hollow
• Ecto – Outsider
• Edvards Strazdiņš – Rock N’Roll Supernova

Agnese Rakovska – AI

First song in and I’m already quite surprised. I just don’t know yet if it’s a nice surprise or not. First of all let me start by saying that as a studio cut, I like this. There is something about this chill “loungy” vibe that makes me imagine myself being on a roadtrip, windows down, sun shining, music blasting and riding into the unknown. But the chill vibe might actually be what kills its chances of doing well at Eurovision.

A lot of questions rise with this one however: Will it stand out? Is it memorable enough? Will juries be able to get into this? And most importantly: Will the public vote for this? Is it fit for the Eurovision stage? Which is after all what it’s all about. As for the AI vocal: I like it. I think it suits the song very well, though I fear it won’t garner her many points from the professional juries.

Alekss Silvers – For The Show

I don’t know where to start on this one. A lot goes on. It starts off with a catchy and memorable melody which I like. But it soon goes into a direction I did not expect. I’m convinced this song will make for a killer show (pun intended) live.

Unfortunately for me that’s exactly the only place it belongs: in a live setting. Don’t get me wrong, in the end it’s all about the live performance of course, so it could be a good thing! As a studio cut, however, it doesn’t quite grab me. Maybe it’s because I’m not the biggest fan of this kind of beat. It’s all very slick, as is he. Perhaps a little too slick. The bridge I found a bit overdramatic all though I enjoyed the backing vocals coming in. Also what the hell happened at the end? We’ve suddenly gone late 2000’s FIFA World Cup with the beat. I’ll be expecting some fireworks or at least some shirt swapping? 

Avéi – Mine

Dear Lord we’re going downhill fast all of a sudden. Is this Supernova or Eurosong? Even I don’t usually get this cheeky but I’m honestly struggling to find anything likable about this entry. To be fair there’s not really much to it to like is there? There’s just so much wrong with it. It sounds very dated and a tad tacky. There is no catchy melody, no stand out lyric and no climax that makes this even remotely memorable. Who listened to this and said: yes we must send this to Eurovision? It’s one of those dance tracks that continuously builds towards a drop that never really delivers. I was hoping for a key change at the very least just to have some kind of climax but alas. I doubt this will see the Eurovision stage…

B/H – Amsterdam

What’s happening? Have they spent the day in one of those Amsterdam coffeeshops? Surely this belongs at the start of the show as a bit of a warm up? Or perhaps Supernova is making a dinner show out of it this year. And they’ve asked them to play a little music while the people are enjoying a nice meal before the show starts. They sound like your average local cover band. This belongs at a fair perhaps, but not at Supernova. I mean it’s groovy and I definitely didn’t hate it. But as an entry I can not take it seriously. I hope they enjoyed Amsterdam cause they won’t be seeing much of Malmö I’m sure…

Dons – Hollow

This is what I’m talking about. We’ve suddenly raised the bar by a few miles with this one. And that’s saying much coming from someone who doesn’t usually like ballads. The dramatic start with the piano instantly grabs me and it never really lets go. I love the tone of his voice, it’s giving Hozier. The song builds and has a very good climax both instrumentally and vocally.

It’s a decent ballad that’s well layered and could really come to life with some intimate and thoughtful staging. I like that they’ve got more than just a pretty boy to rely on. There is actual talent here and complexity. We’re going to need live backing vocals for this one. It doesn’t need much more than that. Perhaps a piano.  I’ve said this before but we do NOT need wide angle camera shots of the stage. If Dons plays his cards right he could well be heading to Malmö in May.

Ecto – Outsider

I’m in shock. And I’m pretty sure after watching this live I’ll have a seizure. We’ve just done a full 360. From the get go this reminds me of “Samo Mi Se Spava”. I didn’t like that one and I don’t like this one. Yes I know it’s very different but it’s giving me the same feeling when I listen to it: a headache.

At the risk of sounding like a pensioner: that is not a song. It is a compilation of computer sounds and special effects with some lyrics glued on top. Where is the cohesion? It reminds me of those noises you hear at a fun fair. You know when you’re on some ride that spins and shakes till you throw up and the guy in the booth presses a bunch of sound effect buttons and then goes: “do you wanna go a little faster?”. The entire thing was so ridiculous I didn’t even realize it had ended. Either this is a joke or I’m officially getting old. 

Edvards Strazdiņš – Rock N’Roll Supernova

It always worries me when a song announces its genre in the title… And as expected my fears have been confirmed. How are we still at the fair? What is going on in Latvia? Also… are we sure that the guy in the picture is the actual singer? Where’s the middle aged man with the beard and the cowboy hat? To be fair there’s a certain likability to this song. It’s fun, but it sounds more country than it does rock n’ roll doesn’t it? I’ll be wanting to see 5 backing dancers doing the line dance.

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There you have it. An honest but fair review of the first half of Latvia’s Supernova, class of 2024. What a bunch. I’ll never recover. Stay tuned for part 2, where Tomas will give you his opinion on the remaining 8 acts. Don’t forget to share our wonderful new blog with all your Eurovision moots.