LATVIA

The Latvian Final was held on February 22nd in Ventspils, hosted by Eriks Loks & Nauris Brikmanis. Before the final there were two semi-finals where the list of 24 was reduced to a field of 12. The winner will be chosen in two rounds of voting - firstly to select the top 3 and then to select the winner. The voting in both rounds will be a mixture of televoting (50%) and an "expert" jury (50%). The winning song was "Cake to bake" by the group Aarzemnieki.

 

Being chosen on Super Saturday meant I only caught parts of the final. The final three of Dons, Samanta Tina and Aarzemnieki could not have been more diverse and I think the winning act could not have been more surprised. Although very much an 'underdog' at the outset, it was quite obvious that the song's childish charm and catchiness seemingly overrode its simplicity and this raked in the viewer votes.

 

The four piece guitar/violin combo also do all the singing. To say they are 'freeform' is a bit obvious, one could almost say 'untamed' or even 'unrehearsed'. Right now they seem a bit like 4 friends having a good time - this now needs to turn into a Eurovision final qualifying act! They seem quite inexperienced at this kind of thing and I would suggest that they spend the next 3 months honing the act and song so that it is as slick and catchy as popular, without losing its charm.

 

The song is very minimal - no drums no bass just strings and voices. The song has a very straightforward structure which is very repetitive and there are plenty of things to get stuck in your head. The chorus really emphasise the name of the song and you will be singing it within minutes. The "cep cep kuku" bit does go on for a bit but gives another chance for people to join in whatever language they speak or just clap along. The sentiment of the song is very clever and isn't really about cakes...

 

The problem that really need ironing out with this song are the vocals. Although they are not bad singers the lyrics do seem too garbled and therefore the true meaning of the song is well and truly missed. Therefore it turns into another novelty song - about cakes.  I don't think anybody would have predicted this song winning the Latvian final, however it does feel very Latvian. It has the carefree nature of Brainstorm, the madness of Arnis Mednis and the catchiness of Pirates of the Sea - a cake mix in itself!

 

I would have preferred Dons to have won the ticket but you cannot disagree with public feeling!
Now starts the hard work. As it this has very little chance of qualification but with some polishing, a bit of reworking and well needed practise it might turn into a song Latvia can be proud of. It is in quite a 'friendly' semi final and probably will get votes from Estonia, Russia ,Sweden and Iceland (at a push). But let's face it no serious Eurovision jury will touch this with a barge pole...

 

Artist - Aarzemnieki
Song - Cake to bake
Music - Guntis Veilands

Lyrics - Guntis Veilands