ARMENIA 2024

The Armenian song was revealed on March 13th - the music video premiere was made on the official youtube channel. A few days earlier, Armenian broadcaster AMPTV announced their act and that the song would be revealed soon after. Going to Malmö is Ladaniva with the song "Jako".

Ladaniva (named after a type of vehicle) is a duo that was formed in Lille in 2019. Singer, Jaklin Baghdasaryan, was born in Armenia, grew up Belarus and emigrated to France in 2014 enrolling at the Conservatoire de Lille. French instrumentalist Louis Thomas makes up the other half of the duo. He is from Lille and also studied at the same conservatory. The two met by chance during a jam session in the old part of Lille. They have released 5 singles, and accompanying video,s and in 2023 they released their self-titled album. Their musical style is inspired by traditional songs and singers from Eastern Europe and, but also Latin America, Africa and Reunion Island - a department of France in the Indian Ocean.

The song is wholly in Armenian, which I believe is a first for the language in the adult contest, although the refrain is mostly a chorus of 'la la las'. The song talks about 'Jako' which is the nickname of the singer. The build into the song starts mainly with the trumpet which is a very prominent instrument in the track. This then feeds into the chorus refrain before the first verse. The verses are quite short and have a clear, almost spoken, quality and are followed almost immediately by the chorus again. After two verses and choruses, we a have a slight change in direction where the instrumentai trumpet is replaced with a more light hearted pipe/flute. Then follows a call and response part before a final reprieve of the la-la-las.

For the video, the two members seem to be in a typical rural Armenian village and Jaklin is dressed in ethic style clothing and has braided hair. The setting really reflects the ethic nature of the song and obviously reflects the language choice. There is a lot of movement and interaction which also reflects the pace of the song.They seem to have a good connection with each other and Jaklin really plays to the camera. For me, the backing track here is the absolet star. It has juch an infectious and ear-catching rhythm. Jaklins voice is so clear in the verses but seems part of the mix vocally and instrumentally in the chorus. I am intrigued as to how this might sound live for many reasons. Firstly, I feel like this might need some staging to come alive on stage. Just having these two on stage will feel very bare. Some dancers, some props, some background screens might be needs to either inhibit the stage or make it slightly more compact. I am hoping that the crowd will lift this performance, especially during the call and response part. I am hesitant but have high hopes on an interesting and individual show.

ARTIST - Ladaniva

SONG - Jako

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Jaklin Baghdasaryan, Audrey Leclercq, Louis Thomas