So straight after the first Scandinavian country, we now have the first Baltic country. Former winners Latvia mark their 20th appearance in the contest this year, though have had a patchy recent history, with just two qualifications for the grand final since 2009. An uphill …
Tag: Latvia
The nearly songs: national finals 2019 best of the rest part 1
So we've just had our first weekend in what feels like weeks where there has been no national final, and with all the remaining songs released last week and a gap until the preview shows/concerts begin, it's a good time to look at the "nearly …
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That was the (national final) weekend that was: reflections on recent Eurovision national selections
It may have not escaped anyone's notice but this weekend just gone (16-17 February) had its fair share of shocks, drama and scandal in the various national finals that took place. I thought I would do a quick summary of the results and my own …
Sad news from Latvia….farewell to Valters Fridenbergs
We've lost a few Eurovision people in the last year or so (Joy Fleming, Katie Boyle, France Gall and Lys Assia) but some very sad news today to hear of the death of Valters Fridenbergs at the age of just 30. Valters was one half …
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Eurovision 2018 previews countdown: #31 LATVIA – Laura Rizzotto – “Funny Girl”
We're back to a "first from so and so part of Europe" today in the countdown - it's the first of the three Baltics - Latvia. They are bringing a bit of the western hemisphere to Eurovision as Laura Rizzotto is a Latvian-Brazilian, born in …
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Eurovision 2018 national selections: Look East (Armenia, Hungary, Latvia, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia and Ukraine previews)
Here in the UK we might be braced for the "beast from the East" cold blast, but this weekend it's a bumper set of national finals from no fewer than seven Eastern countries. Some of these finals contain a lot of songs so I've just …
Eurovision 2017 previews countdown: #13 LATVIA – Triana Park – “Line”
We've reached #13 in the countdown and in the Eurovision world this is a notable number as from here on up, we're now on the all-important "left hand side of the scoreboard" if this was the grand final ranking. These are the top songs. After …
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My top 5 songs from…Latvia
The first of the Baltic nations to get my Top 5 treatment is former contest winner Latvia. They were latecomers to Eurovision compared to their neighbours, Estonia and Lithuania, with their first contest only coming in 2000. They wasted no time in making a mark, …
Eurovision 2016 previews countdown: #8 LATVIA – Justs – “Heartbeat”
It's our highest charting Baltic country now, a country that won Eurovision in 2002 but until a 6th place in the final last year had struggled in the last few years - Latvia. I confidently predict they should see another successful contest this year though …
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London Eurovision Preview Party 2016 video clips part 4: Francesca Michielin, Aminata, Justs and Amir
The video clips just keep coming - two of the big 5 among this set of clips (Italy and France) as well as double dose of Latvia, this year's entry Justs and last year's entry Aminata. All four class acts! Italy - Francesca Michielin "No Degree …