ESC 2009 bearcub alert
Mar. 22nd, 2009 08:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jawnbc! Since their début in 2001, the Latvians have finished 3rd, crappy, 1st, crappy, even crappier, 5th, OK, OK. OK means qualifying for the final--not many countries have done so as consistently. If nothing else, they almost always send something interesting. If you think faux pirates with massive boob jobs are, uh, interesting.
Latvia's 2009 entry is noteworthy in all sorts of ways. First, Latvia withdrew because the international credit crisis has hit the Baltics especially hard. Boo! One of the songs that qualified had then been submitted to the Irish national final. But the EBU made some sort of sweetheart deal with les leutoniens, and they were back in. Yay!
Originally there were to be several semi-finals and final. It ended up being just one semi and the final shortly thereafter. And one of the semi-finalists was the song Ireland shortlisted (it finished 2nd). So what would Riga serve up for '09?
How 'bout something cubalicious? Voici Intars Busulis and Probka (Traffic jam; preview video):
This is noteworthy because it's:
It was not sung in Russian during the final: the Latvian language version is Sastregums (also Traffic Jam). Last year Intars sang in Russian and finished second. The circumstances around the Russian-speaking minority in Latvia has been a sensitive issue in the past: most were not granted automatic citizenship after independence in 1991, and the question of instructional language in schools where a majority of students are russophones is still a sore point....on both sides of the debate.
So his announcement that he'd be singing in Russian is controversial. But in a year where the Russian entry is dire (and bilingual Russian/Ukrainian--dont' ask), any song in Russian should do well. A really good one? Could do very, very well. I'm thinking Intars will sail easily into the final and probably into the top 10. At least! It's certainly in my top 5.
Here's the live version from the national final, in the Latvian language. Energetic wee fella, eh?
Latvia's 2009 entry is noteworthy in all sorts of ways. First, Latvia withdrew because the international credit crisis has hit the Baltics especially hard. Boo! One of the songs that qualified had then been submitted to the Irish national final. But the EBU made some sort of sweetheart deal with les leutoniens, and they were back in. Yay!
Originally there were to be several semi-finals and final. It ended up being just one semi and the final shortly thereafter. And one of the semi-finalists was the song Ireland shortlisted (it finished 2nd). So what would Riga serve up for '09?
How 'bout something cubalicious? Voici Intars Busulis and Probka (Traffic jam; preview video):
This is noteworthy because it's:
- Catchy
- Different
- Well-sung
- Well-performed
- He is hawtish
- In Russian
It was not sung in Russian during the final: the Latvian language version is Sastregums (also Traffic Jam). Last year Intars sang in Russian and finished second. The circumstances around the Russian-speaking minority in Latvia has been a sensitive issue in the past: most were not granted automatic citizenship after independence in 1991, and the question of instructional language in schools where a majority of students are russophones is still a sore point....on both sides of the debate.
So his announcement that he'd be singing in Russian is controversial. But in a year where the Russian entry is dire (and bilingual Russian/Ukrainian--dont' ask), any song in Russian should do well. A really good one? Could do very, very well. I'm thinking Intars will sail easily into the final and probably into the top 10. At least! It's certainly in my top 5.
Here's the live version from the national final, in the Latvian language. Energetic wee fella, eh?
