From ESC Xtra:

 

Just over one month ago Latvian broadcaster LTV announced the 24 songs competing in their re-branded ‘Dzeisma 2013′ national final and today in a press release we finally have the performer’s names to match the already released songs along with the semi-finals they are participating in.

 

Semi-Final 1 (8/2)

Better than you – grupa PIENEŅU VĪNS

Give Me a Try – IVO GRĪSNIŅŠ GRĪSLIS

Good Woman – DOMINIC OKOLUE

Higher and Higher – LIENE CANDY

I Need a Hero – SAMANTA TĪNA

Love – grupa HEADLINE

Love Responder – LIENE MATVEJA un BAIBA REINE

Never let me go – OLAFS BERGMANIS & The Random People

Sad Trumpet – grupa PER

Tirpini – FOX LIMA

Upside down – SABĪNE BEREZINA

When You Are With Me – ANTRA STAFECKA

 

Semi-Final 2 (9/2)

Cold heart – IEVA SUTUGOVA

Fool in Love – DĀVIDS KALANDIJA un DINĀRA

Here I am – RŪTA DŪDUMA

Here we go – grupa PER

Hey Hey! – ANDRIS KIVIČS

I am who I am – MARTA RITOVA

Joey – MĀRTIŅŠ RUSKIS UN 4 VĒJI

Let the night belong to the lovers – FRAMEST

Now or never – grupa AIWINK

One – NIKO

Phoenix Fly – KRISTĪNE ŠOMASE

The One – grupa PIENEŅU VĪNS

 

Several of 2012′s entrants are back again this year including PeR who have two entries, Samanta Tina, Davids Kalandija and Ruta Duduma. The hosts of the shows have also been named as actor Mārtiņš Meiers and actresses Madara Boitmane and Anta Aizupe. Several guests have been named to be performing in the shows also including Eurovision 2012 singers Anmary and Ott Lepland, along with serial Eirodziesma participants Trianas Parks. Other performers include Astro’n’out, DaGamba and Lara Bellerose (Belgium), Tumsa, Pulsa efekts, Riga Dom Cathedral Boys Choir, Labveligais tips and Mello M.

 

You can listen to the songs here: http://www.ltv.lv/eirovizija/dziesmas/

Edited February 16, 201312 yr by Ryan.

I need another What For/Beautiful Song otherwise get out.

I Need A Hero is giving me Yohanna vibes. Ok, it uses the lyric 'is it true' once, but it's in a similar style.

 

There's a few good songs in this (don't ask me why I decided to listen to a couple from here) including that, but they'll probably choose something shit eventually.

Eyes, listen to them all for me and give me a PRÉCIS by the morning, I need to know the essential hot messé (forecast: 3) and potential pop stormers (forecast: ½) but I don't want to expose myself to potential Latvian entries more than I have to and you clearly have the resolve capable of doing so.

Very well, first impressions on this sorry lot:

 

Ivo Grisnins Grislis - Give Me A Try - Male alt-stuff, pleasant but nothing essential - like a subpar solo Coldplay if you are generous, or an X-Factor reject sound if you're not.

 

Sabine Berezina - Upside Down - A bit of a pop-stomper, basic Buzzjack fodder really, think slightly classier Rita Ora (and slightly more manly-looking). Possible hot mess with the right performance but probably not, it's quite generic.

 

Marta Ritova - I Am Who I Am - There's piano, there's quirky female vox and yet this feels so basic again. Doesn't really have much kick to it, it's a MoR midtempo really.

 

Headline - Love - First fairly awful one, unpleasant/boring vocals from what I assume is a boyband, song goes nowhere. No.

 

Kristine Somase - Phoenix Fly - Could be a promising entry, if she didn't sound so bored on the title line. The buildup and things are pretty nice, a good pop entry if it received some bolstering of the weaker parts.

 

Martins Ruskins and 4 Veij - Joey - Yeah ok, I'm inclined a little bit towards this because of both male and female voices, which do interact decently.. but it's boring. Joey must be pretty pissed (as it's HIS SONG http://www.moopy.org.uk/forums/images/smilies/gggggg.gif), it's a slog to get through, very hard to remember, and one of the worse ones here.

 

Framest - Let The Night Belong To The Lovers - Affably MoRish, pleasant but nothing more.

 

Olaf Bergmanis & The Random People - Never Let Me Go - Better than that artist name promises, it's rather catchy. The addition of 'The Random People' in the title, plus the quirky instrumentation makes me feel like it'll be more of a performance thing. Out of the ones I've done so far (on the order on the website), best suited for success I feel. Reminds me of 'Lautar' without the life-affirming instrumental hook. Or 'Time' even.

 

Liene Matveja un Baiba Rene - Love Responder - A standard basic BJSC fem-pop entry, very forgettable and inessential.

 

Niko - One - Latvia's answer to Eric Saade David Lindgren Tooji not even that. Constantly singing 'we're one' over a basic dance beat does not a good pop song make. Not the worst song in here by any means but a perfect example of how to be bored by an upbeat dancepop song.

 

Liene Candy - Higher And Higher - Far more like it. Clearly their attempt to go for a Euphoria-style song for this year. It's not a total ripoff and is nowhere near it in quality naturally, but if it wins, nearly all of Buzzjack will proclaim it Latvia's best entry ever. And it would be. Potential 'pop stormer'.

 

Dominic Okolue - Good Woman - This is Sean Paul in a disguise. I'm almost certain of it. Well it's a reggae song at least. I'm not overly familiar with the genre but it feels fairly standard, lots of 'shawty' and 'you will be my wife' etc etc. Actually, could be more along the Gyptian side of things. I can't imagine this genre at Eurovision at all. :D

 

Ieva Sutugova - Cold Heart - Potential hot mess. Definitely. Lots of spoken words (including one section that's VERY similar to Stooshe's 'got a black heart, so VERY BLACK' except replace black with cold) and ropey/quirky vocals. Would gain at least SOME of an ironic following.

 

Aiwink - Now Or Never - Why do they label all groups with 'Grupa' yet the others don't have 'solo singer' in front of them? Very unnecessary. Anyway, this is decent group work, not standout or bad, it has the feeling of 'could be great' as the instrumental does build very well and the female vox is nice.

 

Per - Sad Trumpet - The title sums this up perfectly, melancholy and whiny, the instrumentation is nice though.

 

Per - Here We Go - Uninspired chorus, but it has some hip-hop that saves it, marginally. Better than Sad Trumpet but still not really worthwhile.

 

Pienenu Vins - Better Than You - No, you're not. Fairly shit but could have a LAUGHABLY shit thing about it, if it was a little bit more interesting, that is. As it is, it's more of a cold mess than anything else.

 

Pienenu Vins - The One - Their other entry is more serious and therefore better, as camp as their picture looks, this group are far better serious. Much better vocals than Better Than You promises, an average power ballad.

 

Andris Kivics - Hey, Hey - This is going to be awful, isn't it? *2 minutes later* yes it is, not in the way I was expecting, the picture and title had me expecting some novelty crap, this is just boring middle-aged male solo singer crap.

 

Davids Kalandija and Dinara - Fool In Love - That's how you do a duet. About the best MoR entry this selection has, sounds like a good Danish entry, so I'd have no complaints if they sent this. A key change at the end as well. AS PER.

 

Samanta Tina - I Need A Hero - Like I said, very Yohanna, one of the best songs in this selection, could potentially do very well if she brings good live vocals. I hope this wins, Latvia would be wise to send this, would see them back in the final, really smells like something that'd get success. As it is, after Finland's Lost, best song I've heard so far from all the NFs this year.

 

Ruta Duduma - Here I Am - Again, a very good pop-ballad. A little more production than Samanta and more towards the Jade Ewen side of things than Yohanna, if we're talking 2009 ballads, but essentially cut from the same cloth. At least they're in different semis but if they both get to the final they'll probably take votes from each other.

 

Fox Lima - Tirpini - TOO INDIE (as Oricon would say). Alt quirky female vocals that take a little while to make out, feels like she's muttering the lyrics actually - probably a little too subtle for Eurovision, also the only song in here not in English I think. Probably a grower but I can't see this translating well to stage.

 

Anita Staffecka - When You're With Me - Soul-style pop. Not the best example of it and is a little too slow and never really gets started. Lovely warm vocals though.

 

Not as bad on the whole as I was expecting, and jolly good for a Latvian NF, there's a few good songs and a lot of the rest COULD be good but lazy production values/vocals make them sound weak. If Latvia make the right choice they should be back in the final this year. Higher And Higher and I Need A Hero (as my favourites) would probably do that. Here I Am, Fool In Love and Never Let Me Go would also stand a good chance. Cold Heart would be an semi-final spectacular, 'The One' could reach the final and bomb, and the rest are pretty much sub-par to those already mentioned. That's the highlights.

 

Knowing past form, they'll probably send Hey Hey though. :manson:

OMG Cold Heart is the WORST THING I'VE EVER HEARD http://www.moopy.org.uk/forums/images/smilies/grin.gif

OMG Higher and Higher makes me want to get fucked on krokodil in a dingy gay club in lower Riga THIS INSTANT though! *.*

THAT SAID

 

Liene Candy - Higher And Higher - If it wins, nearly all of Buzzjack will proclaim it Latvia's best entry ever. And it would be.

 

You can GET OUT NOW if you think this can just STRUT in front of Beautiful Song and What For. There's a QUEUE!

THAT SAID

You can GET OUT NOW if you think this can just STRUT in front of Beautiful Song and What For. There's a QUEUE!

 

Beautiful Song was GREAT but... not perfect (20th best entry of 2012, although that's pretty good regardless) and from what I remember from What For for Super Eurovision last year it was ok but didn't stand out.

 

Out of Latvian entries up to now that I feel I know well enough to judge:

 

1) Beautiful Song

2) I Wanna

 

Er.. yeah. I didn't watch the 2010 semis, hardly recall any of the 2011 DNQers besides the ones I liked on first impressions and wasn't watching before then. So there's hardly any competition as far as I'm concerned.

*knows two entries*

 

'There's HARDLY ANY COMPETITION SO FAR AS I'M CONCERNED'

 

I mean there's a good reason Latvia were historically my least favourite Eurovision country but COME ON http://www.moopy.org.uk/forums/images/smilies/grin.gif

Edited January 16, 201312 yr by Kanduälska

Also I Wanna doesn't deserve to be in the top IS EVEN RECOGNISED AS A LEGITIMATE SONG of anything, let alone the TOP TWO!

 

IMPROMPTU LATVIAN TOP FIVE

 

1. Anmary - Beautiful Song

2. Brainstorm - My Star (2000, CHECK IT OUT GAYS, Eurovision DID EXIST BEFORE 2009 YOU KNOW)

3. Aisha - What For

4. NOTIONALLY Liene Candy - Higher and Higher (I reserve the right to edit this in the event of Latvia's inevitable mistake in the selection process that leads to this crashing out last in its semi)

5. CANCELLED because EVERYTHING ELSE HAS BEEN DRECK

Fine! I'll do this (and listen to every Latvian entry in the process, making it the first country I'll have listened to and appreciated as a whole, it's only up from here, Lithuania aside http://www.moopy.org.uk/forums/images/smilies/grin.gif). I intend to make my Eurovision education less ropey so I can actually talk about it while knowing what it is I'm talking about.

 

Verdict:

They were actually good up to 2004 and then everything pretty much turned to shit - well, very on/off at least.

 

1. F.L.Y - Hello From Mars (omg yes I remember this from Super Eurovision now, it was great)

2. Anmary - Beautiful Song

3. Aisha - What For (I repent, this is great, last?!)

4. Brainstorm - My Star

5. Marie N - I Wanna (still a good song if not a good winner)

 

It may please you to know it was a struggle not to turn Probka off throughout. Angel In Disguise and The War Is Not Over weren't much better though.

 

If it won, Higher And Higher would slot in second, as would I Need A Hero (which slightly edges that out here).

Oh I'm LOVING that my hatred for Probka has been noted http://www.moopy.org.uk/forums/images/smilies/grin.gif Truly a SCAR on that fine year.

1. Brainstorm 'My Star'

2. Walters and Kazha 'The War Is Not Over'

3. Musiqq 'Angel In Disguise'

4. Aisha 'What For'

5. Pirates of the Sea 'Wolves of the Sea'

 

ALL are not that good though.

 

And YES my 'Probka' love has gradually turned into annoyance then hatred. The 2009 Pavel really had a couple of flaws in his INCREDIBLE music taste, didn't he?

Wolves Of The Sea and The War Is Not Over are both :wub: Probka is truly abysmal, glad you've seen the error of your ways Pavel!

Latvia started off so well but haven't entered anything truly brilliant since 2005 for me...

 

01 Brainstorm - My Star

02 F.L.Y. - Hello From Mars

03 Marie N - I Wanna

04 Walters and Kazha - The War Is Not Over

05 Arnis Mednis - Too Much

 

Aisha & Anmary in 6th and 7th. The rest were quite awful really, especially Questa Notte and Probka.

Just had a quick listen to 'Higher and Higher' and it sounds fantastic!! It would be an amazing entry!

I've only heard one song from this year, but I absolutely LOVE it. It's called 'I Need a Hero' by Samanta Tina. I can't post a link as I'm on my iPhone right now, but defo get it YouTubed!!!

There was a thread already, might have fallen down to page 2 by now (but it includes my mini-reviews of everything there so BRING IT BACK/MERGE plz).

 

I Need A Hero is FAB FAB FAB tho, Latvia need to choose it.

David and Eyes, I've read a lot of good reviews about Samanta's song - I'll need to check it out!

 

The 6 qualifiers from last night's semi final were:

 

Higher and Higher – LIENE CANDY

I Need a Hero – SAMANTA TĪNA

Love – grupa HEADLINE

Sad Trumpet – grupa PER

Upside down – SABĪNE BEREZINA

When You Are With Me – ANTRA STAFECKA

 

The 2nd semi final is tonight.