Latvia

Carousel took the stage. Sabīne wears her hair down and now wears a green hat, it pops on a stage that is mostly in black and white. They got rid of the bright yellow in the video art, it is now much more subtle sunset gold, which adds to the American vibe this song has. The video art then has a big red sun coming up from the bottom of the screen, which actually blends with the song narrative about a woman waiting for her loved one until the sunrise.

It's Latvia's turn, which has replaced places for the rehearsals with Moldova. Carousel is taking the stage. White and bright yellow are the colors for this performance. All the band members are dressed in white and black, with the lead singer wearing a white dress. The video art is of a big wheel on a bright yellow background. This gives vibes of a performance at the American Country Music Awards. It all looks very clean and neat but might be too mellow for qualification. At the last part of the song, the video art changes and looks like a shiny starry night. Lead singer vocals are on point, she has a beautiful soothing voice.

I have only seen one runthrough for Triana Park so far, so take everything I'm going to say with a grain of salt.
I was very optimistic on Latvia's chances going into the year, but at the moment there are quite a few things that don't work here:
- It looks overchoreographed, Agnese is trying to interact with the camera too much, which doesn't make the act look as credible as we have seen in Latvia's NF. The impression is that they are suddenly begging for votes instead of just doing their own thing.
- The moment of her usually breaking into the dance routine during the instrumental is preceded by a silly paper streamer gimmick trick, that is shooting out of Agnese's hand. And it seems to irritate her and malfunctions also. The Latvian delegation should really consider dropping this gimmick from their act as it doesn't add anything and makes the entry look less cool than it is supposed to be.

I understand the Latvian delegation are trying to provide a little more fun and reduce the bands edgyness, but they are basically shooting themselves in the feet if they are trying to appeal to mainstream audiences, instead of just believing in themselves and their song.

Now I have seen a second runthrough and it improves slightly but my previous points remain.

Justs Kicks off the semi 2 rehearsals with a bangers.

First class vocals, light beams on the stage... great backdrop.

Should easily sail through to the final.

Up next are Aarzemnieki for Latvia, who organized a fantastic tea party yesterday. Let's see how their second rehearsal went.

Hey guys,

I know it's only early morning but who's fancies cake? I knew you would. So do I actually. Well good news, because Latvian participants Aarzemnieki just had their first rehearsal.

Glitter outfits back for PeR, Ralfs wears his on a naked body. Otherwise, it is a bit messy on the stage and on the screens, but they are making the party feel and the stage crowded even with 4 people. Besides singers there are also keyboardist and guitarist all with very glamorous instruments. Blue colours of the stage. Robotic movement to a satellite stage and end of song is performed there - that was a bit unnecessary. A very lively energetic performance and good opener.