Eurovision 2022 Reviews – Latvia

Latvia started their Eurovision journey strong, finishing in third on debut, and winning the contest just two years later. In more recent years, the nation struggled to find their groove at the contest. Coming off a last place finish in 2021, the only way is up for Latvia – but how far up will Citi Zēni go with their entry, ‘Eat Your Salad’?

Anita 

Song and Vocals 

Latvia is offering up a fun and energetic entry this year all about the green lifestyle. For some, this will be interpreted as a ‘joke entry’. I don’t usually like to use that term, as behind many of the entries widely considered as ‘jokes’ at Eurovision usually have a serious message behind them. That isn’t always the case, but ‘Eat Your Salad’ does have a genuine message – it’s just that the message is delivered through playful lyrics. 

If you strip away the lyrics, the song itself is very catchy. The melodies are memorable and will surely stick in the minds of the voters. The sax solo is a great addition to the track, and I can see that being a memorable moment during the performance. With that said, there are two issues I see Latvia facing this year. The first is that this is reliant on televote. The second issue arises from the first issue – Latvia is directly competing with Norway and Moldova in the first semi-final, both of which feature songs in a similar vein. I just don’t know if there will be a place in the final for all three acts, but out of the three, I think Latvia might have the least jury appeal thus unable to gather enough points to qualify. 

Performance and Act 

Coming out of a national final, we know that Citi Zēni can perform this live. The energy they bring on stage is unreal, and this will surely get the audience up and moving. The group has the charisma, but they need a strong visual presentation to match. The Supernova stage show and visuals were underwhelming, but the potential is there for something memorable. 

Conclusions 

There is a place in my heart for Latvia, Norway and Moldova, but realistically speaking I don’t see all three acts qualifying. I don’t feel certain, nor confident about Latvia’s chances this year, but what I do know is that this will still appeal to a lot of casual viewers, both during and beyond the contest. 

Rating 

7/10

 

Dennis

Song and Vocals

Sure, I always had to chuckle at the first lines of the Latvian song and the mockery of veganism. But since some of those lyrics have to be censored in Turin, I don’t think a lot of the jokes will come across. Vocally it’s fine, as far as that’s an issue with this jury unfriendly entry. 

Performance and Act 

The performance in the Latvian preselection is somewhat underwhelming for me. When you come up with a mockery entry, and that is how I see this, then you have to go all the way. Right now it doesn’t come across to me and the song is presented in a too serious way to have the humourish effect it needs. 

Conclusions

I am not really ruling Latvia out, but I think a lot of work needs to be done to be able to make this song and its funny message come out. If the Latvian delegation doesn’t manage to fix that, I think the song will be easily forgotten by the televote and voted down by the jury members of most nations. 

Rating 

4/10

Team Scores 

Steef: 6/10

Erik: 6/10

Josh: 6/10

Heath: 7/10

Kaitlin: 6.5/10

Selim: 4/10

Morena: 8/10

Average Score: 6.1/10

What do you think of Eat Your Salad? Follow our Eurovision 2022 reviews here. You can support your favourite acts in our Eurovision 2021 poll, which you can find here.