No More Holding Back Onstage: Latvia gets loud

Latvia’s history in the Eurovision Song Contest has been a rather uneventful one. As of the current year of 2019, Latvia currently holds only one victory in the ESC, and that’s in 2002, over a decade ago. Before 2015, the country’s presence in the contest had been viewed as bleak, with no chance of getting noticed. But with the performances in the two years of 2015 and 2016, Latvia suddenly took giant leaps forward, showcasing songs with intensity that caught almost everyone’s attention. While the Baltic country did not win in either of these years, Latvia’s presence in the competition no longer felt hopeless. The songs submitted showed proof that the country still had a voice to be heard, and that diversity is present within Latvia.

              In 2015, the song submitted was “Love Injected” by Aminata Savadogo, or simply Aminata. She not only performed the song live at the finals that year, but the song was written and composed by her as well. (Eurovision Song Contest, 2015) The song’s theme is straightforward, being about love of the pure-hearted and passionate kind. What stands out about the performance at the 2015 finals is the usage of the color red. Red is interpreted as a color deeply related to love, passion, and energy. (Olsen, n.d.) Red is in Aminata’s (2015, Latvia) dress, it is displayed on the LEDs behind her; it would not be an exaggeration to state that red is everywhere during the performance. Bits of white are also present in the performance. White is commonly interpreted as a color relating to purity. (Olsen, n.d.) It is present most noticeably halfway through the song. A shade of red and white also happen to be the national colors of Latvia. The LED screens also show interesting effects, with flashes of a stained-glass pattern throughout the performance, behind the singer and even below her feet on the stage. The LEDs create an effect of color and energy simply radiating from Aminata (2015, Latvia), with a spread-out display of color shown behind and below her, making it seem as if there is power emanating from her. Red stretches out on the LEDs behind her, making it seem like the red radiates from her body or more specifically, her heart. At her feet, an outburst of white is shown, as if showing the intense feelings being expressed are built on pure intentions with no lies or deceit. White and red lights flicker in and out, sweeping across the stage in sync to the music, giving impact to the sound of the music and the vocals. Power is also shown in the way Aminata (2015, Latvia) is dressed, with a long dress with a low mid-section, which emphasizes a small frame. Whenever a high note is reached, her small figure makes her vocals have more weight to it, the intensity of the volume increasing once the chorus is reached. (Robertson, 2016) Her voice easily spread to each end of the auditorium, as if the song itself were directing all attention towards her. The music also adds to the feeling of intensity, with electronic elements and beats adding a mysterious edge to the lyrics. Heavy bass chords add a feeling of vibration when Aminata (2015, Latvia) raises her voice, further adding to the image of power on stage.

              It is obvious that the goal of the performance was to emphasize a large amount of impact during the three minutes Aminata was on stage. A combination of her large vocals, small frame, expansive and impactful visual effects, and hard-hitting background music create an intensity that was not present in years before. While the song can be interpreted as an impressive declaration of love, it also looks like a statement from the country of Latvia itself, almost as if the country is telling the rest of Europe, “we are here.” This comes from how the colors red and white are exclusively used for the performance in various ways. Aminata herself is stated to have a diverse background, with African blood from her father’s side, and Russian blood from her mother’s side. But in an interview, she states she considers herself Latvian, and it can be clearly seen in her performance. (A. Savadogo, personal communication, February 18, 2015)

              The next year’s performance in Stockholm 2016, was the song “Heartbeat.” While it is sung by a different performer Justs, the song itself is also written and composed by Aminata (Eurovision Song Contest, 2016). The theme of “Heartbeat” (2016, Latvia) is similar to “Love Injected” (2015, Latvia) but a bit darker in comparison, as well as more abstract. It has ties to a theme of love, but the overall performance paints a rather intense, despairing, but hopeful picture. The performance of “Heartbeat” during the 2016 finals used many dark colors, primarily black and gray. Black characterizes feelings of grief, negativity, and to a greater extent, death. (Olsen, n.d.) Gray is a neutral color which emphasizes moodiness and loss. (Olsen, n.d.) However, white is used many times alongside these two dark colors, as if to bring attention to the contrast. Near the end of the performance, a sudden change in color showcasing a golden orange changes the mood of the performance drastically. The LED screens show a lot of interesting effects. Like in the previous performance, screens were present behind the performer and beneath the performer’s feet on the stage floor. Behind Justs (2016, Latvia) on stage was an image of a stone structure, resembling a wall with lights shining through indentations. The gray stone texture is also present on the stage floor. The stone is sometimes not present at times, showing just blackness, making it seem like the stone changes to an inky void from time to time. White lines sometimes are shown extending from the back to the front of the stage underneath the performer, changing from straight and uniform to vibrating and pulsating streaks of white at intense moments in the song. The music also showcases electronic elements and uses a more repetitive and heavier beat that adds to the intensity. A heavy bass is used again, emphasizing a vibrating feeling.

              Aminata once again decided to use a similar theme as “Love Injected” but decided to use a darker perspective, using the male voice of Justs (2016, Latvia) to underline this effect. Overall, the song appears to represent a struggle or a battle. In the beginning, the stone structure behind Justs (2016, Latvia) appears unmoving while he begins the song with slow, solemn lyrics. As the song progresses, the white lines and darkness appear, the lines vibrating in response to the bass and the chorus, and when the stone structure behind Justs (2016, Latvia) vanishes into darkness, its silhouette is visible with small golden-orange lights shining through the dark, as if something is being contained in the darkness and is trying to break free. In the end, the stone on the floor crumbles to pieces and the final chorus causes an eruption of the golden light, as if showing what was contained was now free. The final chorus is much more intense in volume as well, Justs (2016, Latvia) almost yelling out the words, sounding more triumphant than he was at the beginning of the song. “Heartbeat” (2016, Latvia) tells an abstract story of feeling grief and breaking free of it. A golden shade of orange brings illumination, and once the darkness is abandoned, the performance gets a new life, a new heartbeat.

              While it is not much, diversity is evident through Aminata’s presence in both performances, as the lyrical muse and the singer on stage. But included with the diversity is still the strong representation of the Latvian identity, with Aminata (2015) and Justs (2016) both boasting strong Latvian backgrounds. (Eurovision Song Contest, 2016) This shows in a way that Latvia embraces the diversity of identities of its people, while still managing to show a strong unity of Latvian nationalism.

              Both performances from 2015 and 2016 represent an outburst of power, a rebellion of Latvia’s status quo in the competition, as well as giving everyone a taste of what it means to be Latvian. Time will tell how this new flavor of intensity will be used in future Eurovision performances.

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References:

Aminata. (2015). Love Injected (Latvia). Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Vienna. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/-usdXbeGHi8

“Aminata.” (2019). Eurovision Song Contest. Retrieved from: https://eurovision.tv/participant/aminata/info

Justs. (2016). Heartbeat (Latvia). Eurovision Song Contest 2016 Stockholm [DVD]. Baarn, NL: Universal Music Group

“Justs.” (2019). Eurovision Song Contest. Retrieved from: https://eurovision.tv/participant/justs/info

Olsen, J. (n.d.) Color meanings: all about colors and symbolism. Color Meanings. Retrieved from: https://www.color-meanings.com

Robertson, B. (2016) The secret to Latvia’s success is not supernova. ESC Insight. Retrieved from: https://escinsight.com/2016/03/06/aminata-savadogo-latvia-eurovision-secret/