#aija

Aija, by sudden lights, is one of the most gutwretching, emotional, sweet songs of all time, theres a whole reddit post that perfectly analyses why this song is such a masterpiece: https://reddit.com/r/eurovision/comments/138rnye/lullaby_catharsis_an_aij%C4%81_analysis/?

I was so crushed when it nqed and fucking SOLO made it through.. how did bejBa make it over a masterpiece???

And the worst part is that they didnt qualify by THREE POINTS.

THREE. POINTS.

Eurovision Song Contest 2023 countdown: 21 days left!

24. LATVIA Sudden Lights - "Aija"28th place

Decade Ranking: 68/116 [Above Malik, below Andrea]

So you know who were kind of boring? Yeah... 😬

Ya sorry gays, I tried! I tried to like "Aija", but it's just not for me. It barely passed me by in Supernova (Discord Friends: "omg sudden lights are great and should win supernova" / Me, with genuine confusion: "which one was that again? 😐 :checks: Oh, i have that one bottom three. 😁") and idk. I liked Supernova 2023 and to me Sudden Lights were firmly in the "Sang some words for three minutes" category. Slow and anemic isn't my game. Especially for a rock entry, wtf? I watch Eurovision for the thrill, not to be put to sleep.

Still, it seemed that Latvia were on to something. "Intimacy" and "Has Great Vocals" aren't the most exciting characteristics on a slow song, but they provided the bare bones for a potentially engaging entry if done right. Besides, I am a great sucker for underdogs and storylines where they overcome all the odds stacks against them. Latvia hadn't qualified in a televote since Justs. As a rare non-embarrassing and non-hopeless Latvian act, Sudden Lights felt like they could make it through. With at least eight acts in the Semi that deserved to be eliminated more (oh, 2023) and arguably the best male vocalist in the contest, their first Grand Final since 2016 was just within grasp!

Except, they didn't qualify and that made me realize that my first impression of "Aija" was the correct one. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Latvia deserved to be eliminated, but... I also don't think they specifically deserved to not be eliminated either? All Latvia needed to be was "not boring", and they failed. This talk about "Aija" secretly being "a hidden gem" just really isn't true, beyond the fact that Andrejs can sing really well. "Aija" spent three minutes building up to a to a BIG VOCAL and then staged it like this:

and dimmed the volume of Andrejs's mic on top of that??

When it came down to the wire, Latvia ran into their old troubles of failing to adapt their staging to a bigger podium (how on Earth is this still an issue?! It's been an ongoing problem since Line!!!!) which meant the intimacy they were aiming for never fully came across, and well, there goes their main USP if I'm honest. I'd wish Latvia luck for 2024, but honestly, this non-qualification proved Latvia's issue is one of skill and not luck, and that is something only they themselves can amend.

THE RANKING