It’s always interesting to hear about the theme of a Eurovision song. Falling in love is probably the top one. Songs about falling out of love often follow. And then the others. Maybe about things you like, or things that have influenced you.
Today’s birthday girl Եվա Ռիվաս/Eva Rivas (née Վալերիա Ռուստետնիկովա-Ծատուրյան/Valeria Alexandrovna Reshetnikova-Tsatouryan) chose her favourite fruit as her theme. Now we’re not going to get involved in the politics of the fruit she chose, but she hammered the theme home with a rather impressive prop. All good stuff. Her song was nicely ethnic and well-staged. Despite an early semi-final draw, she overcame the odds and made the Grand Final in Oslo. She finished seventh. Not bad, and at the time her country had only had one better finish. Even now, Armenian singers who have beaten Eva are very few and far between. Maybe they’ll be back in 2022, to see if someone can do even better.
Eva is 34 today.
Ծնունդդ շնորհավոր, Եվա!