One thing is clear, the Latvians have worked out how to deal with the fact much of the backdrop is out of play, replacing the dark sun with lights that work well on-screen.
Much of the performance consists of band members smiling manically and walking into the camera as they sing and/or mime instruments. With their brightly coloured outfits and pretty much the same shot repeated over and over, this approach tends to over-emphasize the repetitive nature of the song. By the mid-point, I was left thinking there’s little more to see here.
Certainly the brief has been: light up the stage and play on the fun factor, but given this comes early on (and the average viewer isn’t aware of the gloom-fest to follow), they’ll not have that jump-out advantage they might have enjoyed with a later spot in the running order.
There are some great overhead shots with graphics on the stage of fruit and vegetables and I felt there was a genuine effort to give everyone in the band equal on-screen face time. There’s a nifty bit of sax playing that feels like someone remembers the ‘epic sax guy’ effect and hopes lightning might strike twice. It got picked out for the clip below, so perhaps LTV thinks they might be onto something.
It all ends with a shout out to Italy and Latvia and (amusingly) a gentleman who can do the splits.
Sveicieni Latvijai valsts svētkos 🇱🇻 pic.twitter.com/LUeI11l4Cn
— Citi Zēni (@citi_zeni) May 4, 2022