Latvia – the queen of, well, maybe the gloaming

Samanta Tīna, Latvia, First Rehearsal, Rotterdam Ahoy, 11 May 2021 EBU / Andres Putting
Samanta Tīna, Latvia, First Rehearsal, Rotterdam Ahoy, 11 May 2021

Samanta Tina has arrived. She’s already been seen strutting up and down outside the Ahoy arena. What kind of glorious nonsense is she going to unleash once she’s let inside?

Something rather tamer than I was anticipating, as it turns out.

There’s a heck of a lot of green going on, and not an especially pleasing shade of it. Samanta’s in a green frock with pointy sleeves. Her triptych of backing singers line up also in green – tops and stockings – with short, black skirts, harness-y contraptions on the top and the now trademark visors.

I love the affected, disinterested nonchalance of the backing singers. Samanta, however, looks like she’s been told to rein it in a bit, and – disappointingly – looks like she’s agreed.

There’s a ridiculous, frantic nonsense to this on the record that makes it a strange delight. I mused in my Countdown review that Samanta might struggle to bring the crazed energy of the video with a limited number on stage, but it feels like she’s the one lowering the ante.

Perhaps by culling the more outrageous aspects that could have been showcased here it’s permitting attention to rest firmly on Samanta’s vocals. This isn’t an unwise tactic, so what is t that’s not clicking for me? I think it might be that jarring green.

A little like the disappointment of Moldova leaving her sundaes at home, I’m left wanting more from this.

Monty x

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