Coming out on top in a strange 3-way tie during the national final, Latvia chose “Bur Man Laimi” by ethno-pop group, Tautumeitas, as their Eurovision entry. Tautumeitas will be performing 4th in the second semi-final.

Through a tie breaker, Tautumeitas beat out Citi Zeni, responsible for the iconic Latvian entry “Eat Your Salad” which (in our opinion) unfairly failed to make it to the Eurovision Grand Final in 2022.

In this entry, Tautumeitas appear as mystical woodland sprites singing entirely in the Latvian folk tradition. The song is a chant to summon happiness. It really does sound more like an incantation than a song in some respects.

While we do not know what their Eurovision staging will look like yet, Tautumeitas’s national final staging involved the entire stage draped with fringe that the vocalists wove in and out of ethereally in their fairy flower head pieces. It is really giving Latvia’s response to Spain 2023’s “Eaea” by Blanca Paloma. There is something really satisfying and beautiful about how the staging combines the fringe with the singers’ silhouettes and plays with movement. 

This is the first time since 2004 that Latvia has sent a song entirely in Latvian to the contest – and if it succeeds in qualifying it will be the first ever appearance of the Latvian language in the Grand Final. Latvia has not had a good qualifying track record, making it to the Grand Final only 3 times in the last 15 years (which is less than the 4 times they have placed last in their semifinal over those same years). Hopefully, they will be able to maintain momentum from their surprise qualification last year with “Hollow” by Dons.

This song is by far not the catchiest of the contest and is honestly an easy to forget entry. However, there is nothing else quite like it the contest this year. And, the overall mystical aesthetic paired with the folk melody and simple yet highly effective staging elevates the live performance to the point that it is one to watch for in the contest.