Aminata — “I’m Letting You Go”
Quick history lesson: the last two times Latvia qualified for the Eurovision final (2015 and 2016), Aminata was involved — first as contestant, then as songwriter. Having said that, she co-wrote the country’s 2021 entry and that finished dead last in its semi, so her presence isn’t necessarily gold dust. Nevertheless, it says something that’s she having another go at the contest (i.e. that Latvia desperately needs a grand final qualification). Anyway, this time she’s brought a low-key piano ballad which gives her plenty of space to showcase her impressive vocals and hit the kind of notes that made her 2015 “Love Injected” such a successful entry. However, this is not the same song and despite it still being a strong ballad well-performed, I’m not sure that it has enough of an impact to guarantee it the win here.

Beatrise Heislere — “On the Way Home”
Pleasantly surprised by this song — the driving synth beats and vocal rhythms remind me of US pop group Haim. And here’s where my biases come in: Haim is one of my favourite groups at the moment, so I guess I find it hard to resist a song which surely was influenced by them. Putting that aside as much as I can, the song’s major flaw is that it relies upon the chirpy synth melody which pops up here and there as its catchy moment, rather than any of the lyrics. I think this is a missed opportunity: the song would be stronger if there was a strong refrain to which it could return.