Welcome to our series of posts – “The Looker” where we will share our wish list of artists participating in Eurovision.
This is the second year in a row that we are running the project.
But before we start, let us remark that our recommendations will not necessarily come true (as for example some countries select their artists by reality shows)
Chapter 1 (Belgium, Israel, The Netherlands) can be found here
Chapter 2 (Denmark, Iceland, North Macedonia) can be found here
Chapter 3 (Finland, Norway, Sweden) can be found here
Chapter 4 (Austria, Germany, Switzerland) can be found here
Chapter 5 (Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece) can be found here
Chapter 6 (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) can be found here
Previous wishes: Frankie Animal, Nika Marula, Trad.Attack!
#1. Liis Lemsalu
Liis Lemsalu is a 29-year-old Estonian singer.
She rose to fame in 2011, after winning the 4th season of “Eesti otsib superstaari” (The Estonian version of “Pop Idols”).
Later this year, she released 2 singles: “Shining Stars” and “Wanna Get Down“.
Both were successful in the Estonian market and led her to sign a contract with Universal Music Group.
In 2012, she released her debut album “Liis Lemsalu“.
One of the songs, “Made Up My Mind“, was submitted to “Eesti Laul 2012″. She ended up in 5th place in the final.
In 2013, she competed in the national selection for Eurovision 2013 – “Eesti Laul 2013” with the song “Uhhuu“, but failed to qualify for the final:
In 2015, she competed once again in “Eesti Laul“, but this time as part of a duo, together with Egert Milder. They didn’t qualify for the final.
In 2015, she also released her first EP, “Rules“, which included songs in English only.
In 2016, she gained massive popularity following the release of the single “Sinu Ees” (Eng: “In Front of You”).
The song became the song of the year and peaked at number 1st for 14 weeks, while 9 additional weeks were spent in the top 10.
In 2017, she returned to “Eesti Laul” (with her best attempt if you ask me) with the song “Keep Running“
The song was included in her 2nd album “+1” that was released in November 2017.
The majority of the album’s songs became successful.
In 2021, she signed a contract with “Warner Music“.
Let’s listen to 3 of her songs:
In 2016, she released the single “Sinu Ees” (Eng: “In Front of You”):
In 2021, she released the song “Magusvalus” (Eng: Sweet pain):
In 2022, she released the song “Teesklejad” (Eng: Pretending)
Liis Lemsalu has found her own sound and identity in the Estonian music industry.
We all know that she aims to represent her country in Eurovision, maybe it is about time
#2. Karl-Erik Taukar
Karl-Erik Taukar is a 33-year-old Estonian singer, bassist, and TV host.
In 2012, he competed in the 5th season of “Eesti otsib superstaari” (The Estonian version of “Pop Idols”), where he reached the final.
In 2013, Raadio 2 Aastahitt awarded him the “Best Newcomer of the Year”. In addition, his single “Seitsme tuule poole” (Eng: To the 7 winds) peaked at number 2nd in the Estonian charts.
In 2014, he released his debut album “Vääramatu jõud” (Eng: Force Majeure).
In 2015, he was awarded “The Best Male Artist of the Year”.
In 2015, he returned to “Eesti otsib superstaari” (The Estonian version of “Pop Idols”) as the host of the show. He has even hosted the show since.
In 2016, he released his 2nd album “Kaks” (Eng: two).
In 2017, he picked up 3 awards in the annual Estonian music awards: Best Album, Best Pop Album, and Best Male Singer.
Since 2017, he kept on releasing several singles.
In 2019, he was one of the hosts of “Eesti Laul 2019” final, and in 2020 he was one of the hosts of the “Eesti Laul 2020” semi-finals.
During his career, Karl has collaborated with famous names in the Estonian music industry: Ivo Lina, Supernova, Ott Lepland, Tanel Padar, Mark Eric Kammiste, Tomi Rahula (the producer of the “Eesti Laul” and the head of the Estonian delegation) and more.
Let’s listen to 3 of his songs:
In 2018, he released the single “Need Read” (Eng: These lines):
In 2020, he released the song “Kuule” (Eng: listen):
In 2022, he released the song “Ookean” (Eng: Ocean):
Karl-Erik Taukar suggests a mixture of a powerful voice and accessible pop-rock genres that could probably work well in the Eurovision song contest.
He has gained popularity during his career which proves how loved he is in Estonia and also that he can conquer the hearts of the European voters.
Previous wishes: Tautumeitas, Sudden Lights, Chris Noah
#1. Būū
Būū (real name: Ilze Fārte) is a rising star in the Latvian music industry.
She is a Latvian singer, lyricist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist (plays piano, concert organ, mandolin, guitar, and violin).
Her father is guitarist, music author, and singer Uldis Farts. He was the one to give her records which made her fall in love with music.
She toured the world together with various post-folkloric groups, performing for foreign Latvians.
She rose to fame in 2021, after releasing some of her original songs.
In 2021, she released her debut album, “Albūūms” (Eng: album).
She described her biggest influencers: The Beatles, Mehelia Jackson, Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion.
Let’s listen to 3 of her songs:
In 2021, she released the song “Mazais pirkstiņš” (Eng: Little finger):
In 2021, she released the song “Sāku no sākuma” (Eng: I started from the beginning):
In 2022, she collaborated with Aminata on the song “Kur saule” (Eng: Where’s the sun?)
Būū is a rising star in the Latvian music industry.
In her music, she speaks about the development of emotional intelligence, equality, self-care, empathy, and other socially relevant topics through his own experiences.
One of her strengths is probably the fact that her genre is almost impossible to define: It is influenced by pop music, rap, world music, and more.
Might she be the one to take Latvia back to the final?
#2. Astro’n’out
Astro’n’out is a Latvian pop group that was founded in 2003, in the capital city Riga.
The members of the band are:
- Māra Upmane-Holšteine (vocals)
- Juris Kalnišs (guitar, electronics)
- Mārtiņš Elerts (guitar, electronics)
- Toms Poišs (bass)
- Mārtiņš Opmanis (drums)
In 2003, they released their first single “Daļa Rīgas” which was accepted with positive reviews.
They wrote music for several films, including the documentary “Rīga, Mana Rīga“, “No cita skatupunkta“, and “Sūnas aug ziemeļu pusē“.
They have participated in various charity campaigns, including the annual Give Five! organized by Latvian Radio 5. They were the ambassadors for the campaign against passive smoking “Avoid smoking” initiated by the Ministry of Health.
Astro’n’out has performed at all major Latvian festivals and important concert venues – “Summer Sound”, “Positivus” , “HOLI krāsu festivāls”, “Fontaine festival”, “Saldus Saule”, “Fono Cēsis” and more.
So far, the band has released 6 albums:
- “Geometrija” [Eng: Geometry] – 2009
- “Lauvas” [Eng: Lions] – 2012
- Lion’s Share – 2013
- “Who who” – 2014
- “Urda” – 2017
- “Multivitamīnu multipaka” [Eng: Multivitamin multipack] – 2019
All of their 6 albums were nominated for the best album in Latvian music awards.
In 2020, the group’s sixth studio album, “Multivitamins Multipaka”, won the “Golden Microphone” for the best Latvian pop music album of 2019.
The song “Haosā” created together with the group Sudden Lights won the radio hit of the year award!
Let’s listen to 3 of their songs:
In 2019, they released the single “Multivitamīnu multipaka” {Eng: Multivitamin multipack)
In 2019, they released the song “Uzmācīga melodija” (Eng: a haunting melody)
In 2021, they released the song “Lidmašīnas režīmā” (Eng: In airplane mode)
Astro’n’out is an experienced music group that can make Latvia proud.
They create original alternative pop music, mostly in the Latvian language.
In some cases, they even suggest less main-stream direction which might work perfrctly (See “Go_A” and Konstrakta for example).
Previous wishes: GJan, Jazzu, Sisters On Wire
#1. Justinas Jarutis
Justinas Jarutis is a 33 year-old Lithuanian singer-songwriter, composer and actor.
In recent years, he has been one of the judges on “The Voice of Lithuania“.
He has started in music career in 2007, with the band “Freaks On Floor“.
He was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band.
The band released 5 studio albums to date:
- “Freaky Wonder” (2010)
- “Hello Girls” (2011)
- “Life” (2015)
- “Waves” (2016)
- “Gold” (2018)
In 2018, he decided to move forward with a solo career.
He released his first solo album in January 2018, “Justinas Jarutis“.
The album follows the birth of his daughter, and also marked the change from rock music (while being a band member) to a more pop folk direction.
In 2021, he released his 2nd solo album “Tavęs Manęs Savęs” (Eng: You Myself)
Let’s listen to 3 of his songs:
In 2021, he released the song “Rami” (Eng: calm):
In 2021, he collaborated with Jessica Shy on the song “Rugpjūtis” (Eng: August):
In 2021, he released the song “Visiems Reikia Meilės” (Eng: Everyone needs love”):
Justinas Jarutis is one of the most appreciated artists in Lithuania.
His pleasant voice, together with his musical wisdom, should put him in the front line on artists that have to represent Lithuania in Eurovision.
#2. Monikaze
Monikaze is the solo project of the Lithuanian singer and composer Monika Zenkeviciute.
She spent some time working on her music in the United Kingdom.
She gained recognition as a top 10 in the International Rostrum of Composers 2019 with her chamber piece “Pocket“. Thereafter, Monika pursued her career as an electronic music producer and artist.
In 2019, she released her debut album, “Chicken Wings“.
In 2021, she released her second album, “Waste of Space“.
In 2021, she won the best electronic artist in the M.A.M.A awards (Lithuanian music awards).
In 2021, she released the song “Give Me Your Soul“:
In 2021, she released the song “Jump A Lie“:
In 2021, she released the song “What Can I say“:
Monikaze is a brilliant electronic artist, that has her own unique stamp.
In my humble opinion, Eurovision fans are thirsty to get high-quality electronic music in the contest.
Monikaze is a rising star in Lithuania, and she deserves wider recognition.
What do you think about the recommended artists?
Stay tuned for more recommendations to come, next time we will travel to other countries
