It has been just over a month since Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin Italy. Today the Live-On-Tape performances that were recorded in the event an artist could not perform in Turin have started to be released. The 2nd performance that was released was Citi Zēni’s performance of their song “Eat Your Salad”.
About Citi Zēni
While Citi Zēni is a band only formed in 2020, the artists who are part of the band have been performing across Latvia’s music scene for many years. Jānis Pētersons (vocals), Toms Kagainis (drums), Roberts Memmēns (bass), Reinis Višķeris (keyboard), Dagnis Roziņš (vocals and saxophone), and Krišjānis Ozols (guitar) all met at a songwriting camp near Riga, and in 2021, they released their debut album, “Suņi Iziet Ielās”.
The band plans to release their second album following their Eurovision participation in 2022.
What is a Live-On-Tape?
A Live-On Tape performance is essentially a backup performance. Last year they were used in the event that a delegation could not travel to Rotterdam. This proved to be the case for the Australian delegation in 2021, due to the strict travel restrictions in place in the country at the time. Iceland also had to use a backup performance, however instead of the one they recorded in Iceland they used rehearsal footage, recorded in Rotterdam. Iceland had to use a Live-On tape due to the fact several members of Daði & Gagnamagnið tested positive for Covid-19 during Eurovision 2021.
Watch the Other Live-On-Tape Performances
At the time of writing, you can now watch the Live-On-Tape performances for Ronela Hajati (Albania), Vladana (Montenegro), and Ochman (Poland).
Latvia’s Eurovision Journey
Latvia made their Eurovision debut in 2000, finishing 3rd with “My Star” by Brainstorm. They have performed at every contest since and managed to win in 2002. Marie N sang “I Wanna,” scoring 176 points and bringing Eurovision to Riga in the process. Latvia also managed to finish in the top 10 two more times, in 2005 and 2015. Latvia’s most recent entry on the Eurovision stage was Citi Zeni, who performed “Eat Your Salad”. The song failed to qualify from the semi-final, finishing 14th with 55 points.
What are your thoughts on Citi Zēni’s Live-On-Tape performance? Do you prefer it to their Eurovision 2022 performance? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as we prepare for Eurovision 2023.
News Source: EBU / LTV
Photo Credit: EBU / Corinne Cumming
