I may have a lot of awkward combinations for doing my review blogs this year because of the boycott, but there’s one I can still do geographically. That’s the Baltic Nations. All three are back this year and they have their Eurovision entries ready. Here are my reviews of their songs:
ESTONIA
Song: “Too Epic To Be True”
Artist: Vanilla Ninja
Eesti Televisioon held their national final Eesti Laul 2026 to decide Estonia’s Eurovision entry. On February 14th, it took both a Final of 12 and a Superfinal of three to decide the winner. The winner is Vanilla Ninja with their song “Too Epic To Be True.” Eurofans are already familiar with Vanilla Ninja. Formed in 2022, they were originally popular in Estonia and soon caught on to Switzerland starting in 2004. This opened the door for them to represent Switzerland in Eurovision 2005. After years of poor results for Switzerland, their song “Cool Vibes” finished 8th and gave Switzerland their first Top 10 finish since 1993. After four studio albums, the band disbanded in 2008. They would reform 2020 under original guitarist Piret Jarvis and have new members and released a new album in 2021. Now they represent their home nation of Estonia.
This song is written by Sven Lohmus who has already written four other Eurovision songs and one Junior Eurovision song for representatives of Estonia. The song is about finally meeting the love of your life. The song opens with a good taste of the energy that will happen throughout and then goes into its full energy. It only slows down when it goes into the final bridge. Does anyone else think this song is missing something? Yes, it’s in good taste and true, it doesn’t go for the shocks as other entries. Nevertheless, I get the feeling something’s lacking. Even the dated sound of the song.
ESC Chances:
Last year, Estonia got its third Top 3 finish with the comedic “Espresso Macchiato.” Estonia often does quite well at Eurovision but if the entry is missing something, it will pay dearly. One of the difficulties of performers of the past coming back to Eurovision is that they will not only be compared to their past entry or entries but also it will be a test of how relevant their sound will be at the moment. Last year, Justyna of Poland showed she can come back after 30 years with “Gaja.” It is already the lowest in the odds and a lot of complaints are on the dated sound of the song. There is a noticeable difference between retro and dated. Also I’m sure many Eurofans like myself who loved “Cool Vibes” can’t help but compare this year’s song to their 2005 entry. The best hope is that incredible staging saves it.
LATVIA
Song: “Ena”
Artist: Atvara
Latvia again held their national final Supernova to decide their entry for Eurovision. Its format was two semifinals of twelve each reducing the field to a final of ten. The winning song was “Ena” by Atvara. 27-year old Liene Atvara had always had a talent for music at a young age and where she would first pursue conducting in her first years of high school and then graduate high school with a specialization in jazz and pop singing. She has participated in talent contests while also becoming an English teacher and studied marketing in Denmark. She has released music singles since 2024.
The song “Ena,” which is Latvian for shadow, is a song about loneliness and emotional isolation caused by the inner struggles of relationships. The song is a ballad that stars out calm at the beginning and continues its calm feel up to the first chorus. The intensity grows as the second verse and reaches its peak near the end. Atvara delivers the vocals for this song very well and knows how to capture the song’s feel. Not my type of songs but I can see a lot of people liking it.
ESC Chances:
Latvia is one nation that has had it difficult with Eurovision. It first years were great with a 3rd-place debut and a win in their third participation, but they have struggled since. Especially after the introduction of the two-semifinal system in 2008 with only five qualifications. They have had a recent streak of luck with qualifying for the Grand Final the last two Contests and last year’s entry achieved its best result for Latvia in ten years. I see this song as a ‘love it or hate it’ type of song. It has chances of qualifying for the Grand Final but it all depends on Atvara’s delivery and having the right staging there. I give it 50/50 right now.
LITHUANIA
Song: “Solo quiero mas”
Artist: Lion Ceccah
To select Lithuania’s entry for 2026, LRT held their Eurovizija.LT 2026 to decide. It consisted of five semifinals where the first two qualified for the final while all the third places had a wildcard battle online to be the lucky one in. The final took place on February 27 and the winner was singer Lion Ceccah with ‘Solo quiero mas.’ Lion Ceccah is the stage name for 34-year old Tomas Alencikas. He is a graduate of the Department of Performing Arts in Vilnius with a Bachelors in Musical Theatre and holds a Masters degree from the Music Department of Kaunas’ Vytautas Magnus University. Lion has recorded songs for seven years and he is very prominent in Vilnius’ drag scene.
The song “Solo muiero mas,” is Spanish for ‘I just want more.’ The song is mostly Lithuanian with the Spanish title and English lyrics in the chorus repeated. This song, which Lion co-wrote with Aurimas Galvelis, is about finding your courage to move on in a world that seems to try to make you feel worthless. The song begins in slow but intense fashion. Lion’s vocals add to the dramatic effect. When it gets to the chorus, the song switches to a dance song. The song continuous alternates from ballad to dance song and Lion’s vocals even switch between pop-oriented vocals to operatic. This is definitely a song that is different from common convention.
ESC Chances:
Lithuania is often seen as one of the hard-luck nations as its best finish is sixth and they’ve only had three Top 10 finishes ever. The 2020’s have been quite good to Lithuania as they have qualified for every Grand Final this decade and even achieved an eighth-place. Lion has a song that can qualify or can give Lithuania its first non-qualifier since 2019. His vocals will have to be on and the staging will have to be done right. Better than the staging at Eurovizija.LT.
And there you go. That’s my look at this year’s entries from the Baltic Nations. They don’t have the strongest of chances right now but a lot can change over the next six weeks.
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