The Wiwi Jury — our in-house team of music unprofessionals — is reviewing and rating the 37 competing songs in Eurovision 2024. Next we review Latvia, who have chosen Dons with “Hollow”.
Does the song fill us up inside or leave us empty? Read on to find out!
Dons – “Hollow” (Latvia Eurovision 2024)
Review: Dons – “Hollow”
Lucy: In my opinion, the most engaging ballad this year. “Hollow” is haunting, emotional and has a real chance of surprising people in semi-final 2. Where Latvia narrowly missed out on qualification last year, they have sent another classy act, with a perfect vocal. Dons does need to look more emotional when performing in my view, as it will just add to the engagement the audience will have. But other than that, I can’t fault this. Dons’ gravelly vocal with a really powerful song is a big old YES for me.
Score: 8.5
Tomas: Dons really offered a great composition for Supernova 2024 and it was obvious with his runaway victory that he was the right choice for Latvia this year. It’s great to have a strong ballad in a year full of dancing. However, in my opinion, it lacks authenticity and might be forgotten on the night of the second semi-final.
Score: 3.5
Ruxandra: It all begins with a good voice, paired with a song that, above all else, complements Dons’ voice impeccably. Eurovision is not solely about hitting the highest notes; it’s crucial to bring a song that not only showcases but also harmonises with your vocal abilities, and Dons achieves this effortlessly. The lyrics resonate deeply, and I appreciate when they stem from real-life experiences. With very simple staging, the performance directs all attention to the music, and it is easy to notice that Dons feels every word he sings.
Score: 10
Simon: Strong vocals in a ballad that, unfortunately, just stays on the “nice” level for me. You can see that Dons is an experienced performer, but that’s the best part of a song that doesn’t really stand out. In a semi-final with a lot of uptempo and “noisy” entries, it will stand out as a calm break, which also could make it a bit forgettable. The vocals should be appreciated though, even if I think it will struggle to get out of this semi.
Score: 5
Latvia Eurovision 2024 ranking
In the Eurovision 2024 Wiwi Jury, we have 17 jurors but only have room for four reviews. The remaining scores are below:
|
Antranig: 5 Cinan: 7 Deban: 7.5 Georgia: 5.5 Jonathan: 6 Pablo: 9.5 Ron: 3 |
Scarlett: 3.5 Sebastian: 2 Suzanne: 3 Tom: 7.5 William: 8.5 Youyou: 3.5 |
We have removed the highest and lowest scores prior to calculating the average. This is to remove outliers and potential bias. We have removed a low of 2 and a high of 10.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 5.77/10
What do you think of Latvia’s Eurovision 2024 entry? Share your own score and review for Dons’ “Hollow” below!
One of the Best Singer in this Years Competition.
And the Lyrics are good too. Sadly, Slow Songs are not appreciated anymore, so i think he will be an NQ.
Hollow is 7th Place
It was always going to be a challenge for Latvia to impress me again this year after sending Sudden Lights last year with my favourite ever Latvia entry. So here we have Dons and “Hollow.” This is actually a solid song. There are of block inversion chords being used between C-sharp Minor and E major. The melody in the Verses reminds me of the sound of an African American Spiritual, plus the Verses evoke a Christian Hymn in the way that every 4-bar phrase resolves to the tonic every time. The Pre-Choruses then extend the Verses through a rising harmonic… Read more »
(Imagine) D(rag)ons has a great voice, but the song does sound rather dated.
Omg it reminds me of them at some parts of the song. And I wonder why I don’t like it, other than that it’s outdated
Vastly underrated song.
With good staging and the right moment, Latvia could surprise, especially considering all the up-tempo songs this year.
Best of luck Latvia
20th place – Latvia This song is brilliant! As William said, you can hear the emotion in his voice while he sings it and it makes it thousand times better. Don is a great performer too. I think he will literally slay in Eurovision. I do hope though that they will do different staging, because the one from Latvia’s selection wasn’t that empowering for me. When it comes to qualifying I think it definitely will go though. Also in the final, I can see this on the left side of the score board. Juries will love this and will appreciate… Read more »
I am surprised it got a low score here. This is a very strong ballad in a sea of uptempo, fun songs with crazy performances. I think it will be borderline (like Estonia in 2023) but if it qualifies, i can see it getting a big boost from juries.
I like this song very much and Dons is a great singer. I will vote for him in may
My votes are 8/10
Best English lyrics this year. I think this song is brilliant, and Dons’ voice conveys emotions amazingly.
Strong vocals. Decent song. Hope it qualifies. 8/10
I like this song more in Latvian, sounds more authentic.
Oooh – this wild horse is the one to watch this year.
Yet underrated, among the noise and jokesterism this year – this will find its audience and stand out.
I wish I could say something about the song but it’s completely indifferent to me.
Dons has good vocals and seems like a nice guy.
1. Czechia (8.25/10)
2. Ireland (8/10)
3. Spain (7.75/10)
4. Belgium (7.25/10)
5. San Marino (7.25/10)
6. Poland (7/10)
7. United Kingdom (7/10)
8. France (6.75/10)
9. Australia (6.75/10)
10. Greece (6.75/10)
11. Azerbaijan (6.75/10)
12. Armenia (6.75/10)
13. Slovenia (6.75/10)
14. Serbia (6.5/10)
15. Portugal (6.25/10)
16. Georgia (6/10)
17. Israel (6/10)
18. Latvia (5/10)
19. Malta (4.25/10)
20. Luxembourg (4/10)
21. Cyprus (4/10)
22. Albania (3.75/10)
Bronze star.
I just can’t get into this song, the chorus is so outdated and predictable.
Yeah…same as Fuego was back in 2018. Classic popsongs that doesnt introduce anything new other than perfect production!
If you’re reffering to my nick, it’s when Eleni was translating the lyrics of fuego. It was funny. I’m not a diehard stan but I do love it. Popsongs can be top and flop, and ballads can be amazing and not engaging at all. Latvia this year for me just doesn’t work.
LATVIA – Latvia has slowly become the ultimate underdog of Eurovision. They’ve tried sending deep, artful songs, joke acts, atmospheric songs, and pure rave, and no matter what, they’ve stayed out of the semi for six years straight. Now, they are trying their luck with Dons’ Hollow. Interestingly, with everything that’s been going on during these months, this is one of the songs I haven’t changed my mind on. I found it a bit overrated at Supernova, and a bit underrated now. It’s a very pleasant orchestral ballad with a full sound that evokes spiritual feelings. It quite possibly deliberately… Read more »
Suzanne queen again
Suzanne is the new Karen.
Quality song. I can see this song having a life outside of the Eurovision bubble
Another song I feel is very underrated. Yes they need to improve staging from nationals but Dons has amazing vocals and the song is great. Latvia should finally qualify this year.
6TH PLACE: LATVIA: After being among my 4 last year’s winners, Latvia once again doesn’t disappoint me this year. “Hollow” is a powerful ballad with a great progression from slow, soulful verses to a big, strong chorus, sung by a great vocalist. In some ways, the “American” style of this ballad reminds me a bit of “River” by Ochman that I liked a lot as well. I also liked the vision of the music video (just like last year) , but I find the live performance a bit empty which can unfortunately hurt its chances to qualify. Given a more… Read more »
I’m glad you love Latvia, Thanos! I’ve posted my review, but it’s filtered so far. As you’ll read, I do like it, but it’s not nearly this high! Still, it’s my qualifier from semi 2.
Latvia should have qualified last year as we will both agree I think, and this year as well! Unfortunately the odds are against them once again 🙁
They might have been better off in semi 1 with Ireland and UK voting
At least they will have their neighbours Estonia with them but I don’t know if it’s enough.
Another opportunity to diss on Eurofans.
Before he won Supernova, everyone was pushing him so hard and he was the runaway favorite.
Now that he won, he ended up in the bottom 3 of the community top 37 on MyEurovisionScoreboard.
Seriously, Eurofans are so nitpicking and hard to please istg. I wonder if the cat song would have ended up any higher.
History has shown that Eurofans are not the best predictors of the Eurovision songs. They are good at replicating the betting odd stats though.
I didn’t know Voldemort could sing so well! However, he’ll still not qualify…
The second most engaging ballad this year. It tackles an important topic and does so with convincing vocals. With the beautiful piano intro it works from start to finish.
Turn off the lights and find a real job, guys.
30. Latvia – Dons – Hollow – 5/10 – it is a little too slow and plodding to have the depth of emotional impact that I want it to have. The lyrical flow in the chorus (dig my grave shallow) sounds rushed and a little off and given it is in such an important part of the song, it detracts from my focus on the message. Dons is a great vocalist though and seems to be quite a funny guy from what I’ve seen at the pre-parties and it would be great if he can thrust more of this humanity… Read more »
I would give it 8, I support Dons and Latvia this year.
A relatively well-produced track and it fits Dons very well. That being said though, the song’s instrumentation is really lacking for me. The power in this entry comes from his vocal delivery and hardly anything from the instrumental side. It doesn’t feel minimalistic like f.e. Mon Amour, but it doesn’t have the necessary punch either. Given it’s Latvia, I don’t think they’ll qualify but all in all… I find this an OK song and wouldn’t be mad if this somehow ends up completely wowing people in May.
For now though, I’m giving this a solid 6/10
31) Latvia – I don’t know what it is this year, but the majority of slower songs/ballads aren’t doing it for me. I really like Dons’ voice, but I do worry about his performance as any time he has done the song live, it hasn’t really grabbed me. Maybe it’s just because I like when Latvia go out of the box. I don’t know. 4/10
I think this song benefited from the early hype of “Wow Latvia isn’t terrible and there’s not too many songs out yet.” With time, this has proven to be generally one of the more mediocre songs this year. I desperately need more staging than just standing on the spot and singing a generally quite forgettable song because he also doesn’t have the stage presence doing so to make this stand out. It’s a ballad that I’m not even 100% sure the juries would go wild for and I don’t really see this qualifying regardless of it being televote only, or… Read more »
The need I have for this to do well is insane. I am not a ballad person and this has me in a chokehold.
This I feel is good. It’s got simplicity and power. I’ve had this on repeat since it qualified and am still enjoying it. I find the message and the delivery very powerful. He’s a good performer and can deliver the song, from the couple of performances I’ve seen. The song itself works for me.
Score 8.5/10
Wiwi Jury Ranking
Thank you for compiling these. Isr*el isn’t a country though.
Latvia 7,5/12
Wow, this score is highkey a robbery. Dons is such a pro and this song, whilst it might be very few people’s favourite, feels sincere to me and is sheer quality – performed excellently live every single time. I hope he’ll end Latvia’s qualification drought!
It seems this “jury” is determined to do a hatchet job on Latvia and Malta. They may both qualify at the expense of other erm darlings.
bless you Ruxandra!
it is such a solid well produced ballad with amazing vocals
hope it can sneak into the final
It’s not reaching the final x
Horrendous score. Hope he qualifies instead of a fan fave diva…