Sveiki, Latvija! The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — has landed in Riga. After wandering around the Old Town, we found a boho cafe filled with men with tattoos and ladies with pierces, and we just had to discuss Triana Park and their song for Eurovision 2017, “Line”. Where did we draw the line? Read on to find out!
Triana Park – “Line”
About Triana Park
Triana Park (also known as Trianas Parks) are a four-piece Latvian electro-rock band who formed in 2008. They have attempted to represent Latvia at Eurovision five times, in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. But it was sixth time lucky with their Supernova 2017 comeback. “Line” won the national final and secured them a ticket to Kyiv.
“Line” reviews
William: Triana Park refers to the band’s musical playground. And judging from “Line” it’s a place filled with all manner of misfits. The urban sound melds electronica, warehouse, hip-hop and lounge, creating a strangely intoxicating sound that titillates and invigorates, even as it brings you down from its own high. Edgy, arresting and original, it’s all held together by Agnese — the beautiful girl next door who just might kick your ass. Bravo!
Score: 7.5/10
Jovana: “Line” in theory has everything that it takes to do well at Eurovision. It is an upbeat club banger that lends itself well to a great show on stage. But for some reason it doesn’t work for me. Maybe because I have a feeling I have heard it a thousand times before. It will probably qualify for the final, but on my personal list there are a lot of better songs that deserve a spot in the final over this.
Score: 5/10
Anthony: After years of disastrous decisions at Dziesma, it seems Latvia are finally getting their act together with Supernova. And Triana Park adds to the conveyor belt of decent entries the country have sent. The electronic minimalism production of “Line” kept me mesmerised, although they might want to ditch the superhero outfit if they want to avoid social media ridicule.
Score: 8/10
Robyn: “Line” is very stylish, but there’s not much to it. It feels like they’ve come up with the central hook and just found different ways to repeat it, ad nauseam. The ’80s-style black light staging at Supernova does the performance no favours by putting the band in the darkness. But if they can improve that for Kyiv, along with the kind position in the running order, it may be salvageable.
Score: 6/10
Chris: From the moment Triana Park took to the stage in Supernova, it was clear that this was the best song for Latvia. “Line” stands out both audibly and on stage: it’s different, but in a good way. It might be a song about getting over a lover, but it doesn’t go for grandiose drama unlike other entries this year. Instead, Agnese almost entrances us to join her ragtag group of ravers. Bring me to that party, get me wasted and cover me in UV paint: I’m all in for this one.
Score: 8/10
Sinan: Oh, I love this song! You can dance to it, it is very memorable and I think the staging is going to be super good — a dark disco style. It may qualify, but it’s hard to guess just how well it would do in the Saturday show.
Score: 6.5/10
Deban: Triana Park is conceptual reality. Within this band’s concept lies a vision. They’ve drawn the line, won Supernova and have raised the Eurovision bar. Fresh, upbeat, memorable and thrusting with energy, “Line” holds the perfect pace. This electronic club banger kisses the 80’s from a 2017 platform, whilst leaning towards the future.
Score: 8.5 /10
Forrest: Demonstrating a continuing trend in quality, it’s remarkable to think that “Line” will be the first non-Aminata entry from Latvia since the whimsical heights of 2014’s “Cake to Bake.” “Line” is grungy, yet fresh, providing a strong club track which veers close enough to mainstream pop that it could work on radio in equal measure. The long instrumental gaps make the song feel a bit lost at times as it meanders through EDM beats before working its way back to any lyrics. However, those also open up the possibility for interesting staging which could really make the song standout in Kyiv.
Score: 6.5/10
In our Wiwi Jury, we have 38 jurors but only room for eight reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:
Anastas: 7/10
Andy: 7/10
Angus: 6.5/10
Antony: 5/10
Antranig: 4/10
Bernardo: 6/10
Bogdan: 8.5/10
Dayana: 7/10
Edd: 7/10
Erdi: 8.5/10
George: 6/10
Jacob: 4/10
Jason: 6/10
Jordi: 7.5/10
Josh: 7/10
Kristin: 7/10
Luis: 7/10
Marek: 7/10
Matt: 8.5/10
Mikhail: 7/10
Natalie: 7.5/10
Padraig: 5/10
Patrick: 8.5/10
Renske: 8.5/10
Rezo: 4/10
Sami: 6/10
Stanislav: 7.5/10
Steinunn: 7.5/10
Tobias: 1/10
Zakaria: 6.5/10
Before calculating the average score, the highest and lowest scores are dropped. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 1 and a high of 8.5.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 6.72/10
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What do you think of this song? Share your own score and review below!
Triana Park are for me this years’ natural heirs of Loreen’s heritage, with its slick, modern, relevant and striking song and production. Very unfortunately it does not reach the level of Loreen and much less Aminata’s 2015 masterpiece and perfection. I very much praise Latvia’s great effort to continue to link up Eurovision with what is going on in the European pop-scene and they do it this year with the pleasant overall package. In my top 10 for sure. 7,5/10
I really hope that all the SJWs will just get out of Eurovision and appreciate this song for what it is – an arresting, edgy electronic dance song; the third that Latvia has sent in a row. Before you jump on the appropriation bandwagon, ask yourself if you would be insulted if it was your culture being represented. If the answer is no – and it probably is – then keep your mouth shut. Good job, Latvia – you’re doing just fine.
This song is lovable, but just from the second chorus. The studio version is OK but I think that something is missing, and the real problem is that this song goes nowhere. However there is a much bigger problem: she might have a lot of energy, but she also needs to improve her vocals, because the “All I see is you” part is actually CRINGY. I hope they elevate the song with the staging, but after seeing what they did in Supernova, they should be very careful…
6.5/10
I love this song. I think it’s brilliant. Musically and structurally different, great band with buckets of energy and fun and drive. Dance floor fun and contemporary edge.
Latvia is experimenting again and I like that! However, this song doesn’t work for me. It’s definetely modern, with an interesting urban sound and it stands out. But I don’t really get it. I feel like there’s a “where we draw the line” all the time and it gets repetitive! I’m not sure if it qualifies. For me it’s a “Greta Salome” case. Last year everyone was so excited with the song, definetely qualifier, and at the end it didn’t get through. Same feeling with “Line”. Who knows? There’s always a song I don’t really like which qualifies. It may… Read more »
If my opening scorecard rings true, Triana Park will barely qualify, and they will have more trouble riding up the leaderboard than did Justs.
This song is growing on me. It doesn’t follow your typical song structure which makes it uniquely different.
I thought it’s just me but reading some of the comments here it seems that that’s a common trend with Latvia’s this year’s entry.
The lead singer’s voice is really the big feature that prevents this song from feeling as generic as it normally would, with such a repetitive composition and a super familiar rhythm. Borderline qualifier, but an earworm after repetitive listens.
Montenegro and FYR Macedonia have better EDM entries, however.
Funny thing about this entry is that, even if it was by far the best option that Latvia had, I didn’t think a ton about Line as the time progressed, but lately, this song has been growing on me more and more. Triana Park’s visual idendity is extremely strong, this entry is both vintage and current, and it shows a great amount of artistry and fun. It could have been more bombastic and more dance, but for what it is, it’s a very strong entry that managed to squeak in my top 10 and should keep Latvia in their recent… Read more »
Not really my sort of thing.
It is not that I hate it but for it to get through, it is going to be marginal and at the expense of a song that I like much better. I don’t think it was the best song in the Latvian selection and it was picked for reasons other than the song itself.
Latvia has been doing well lately, into my Top 10 for 3 years now. Is there’s better songs in competition yes,but dies it matter? Definitely not! This is a great party tune and a great closer for Semi 2. It gets repetitive after the midpoint but lets face it, if it was played in the nightclub outside of the Europop world, we’d all be on the floor and that in itself is something. It won’t win, but it will make us have a little 3 minute party when this hosts the stage in Kyiv. Possible surprise Top 10 contender ala… Read more »
This song is REALLY growing on me. I hated it at first purely because I thought her vocals sucked. They still kinda do, especially in the live version, but I’m falling in love with the studio version (the instrumentals SLAY me). If she can pull off the vocals on the night, then this could easily be in my top 10.
A big yes for Latvia in the recent years, the always send something good to the contest (since 2015) and with this draw in the SF this is an easy qualifier. The song gets a litlle repetetive after a while, but they add new sounds every time so it’s not TOOOO bad. Televoting will love this, but I don’t know how the juries will rank this.
9.5/10
I LOOOVE this song! It’s currently my second.
I hope Agnese works on her vocals really hard.
@ Purple Mask- yeah, I guess you’re right regarding length of the song, it needs ”longer story”.. too pity it has to fit in ESC standards, but as someone said they use very well this Eurovision platform, I would like to see them at some summer festivals, they could do very well! I like the atmosphere of this song, as I said, just could imagine myself driving car at night and listening to this song 🙂
Y’all probably gonna hate me for this… I don’t like this one very much! (hides) Triana Park are a great rock (and folk) band, who as I saw in London know how to swear with the best of them! 🙂 But this song feels like contrived trance. In my opinion, trance is a music form that needs to slowly evolve over a longer format – at least for 5 minutes and usually longer. Fitting it all into 3 minutes is not ideal, and the variations on this repeating chorus are too heavy and clunky for my liking. It’s like they… Read more »
I really like Latvia’s song.
At first I wasn’t fan at all of the song
But after I saw the video clip, the song grew a hell lot to me! Now it’s from my favorites songs.
My grade: 8/10
My rank: 6th/42 – 2nd/18 (1st SF)
5/10 because of bad vocals.. and english. But the song is quite good itself.
WOW! I didn’t expect such a low score, totally underrated! It’s a banger, it could be the dark horse with the right staging and vocals on point. Agnese has charisma and the song works well on stage though her live needs to be improved in some parts
Currently at my 4th place. For me 8.75/10
Funnily enough but this beats swedish lyrics as it served into emotional soundscape. I like modernity that Latvia tries to keep since it exploded for me with Aminata, but neither this nor last year’s act don’t reach her power. I’m unsure about qualification – it may be cool to close SF but her shaky singing manner sometimes sound horrid through the song, and I would like to expect visuals of similar style as it’s been done in video (love to watch it), but it’s too uncertain, knowing their nature. Hope so, while it dabbles nearby my top10.
They will put on a great show but I still can’t figure out what the song is about I really don’t like her voice Performing last will be a bonus but it is not a guarentee to go to the final Personally, I would not have it in my top 10 qualifers
He listens well, but analyzing the lyrics, and vocal quality (which was well seen in the pre-eurovision festivals), At this point does not reach the final. Good luck Latvia
5,5/10
9.5/10 for me.
Personal rating: I could listen to this all day. For the third year in a row, Latvia is very high on my list, it’s my second favourite this year. Usually I dislike repetitive lyrics, but in this case they actually enhance the music. Prediction: I think this is going to make the final doing considerably well with both the juries and the televoters, simply because it stands out in the first semi final. In the grand final I expect it to be a little too edgy for some jurors and televoters. What I expect: Place 6-10 in the semi final,… Read more »
I`m really happy for Triana Park as it seems that they enjoy touring and bringing their music to Europe! They use the Eurovision platform very well and you might see them in summer festival near you! 🙂 The song is in my TOP 3! Yes, and Agnese is Fashion Icon!
@Bring back Denise – I would say the drummer is hot 😀
Original? :facepalm:
This is in my top 5! I agree the vocals are not the best, but a song like does not need that! for me it’s a 9,5/10. The highest till now, on second place is Denmark. Music video is awsome and I really like the modern vibe and Agnese’s style is so cool!
Triana is so fing hot. All I see is, all I see is choo
This is a song you won’t mind listening to once in a while, but gets repetitive very quickly.
5.5/10 (16/43)
I really like this entry, the only problem for me is the live vocals, she needs to practice
I’ve loved this since the very first listen, and the performance they gave at Supernova made it even better. This is unique this year, it’s going to stand out, and Agnese’s not so strong vocals aren’t really a problem because this song isn’t supposed to show off vocal abilities, you know? I’m from Italy and in the semi I’ll either vote for this or Azerbaijan, both are brilliant.
Drugs. First thing that came to mind was drugs. Ultra Festival in California… And drugs. UV pain. Sex by the glowing glowing glowing off of XOXO
I’m loving that Line is winning over more and more fans. Ironic to think that following the Eesti Laul final, the consensus in the community was that Verona was the best Baltic entry this year. Now it seems the scale is tipping in favor of Line instead which I applaud. I wouldn’t be mad at all if this ended up in the top 15!
I’m really hoping her live vocal will be good in May – that’s what will make or break this entry’s chances both with the jury and the public.
Very good, I like this, it has some dark atmosphere which I like. Off topic, big like for Japanese horror movie influences in music video 🙂 <3
There’s nothing edgy about this… It desperately tries to sound edgy, yes, but it fails miserably. They remind me of my high school classmates who self-labelled themselves gothic because they liked one song from Marylin Manson (that was playing on all radios). And the live vocals are absolutely horrible… I don’t think this will qualify, not in such a strong semi (although their singing last might save them).
For me there is no darker horse this year than Latvian entry. Just the concept that every time they perform they should have a crazy, yet different performance. How cool is that?
I expect Agese to work a bit on the pronunciation of the chorus until May. Other than that I believe the show will be crazily good! Looking forward for this to close the semi1! 🙂
7/10
To get it off the bat – this song IS very, very repetitive. It says ‘Where we draw the line’ 20 times. Together with San Marino (20x – ‘Spirit of the Night’) this is the most repetitive song in the contest. However, interestingly I don’t mind as much. It creates the cool atmosphere and brings something new and fresh in the contest. It’s in my mid teens.
At first, I didn’t like it, but now I kinda do. It’s still too repetitive and Agnese’s pronunciation needs improvement, but I think it has potential. I can see this standing out.
6/10
I didn’t get this at first, but now I really support this. It’s not in my top 10, but I still hope this will do well.