He’s the biggest pop star in Latvia — and he’s just released his first English-language single since 2006. Could it mean that Dons is targeting a European audience….and potentially a run at Eurovision 2024?
That’s what we’re asking after the singer — real name Artūrs Šingirejs — released “Hollow” on Tuesday.
Backed by piano, strings and snare, the soulful number shows off his resonant voice. It has a haunting quality driven by his inner turmoil, which seems to stem from the hollow souls he sees around him. The phonies and fakery are bringing him down.
As he sings, “Yeah I’d rather let them dig my grave shallow, instead of selling out to something so hollow….I don’t want to lose me, I’m drifting in and out of who I am, so help me understand.”
Supernova 2024: Will Dons enter Latvia’s Eurovision selection with “Hollow”?
Commenters on YouTube are feeling it.
“Oh my god this is WONDERFUL!!” writes @esc.productions. “I can’t even describe how much I love this. If this is really coming to Supernova then Latvia is already a Top 5 contender in the jury and Top 10 overall.”
Eurovision fans may remember Dons from his previous two attempts at Eurovision.
In 2010 he placed second in Latvia’s national selection with “Freedom Is My Religion” (behind Aisha). And he placed second again in 2014 with “Pēdējā Vēstule” (behind Aarzemnieki).
Do you think this song could make an impact at Eurovision? Is Dons’ time now? Let us know down below…
I adore to see William & Deban supporting Latvia again. Last year, you two were extremely vocal about Sudden Lights, and reading this article by William himself tells me that is happening again.
Dons’ song is BEAUTIFUL. Just heard it some minutes ago for the very first time, and I believe he must win Supernova. I mean: his voice is spectacular, the song is powerful, and the lyrics describe universal struggles. It’s perfect.
Both Latvia & Georgia need to end the NQ curse asap. Having huge expectations about Dons and “Hollow” in order to achieve that.
Now why is wiwibloggs so slow with posting news this year? Croatia’s entries are out since yesterday as well as MGP since a few hours.
Putting it out there – The Dora 2024 songs have been out for the past hour and a half!
Where?
They were released on the HRT2 radio between 14.00 CET and 16.00 CET. I think that unofficially, many of them are now on YT, but hurry up if they get removed. The official YT release in on the 8th. There are plenty of recaps as well.
A nice tease, it seems contenders are Kedzo and Vatra, baby lasagna have a kaarija inspired act
There also is a subwoolfer alike mysterious Misha (whom is rumoured to be matteo cetinski in disguise)
What Did I Get Banned For ?? Finaly I Am Alowed To Comment Again Its A Big Wilation Of My Human Rights It Can Not Happen Again I Wont Be Silenced
Wow , Its Just Really Boring . Why Does He Pretends To Be Vaidotas From The Roop With This Style ? Its To Simlar
lmao don’t people downvoting this not understand that this person is a troll that should be ignored?
I find his posts quite numerous the and it’s the internet so it could mean anything.
Im A Woman .
Hi Blanka!
Honestly I can’t even read their posts because of the format (yay for dyslexia). Maybe people are downvoting because of that?
Im No Troll . This People Downwoting Me Ewen If I Coment A Nise Thing Are The Real Trolls
MGP songs (some are already out):
A lot of joke entries. I think one of the two first ones will win. My bet is on “My AI”
Can KEiiNO fu-off already.
The land of trolls better keep campaigning for the removal of juries so that their fun, televote-friendly entries prevail!
Says the person who wants exactly 69 hairy men to choose their winner.
I am quite tired of the camp Norwegian entries. They have so many great artists whose careers could benefit from participation in Eurovision, but they keep accepting novelty acts in their national selection. Of course, in televote only semi finals it is safer to have a fun high quality novelty act, but is this really the best way to use the platform?
Mistra, Vidar and Gate excite me
Keiino, Margaret or Raylee at this point but there will probably be a LOT more songs!
Raylee’s song is super bad
Compared to her last one but who remembers that?
Compared to any song
her weakest effort so far yes, doesn’t really have a catchy hook unlike Hero or Wild
i myself am Team AI and Team Vidar
Vidar’s MER on par in terms of how fun it is compared to Sjalu (for me his best song)
Wiwibloggs wouldn’t write about Israel so I’ll give updates
Eurovision 1979 winner, Shmulik Bilu (a member of Milk and Honey who sang with Gali Atari) passed away on Sunday, December 31st (2023)
May his memory be a blessing
no one cares
Speak for yourself, maybe someone else cares.
Plus, it’s a Eurovision blog and I posted Eurovision news about a singer (winner even) who passed away, something that is posted here regularly.
If you say you don’t care just because he’s Israeli, you’re just antisemitic, which isn’t tolerated in Eurovision.
Have a lovely day.
fair enough, and no i’m not antisemitic, the Hallelujah song, right?
Wiwibloggs seem to not post a lot of news recently, not only about Israel.
I find it quite odd that they made a whole article about Dons and nothing about Dora today?
We already did an article about Dora: https://wiwibloggs.com/2023/12/15/let-3-damir-kedzo-among-dora-2024-participants/278721/
An update about songs being played on the radio today would have helped those who use Wiwibloggs as the main source of Eurovision news, but it is up to you, of course
But nothing official to link to yet. When the songs are released on YouTube there will probably be an article about it 🙂
some of the songs in full are on youtube for now, and some aren’t on there yet (Boris, Sasa, Vinko for example just the snippets)
Anyways …. May The Memories Of The Inocents Who Have Been Martyred By Your Country Live On Always .
I’d rather to hear him singing in Latvian but he’s perhaps the only one who can put an end to the NQ streak. Either him, Aminata or Tautumeitas.
In other news: Margaret Berger’s entry for MGP is already out. It’s called “Oblivion”. Electropop banger!
Croatian entries are being played at this moment. I managed to hear the Let 3’s song – it’s ok. Catchy, but melody very similar to last year’s entry. Like they took Mama sc and changed few details and lyrics and were done. It’s not bad, but doesn’t have the same punch.
seems Vidar Villa is also in, i liked ”Sjalu” from him from his past work, hope his entry is also any good
and KeiiNo apparently back with another banger
This performer have a powerful voice, nothing to say, but the video and song brings feeling like he is came from hell, and there are demons around him. Like he is raped by prisoners in prison. Ugly aftertaste. Sorry about my personal opinion. Anyway, good luck for this performer
The song is about inner demons and sins, so you kinda got that right? It is also as if he is locked in prison (a metaphor) in which he is losing himself. The drowning in sand/gravel is a metaphor for that. And I guess you can use getting se*ually violated by your own demons as a metaphor as well. Maybe that is the reason behind the costumes? The other men are meant to be himself, his own sins, his thoughts, his past and his future. Means that they have successfully portrayed the message of the song in the video. Maybe… Read more »
The song “HOLLOW” explores themes of self-discovery, inner conflict, and resistance against conformity. The lyrics convey a sense of vulnerability and a struggle to maintain one’s authentic identity in the face of societal pressures and expectations. The singer expresses a fear of losing themselves and feeling adrift, possibly grappling with internal conflicts and a sense of not fully understanding their own identity. The lines “I’m drifting in and out of who I am, so help me understand” suggest a plea for clarity and self-awareness. The repeated phrase “It’s killing me slow” conveys a slow and internalized pain, possibly arising from… Read more »
Great voice, nice song, it could make an impact in Esc for sure. The only thing is that it’s in english and I prefer native languages personally.
I think Latvia should sent Raum or Patricia from last year. Both of them performed AMAZINGLY live and their staging was REALLY impactful and effective. Both of their songs are still in my head and I firmly believe they would have qualified unlike Sudden Lights.
Personally, I’d love to see Tautumeitas compete for Latvia. Their genre is something Latvia has never sent before and could do well, since more folk (pop) songs and songs in a country’s native tongue are being rewarded. Something like “Raganu Nakts” will do.
Agree. Tautumeitas also has a wonderful presence and great styling (something Tulia lacked in 2019), so I am sure they would do well.
Hopefully we will see them soon!
that’s literally the only act latvia needs to send. it would do extremely well in televote.
The question is if they want to go to Eurovision. Not all artists have this goal.
Why the downvotes?
There’s also a Latvian version of this called “Lauzto š??pu kara?valsts” on his youtube channel. It was released on September 12th, so it could technically fit the requirements for Eurovision without breaking any rules I suppose. Other than that, the first time I heard it on the radio it definitely felt like something we may send to Eurovision. Feels like it could be competitive enough to end our NQ streak. He’s also quite well known in Latvia, so this could be a realistic option. I’d just hope he’d perform this in Latvian, the English isn’t really doing that much
How did the biggest pop star in Latvia come second to Cake to Bake?
Probably because voters got scared to send a song in Latvian
voters got scared of winning eurovision… the biggest popstar in latvia whose new music video got 5k views in a day had LTV shook about the idea of having to host again. they almost went bankrupt back in 2003!
It is just that Aarzemnieki had another hit just before the selection, devoted to the currency of Latvia (Latvia switched to euros that year). The voting was extremely close – Aarzemnieki got 5478 votes while Dons got 5381 votes, so less than 100 vote difference. In comparison it is interesting to see that the recent years winners get over 50 000 votes, so the interest in the selection has increased drastically. One vote is cheaper now – 0,14 EUR now vs 0,42 EUR back then, but it is only 3 times cheaper, while the amount of votes cast is 10x… Read more »
An English song? Nope. Bye.
See Latvia, all you needed to do is send “Cake to bake” in Latvian
I’m joking of course. Absolutely NO ONE cares about language at Eurovision. Sing what works for you, countries. Don’t listen to these “experts” like Karl.
karl is no expert. more like expired.
Then why does Anonymous keep getting downvoting for trolling with comments like ‘keep it on English’ or ‘good it’s in English’
I haven’t had a chance to listen to his song yet, but if I was a singer and had come second (or worse) to ‘Cake to bake’, I would have ended my career immediately.
Let’s hope his song is indeed as good as they say. Latvia really deserves to qualify again, especially after the injustice that happened to Sudden Lights.
I swear, this damn song. It creeps up on me every few weeks/months. I totally forget that it exists, only to get jumpscared. Now, cue the earworm on repeat for the next few days. Bake that cake.
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause you any harm.
Honestly, all I want for Latvia is to reconsider Supernova and alter their selection process. If you can’t secure qualification for six consecutive years, it’s worth reflecting on the approach. While Supernova has delivered some quality Eurovision acts, they’ve been few. It seems like aspiring artists use it as a platform, which isn’t inherently bad, but for a Eurovision selection, the songs need to be competitive. Additionally, established artists often don’t participate. LTV, please think ahead, be strategic, and revamp your approach. Supernova isn’t living up to its name. Don’t jeopardize your Eurovision chances with a charming national final that… Read more »
I think it’s because a favourite appears and that favourite wins but isn’t the best for Eurovision. Last year, some of the acts that placed a little lower could have qualified i’m sure of it. However, Latvia WAS in the semi final of death and so even a great song would have struggled.
Having Dons in Supernova could be good for its future, though. If he wins and goes to Eurovision and, moreover, qualifies for the final, it will spark the interest of other established acts. Citi Z?ni and Sudden Lights are both big names in the industry as well and got even more popular thanks to participating in Eurovision. The only other option for Latvia would be to go internal, but that would mean less chances for new artists to have a platform and motivation to make new music and collaborate with (foreign) songwriters. Supernova (2018) is exactly how Sudden Lights got… Read more »
Sounds like a Rag&Bone Man song. It’s fine I guess. A more explosive culmination would be nice.
So now you’re writing about a singer who might or might not even compete at Supernova but nothing about those who actually compete at other national finals, like in Israel.
You guys were in Israel several times and it saddens me to see you ignoring us now.
At least you’re alive, not everyone can say this. So get over it, Eurovision doesn’t mean nothing compared to war. Just focus on what is happening in your country, take care of your family and friends and try to think of a way to get out of this situation withiut having to kill thousands more of innocent people (on both sides).
I wonder if you and others said the same about Ukraine. We can do both – have a war going on and keep on going with our lives. Everyone here is broken because almost everyone of us knows someone who was injured, murdered or kidnapped, and yea, at least I’m alive, but that’s no excuse to stop our lives completely. Anything you want to say to the army or government, tell them, not me. I’m not their speaker, I’m just a Eurovision fan. Anything regarding how come so many people die in Gaza, ask Hamas why they’re hiding amongst them,… Read more »
Maybe it would be fine if Israel didn’t openly use their selection and Eurovision as a whole for spreading propaganda? Even their 2023 entry Unicorn had a hidden message of Israeli politics
It’s saddening how you don’t see why journalists are limiting coverage on Israel’s NF…
It’s saddening how you think we should simply ignore a country completely because of a war.
We’re in Eurovision and we have a national final going on, talk about it.
Ignoring us would only contribute to the hatred against us.
You just contradicted yourself…
How exactly?
I personally prefer Latvian version (Lauzto skepu karalvalsts). It flows more melodic and stronger.
However, knowing his live vocal abilities, I cannot wait to enjoy that power he is going to serve…
By the way, several other Latvian artists have their songs out which looks like written for Supernova. Including Markus Riva (song -Loose Control).
I guess AVEI will be back again with “Mine” (available on Spotify) – it does seem a bit overproduced, though.
I wish to see PALU with “Talk To Me”, but the song is over 3 minutes. Maybe she has submitted a shorter version? The song reminds me a lot of Love On The Brain by Rihanna
I am sorry, it sounds very formulaic to me, very „I’m only human“…
Pedaja Vestule was a bit less UK/US radio and had a less predictable melody – at least for my ears. He is, however, a stunning live performer which is crucial for Eurovision.
And what a striking look he had in 2014!
This would definitely end their NQ streak! This is such a POWERFUL song! I have a feeling that Supernova 2024 will truly impress everyone in a good way with its overall quality of songs!
I have a feeling Dons will have a landslide victory and other songs will be nothing special, but I hope for stiff competition and maybe someone else even winning?
this can end their nq streak i think yes (although if it were up to me, it was already ended with He, She, You & Me banger)
Oh yes! I was fuming when P?d?j? V?stule lost!
hope so, very good song
norway 2014 vibes for me