Latvia: The Happiest Country In Eurovision (Featuring Jöran Steinhauer from Aarzemnieki)

Every Eurovision fan remembers the song that first drew them into the contest. Maybe for you it was ABBA with Waterloo. Or Loreen with Euphoria. Mine was Aarzemnieki with Cake To Bake. And in this episode of Eurovisionism, I get to speak to the man responsible for writing it!

In 2014, Jöran Steinhauer and his bandmates took to the Eurovision stage representing Latvia. Twelve years earlier, this little Baltic country won their only Eurovision trophy, which set the streets of Riga alight. History beckoned as this plucky young band with their cheery song attempted to secure another victory for their country. But after their three minutes were up, Latvia was again missing from the list of qualifying countries. Since then, it's been much the same for following Latvian participants. Aside from a handful of solid results, Latvia has been largely unsuccessful at Eurovision.

Or have they?

Join me over the next twenty minutes as I examine what it means to have success at Eurovision, and how a German man came to represent a country that most Europeans might struggle to point out on a map.

Thank you to Jöran for speaking to me for this episode, it was exceptionally cool to learn all about the person who wrote my favourite Eurovision song!

And thank you also to the members of the Sydney Latvian Society in Strathfield who invited me to visit during one of their dance group rehearsals. They are doing a fantastic job of keeping the Latvian spirit alive and well on the other side of the world to their home country!

And finally, thank you to my friend Alex who is always happy to be my go-to European for this podcast (and in life generally).

Theme Song: Max Dary

Outro Song: JOJ BOUK