Latvia05

	"the duo met at the age of two, when they joined the children's pop group Cuckoo" "The singers of the group Putnu Balle (Birds' Party) are Karlis Bumeisters and Valters Fridenbergs who met 16 years ago when, at the age of two, they joined the children's pop group Dzeguzite (Cuckoo). It was with Dzeguzite that they scored their first success by singing songs by Raimonds Pauls - writer of many popular songs of that era which are still fresh in the memory of many people today. The songs included as 'Piena Celš' ('Milky Way') and 'Annina Vannina' ('Little Ann in the Little Bath'). At the 1996 Latvian Annual Music Award (Latvijas Muzikas Gada Balva), Dzeguzite's album 'Piena Celš' ('Milky Way') won the prestigious award for the best selling album. With the band, Karlis and Valters travelled to 22 countries and have also visited the most famous concert hall in the world, Madison Square Garden in New York. At the moment, both boys are members of Putnu Balle and are working with Martinš Freimanis. Putnu Balle's most popular song at the moment is 'Sapnu Pardevejs' ('Seller of Dreams') which was written by Martinš for the music show of LNT (Latvian Independent Television). This gave Putnu Balle the opportunity to shoot a video. Under the guidance of director Kristaps Streics, they made a video fore their third single 'Sparni Un Vejš' ('Wings and Wind'). Their first album is expected to be launched in the spring and will contain several songs by Martinš Freimanis. In the last year's national selection contest for the Eurovision Song Contest, Valters was Chilli's back vocalist, but this year he and Karlis are taking part in their own right. The boys say, "We would never have thought any of this could happen but when you're working with Martinš Freimanis you don't know what to expect!' How would you explain the message behind your song 'The War is Not Over'? The title of the song has confused audiences both in Latvia and abroad. We know that real, big wars and the things that are happening in the world are tragic. But this song is about the small wars - the ones we are fighting in ourselves. And about whether we can always win. We're singing from our hearts! Isn't that a bit serious? We have already seen and heard lots of things in the Eurovision Song Contest. So we want to play some good music in a truthful Latvian song! How did you come up with name for your band 'Walters & Kazha' and what does it mean? It's just a shortening of our names (Valters Fridenbergs and Karlis Bumeistars), but the one thing we haven't actually agreed yet is why Valters comes first and Kazha, last. Maybe the youngest goes first! What is most important for you in music? Truthfulness! That every drum beat means something. It doesn't have to be perfect as long as it is from the heart. We want the melody and the message of our song to reach more than our listeners' ears. Can you tell us your favourite musical artists? The Scorpions, White Snake, Ozzy - almost all hard rock singers that were popular in the 70s and 80s). But of the new bands we like The Darkness. What do you like to do in your free time? Kazha: Wherever I am, I always like to play my guitar and listen to good rock! Walter: I like some snowboarding in winter, but most of my time is dedicated to music




























	The Singer Very much like the Netherlands farce from last year which miraculously made it through to the final, this one sees two flush-faced young men perched on bar stools strumming a stringless guitar. They're like the unwashed folkies you get at dire church services up and down the country. The name Walter actually means Army General in German, which is totally at odds with the pacifist message on show here.












	The Past Latvia's embryonic Eurovision history has gone from the sublime to the ridiculous already (well, when I say sublime, its with my tongue firmly in cheek). Choreography won it for them in 2002, the first appearance arguably should have won on merit, and the other two tries have been utter shite, particularly 2003 which has since made it into the Guinness Book of Records as the most flagrant use of metaphorical cheese in a musical performance. So, what next?
	The Song Peace Song. Alert! Alert! Always one to send the shivers through the most hardened Euro sceptic, the annual message of naïve peace and harmony to all men comes to you this year from Riga. Actually, the annual message song seems to have been travelling East over the last few years, so we can only presume that it's Russia's turn next year and then we may see the end of it. Fat chance. Gestures - 1 Guitars and stools (stools also applies in a metaphorical sense to the music) "Wanna" Count - 0
	Overall I can only presume that this bizarre Euro attraction to immobile badly-tuned singers with religiously fanatical rictus grins on their faces will be continued this year. I, for one, am not of the faith. In a Nutshell "You should get thrown in jail for downloading from Kazha"

"The Shrink Says"

'The War Is Not Over' is an interesting idiom. Latvian, belonging to the Baltic branch of Indo-European language family, uses many divergent understandings in common usage, for example "blunkett" means "chaste" in English, "curry" means "constipation", and "in ourselves" means "because of those swines in the West", as in;

"But this song is about the small wars - the ones we are fighting in ourselves"

The lyrics are swarming with questions over the singers self-esteem and ability to cope with the machinations of modern society, to wit;

"And I'm so sorry I'm so helpless in this angry world"

It would require multiple sessions on the couch with Walter to even touch upon the tip of his trepidation.



"Kes" not Kazha	Kazha not "Kes"

The War Is Not Over

Na na na...

We slowly walk into the night around
To see how dreams of people die
They gently fall from windows or around
And crush against the ground like glass
And I'm so sorry I'm so helpless in this angry world
If only I could change it for one day

The war is not over, everyone knows it
It's just a reason to make us believe
That someone is loser, someone is winner
To make us believe that's the way it should be
But I don't want to believe

In the story the hotel
This fairy tale has gone too far
I take a step and dare myself to be free
To see how beautiful we are
That everyone could be a star
If only we would start believing in dreams
Believing in who we are

The war is not over, everyone knows it
It's just a reason to make us believe
That someone is loser, someone is winner
To make us believe that's the way it should be
But I don't want to believe

But I don't want to believe
No, no, no, but I don't want to believe

Prediction	Semi Final	16th
Prediction	Final	Don't Make it