ESC Etc.

Country: Armenia
Artist: Ladaniva
Title: Jako
Songwriter(s): Audrey Leclercq, Jaklin Baghdasaryan, Louis Thomas
Tempo: 100 BPM Mode: Major Key: D Duration: 2:25

Armenia will never give you the same song twice, and I don’t know that you can say that about many countries at ESC. It doesn’t always work, and sometimes it works months after the fact and it becomes a worldwide viral hit (although for the record – I liked SNAP right from the get-go while so many others dismissed it as an also-ran). Last year, Brunette took us in a completely different direction with an electro R&B ballad with a real orchestral and cinematic quality to it (I had it in my Top 5) and part of me was hoping we would be able to continue onwards with this musical journey with a similarly inspired track this year. Wrong! We’re getting straight up traditional folk instead.

I’ve listened to Jako about 5 times at this point, and I can honestly say I do not feel any particular, meaningful way about it. The lyrics read like an old folktale celebrating freedom and being oneself; the arrangement is lively and energetic, and I appreciate Thomas’ inclusion of a trumpet and a fiddle; the vocal is more than adequate, and it colors the song with a sense of fun, almost a kind of unbridled joy. I like that it’s in Armenian, I like that it’s colorful and different from anything else we’ve gotten this year, and this is clearly a song that is meant to appeal to televote over juries, which leads me to believe staging will look like a big party. And yet, the track doesn’t particularly move me or entertain me or thrill me or bore me or inspire me – 2024 is too strong of a year at ESC, and I’m in full sensory overload already because of so many of the other entries, that anything coming out this late would need to hit much, much harder than this to truly register. Which is fine! Not all songs have to be for me, variety is the spice of life etc etc etc, and I’m honestly having such a hard time ranking so many of these songs over on the MESC app (not paid or sponsored, I just cannot live without it) already without needing any more complications.

Jury Potential: This is not the type of sound juries are known to notice and reward, although the vocal style here might help it stand out.
Televote Potential: This is clearly where Armenia will be looking to score most of their points. This checks a lot of boxes, but it ultimately isn’t as punchy as many of the other big televote faves.