Armenia’s dancing duo: It’s la-la-LADANIVA!

Armenian singer Jaklin Baghdasaryan and French musician Louis Thomas met one night in a bar in Lille, France, and we’re so glad they did. 

The journey to creating LADANIVA started right there. The pair met again at the Lille Jazz Conservatory, and they put their musical styles together. Jaklin has been singing for as long as she can remember, and Louis picked up the trumpet at the age of just 7, and now plays a whole range of instruments. Since then, they’ve bonded over jamming sessions, created a Latvian party anthem Kef Chilini, and released their debut album.

Fast forward to 2024, and they’re heading to the Eurovision Song Contest with their song Jako, after being internally selected by Armenia’s national broadcaster AMPTV.

Jako is packed with traditional folk sounds. It’s a song all about rejecting negative stereotypes, being free, and being yourself. When it comes to LADANIVA’s music, expect a blend of folk, jazz, and pop, with beautiful vocals and all sorts of instruments.

LADANIVA once performed a concert in the middle of the ocean, with the audience safely on the shore. Malmö might be coastal, but yes — it’s definitely too late to change the stage location. Their most memorable moment was performing in front of 1,500 children at a concert. That’s a big audience, but we think we can top that in Sweden…

When they get to Malmö, Louis is looking forward to joining some Swedish jazz jamming sessions, while Jaklin will be exploring the vintage shops. They’ve already had one Eurovision jamming session, when they recently met Swiss artist Nemo. In front of an audience on the pavement, Nemo performed their song The Code, while Louis played guitar and Jaklin added extra vocals. Eurovision magic.

This pair listens to artists from across genres, and it shows in their music. 

In the world of classical music, they take inspiration from songs including the symphonic theme from The Adventures of Tintin by film-composing legend John Williams, Chopin’s Prélude in E Minor, and Tigran Hamasyan’s Fides Tua. In the pop sphere, they can be found listening to Afroman’s Because I Got High and Kiko Bun’s reggae hit Shy Man.

When LADANIVA spoke to the Official Eurovision Song Contest Podcast, Jaklin revealed that she can do a spookily accurate chicken impression. She spent a lot of her childhood following hens around, and there are of course chickens in the Jako music video.

There’s more from LADANIVA on Episode 13 of the Official Eurovision Song Contest Podcast.

You can learn more about LADANIVA from Armenia right here.