the Lille group Ladaniva, “surreal” choice to represent Armenia

The musical group is made up of singer Jaklin Baghdasaryan, Armenian by birth, and Louis Thomas, multi-instrumentalist from Lille. Ladaniva will perform “Jako” in Sweden, where the singing competition will be held.

A few years after a first success as stunning as it was unexpected, carried by the Armenian diaspora, the Lille duo Ladaniva will represent Armenia during Eurovision in May. For the artists, however, participating was not obvious.

Born in Lille in 2019, the group is made up of singer Jaklin Baghdasaryan, Armenian by birth but raised in Belarus, and Louis Thomas, multi-instrumentalist from Lille. They were far from imagining that one day they would find themselves wearing the colors of Armenia.

Jaklin Baghdasaryan, 26, arrived at the age of 20 in Tourcoing (North), “looking for freedom and a better life, without speaking a word of French”she says during an interview with AFP. “I don’t even speak Armenian that well!”adds the singer.

Spotted by the Armenian diaspora

During an improvisation session, she met Louis Thomas, who was touched by her voice. Travels follow, notably to Reunion or South America, on the trail of “world music” (traditional Armenian singing, maloya, reggae, etc.) which merge in their repertoire.

In 2019, they recorded a recovery of “old Armenian song” and upload it to YouTube “on the fly, without premeditation”. Thanks to word of mouth, the number of views takes off. Armenian diasporas from all countries come together in the comments section to encourage them.

“So, we tinkered a bit. I wrote my first text, we put a composition online”, remembers Jaklin Baghdasaryan. Quickly, the clip accumulated millions of views, was shown on Armenian television, and found itself in all flavors on TikTok in France, Russia, and Armenia. “It was totally surreal”breathes Louis Thomas, 36 years old. “As soon as the confinement ended, we found ourselves signed to a label [le label indépendant PIAS], to play at Trans Musicales (in Rennes) and at Printemps de Bourges”.

“The Black Horses”

In 2022, the Armenian national television operator AMPTV offers them the opportunity to represent the country at Eurovision. But the proposal fizzled: “we couldn’t agree on the song. We agreed that it would be more pop than usual but we wanted it to remain our song”, she rewinds. It will be necessary to try it three times for the idea to come to fruition, in 2024. It is true that the group’s repertoire falls quite far from the aesthetics of the competition organized this year in Sweden, in Malmö, where they will perform their title Jake.

“Online, a lot of people call us ‘black horses’ [les outsiders] of the competition”, laughs the singer, while the duo is ranked 17th by the bookmakers, according to the website eurovisionworld.com, behind the Swiss favorite Nemo and the Frenchman Slimane (6th). Faithful to the spontaneity and joie de vivre of their beginnings, Ladaniva calmly approaches the competition.“Armenians love Eurovision”continues Jalkin Baghdasaryan. “When they come to encourage us at the end of the concerts, we feel that they want us to win more than we do!”

In a competition traditionally loaded with political weight – as evidenced by the controversies over the participation of Russia after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 or of Israel, in war against Hamas in Gaza, in 2024 – and then that Armenia and Azerbaijan are opposed in a territorial conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, they however refuse to see each other as “representatives”. “Being there, singing in my native language, it’s already a way of speaking”, says Jalkin Baghdasaryan. As for Louis Thomas, he describes the moment as “surrealist” but also “an honor”.