Latvia Ate Your Salad At 2022's Eurovision Song Contest But Didn't Win, Enraging European Memers

The 66th Eurovision song contest is currently taking place in Turin, Italy, and fans of the contest and music have memed heavily about the acts in the competition so far.

#Eurovision in a nutshell pic.twitter.com/mnkQFw9pQO

— kiki ; (@byglmh) May 10, 2022

today TODAY is ISeurovision EUROVISION#Eurovision pic.twitter.com/zypQEor84t

— amy 🇮🇹🇵🇱🇪🇸🇨🇾🇦🇺🇳🇱 (@a_xmelie) May 9, 2022

For Eurovision, each European country submits a song by a band from that country (selected in a country-wide competition) and the most popular songs advance to further rounds in the all-Europe competition. The Swedish group ABBA famously launched an international career with their Eurovision song “Waterloo” in 1974. Every year, the televised spectacle unites a whole continent in one pop-cultural moment.

IT'S FINALLY TIME FOR #EUROVISION pic.twitter.com/QPW9wz40a8

— Story 🐳 #𝒮𝒽𝒶𝓅𝑒𝒪𝒻𝐿𝑜𝓋𝑒 (@whale4minhyuk) May 10, 2022

Eurovision really has me going fromthis to this #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/oIKk6y1tUj

— oink (@kookiche) May 10, 2022

On Tuesday night, Citi Zeni’s “Eat Your Salad,” representing Latvia, was defeated by Marius Bear’s “Boys Do Cry,” representing Switzerland. Many were not happy.

EAT YOUR SALAD NON IN FINALE #ESC2022 #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/W1uLXNSaUt

— out of time (@jackvsonm) May 10, 2022

me eating my veggies tonight thinking about how latvia didn’t qualify in #EUROVISION pic.twitter.com/2t5lfwdgmA

— lucas (@lookissx) May 10, 2022

“Eat Your Salad,” which promotes a vegan and environmentally friendly diet and lifestyle, opens with the line “Instead of meat, I eat veggies and p****” (most Eurovision songs tend to be in English, which has become the most commonly spoken second language in Europe). Understandably, “Eat Your Salad” was a fan-favorite and highly memed entry.

you’re telling me, the opening line of a song in the eurovision was “instead of meat i eat veggies and pussy” and it DIDNT get through ?????? #Eurovision

— isabella hanlon (@bellshanlon) May 10, 2022

Many European posters on social media platforms like Twitter were furious that Latvia did not advance to the next round.

sweeties you did great i'm sorry #eurovision pic.twitter.com/tlKy70xZGa

— izabella 🇮🇹🇬🇪🇷🇸🇺🇦🇸🇲🇱🇻🇸🇮🇮🇸🇵🇹🇬🇧 (@gabbanisgorilla) May 10, 2022

Who the fuck voted for Switzerland instead of Latvia #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/DWlVb93iar

— EUROVISION MONTH || 🇮🇹🇸🇲 (@hanne_gvf) May 10, 2022

Me going to sleep after the absolute bullshit results of the #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/H9kmZisEqI

— sarah jayne (@l_am_eggg) May 10, 2022

Overall, the feeds were full of joy from fans of Eurovision, many of whom grew up watching the competition every year.

mentally im here #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/zCZSKlJMe0

— valentina³ eurovision era 🇮🇹🇲🇩🇺🇦 (@mocciosvs) May 10, 2022

This year’s Eurovision comes at a crucial point in European history. As war returns to the continent, many reflected on the resilience of the Ukrainians, with an image of the Ukrainian Eurovision commentator broadcasting from a bunker making the rounds on social media.

A reality check that the Ukrainian #Eurovision commentator is broadcasting from a bunker 💔 pic.twitter.com/tSAimftWH2

— Dean McCullough (@thedeanlife) May 10, 2022

The Eurovision competition, which is as famous for its kitsch as it is for the picture it paints of pan-European cultural unity, always brings viral moments and big memes. This year was no exception.