Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Country  Latvia
National selection
Selection process Supernova 2018
Selection date(s) Introduction show:
25 January 2018
1 February 2018
Semi-finals:
3 February 2018[1]
10 February 2018
17 February 2018
Final:
24 February 2018
Selected entrant Laura Rizzotto
Selected song "Funny Girl"
Selected songwriter(s) Laura Rizzotto
Finals performance
Semi-final result Failed to qualify (12th, 106 points)
Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2017 • 2018 • 2019►

Latvia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) organized the national final Supernova 2018 in order to select the Latvian entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal.

Background

Prior to the 2018 Contest, Latvia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest eighteen times since its first entry in 2000.[2] Latvia won the contest once in 2002 with the song "I Wanna" performed by Marie N. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Latvia was able to qualify to compete in the final between 2005 and 2008. Between 2009 and 2014, the nation had failed to qualify to the final for six consecutive years. In the 2015 contest, Latvia managed to qualify to the final with the song "Love Injected" performed by Aminata, which placed 6th in the final, scoring 186 points, giving them their best placing since 2005. In 2017, Latvia was represented by Triana Park and the song "Line", but the country did not qualify for the final.

The Latvian national broadcaster, Latvijas Televīzija (LTV), broadcasts the event within Latvia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry.[3] Latvia has selected their entries for the Eurovision Song Contest through a national final. Since their debut in 2000 until 2012, LTV had organised the selection show Eirodziesma. In a response to the nation's failure to qualify to the final at Eurovision since 2008, between 2013 and 2014, the competition was rebranded and retooled as Dziesma. However, after failing to produce successful entries those two years, LTV developed the Supernova national final in order to select their 2015 entry. The competition produced two Latvian entries in 2015 and 2016 that managed to qualify the nation to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2018, LTV announced that the Supernova format would return once again to select the Latvian entry.[4]

Before Eurovision

Supernova 2018

Supernova 2018 was the fourth edition of Supernova, the music competition that selects Latvia's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest.[4]

Format

The format of the competition consisted of four shows: three semi-finals and a final. The three semi-finals featured seven competing entries each, from which two were selected to advance to the final from each show.[5]

Results during the heats and the semi-final shows were determined by a jury panel and votes from the public.[4]

Competing entries

Applications could be submitted to the broadcaster between 6 September 2017 to 15 October 2017.[4] A jury of music experts appointed by LTV evaluated the submitted entries and selected the artists and songs that would compete in the televised shows. 93 entries were submitted, and 63 were shortlisted to proceed to the online voting stage. LTV introduced an online voting system for Internet users so that the jury panel could take the public's opinion into consideration. From 18 October 2017 to 29 October 2017, Internet users could listen to the 63 entries while the artists remained anonymous, and rate the songs by either selecting the “Like” or “Dislike” option for each entry.[6] The jury then selected 30 entries, taking the results of the online voting into consideration, to proceed to the live hearing; auditions in front of the jury took place on 5 November 2017 at the Alfa Park in Riga. The jury consisted of Supernova producer Ilze Jansone, music producer DJ Rudd, host Toms Grēviņš and jazz singer Jolanta Gulbe.[7] The selected performers and songs were determined by 9 November 2017. The competing artists and songs were announced on 6 December 2017.[8]

Artist Song (English translation) Composer(s)
Agnese Stengrevics "You Are My World" Helvijs Stengrevics, Agnese Stengrevics
DVINES "More Than Meets the Eye" DVINES, Pēteris Pāšs, Andris Strazds, Kaspars Ansons
Ed Rallidae "What I Had with You" Aminata Savadogo, Kaspars Ansons
Edgars Kreilis "Younger Days" Edgars Kreilis, Kaspars Ansons
Hypnotic "Pray" Sabīne Geiba, Beatrise Heislere, Ruslans Kuksinovičs
In My Head "Sunset" Evija Smagare, Armands Varslavāns, Rūdolfs Iļķēns
Jenny May "Soledad" (Loneliness) Maija Stuģe, Martin Karl Hägglund, Martin Björn Hanzén, Tim Erik Åström, Michael Javier Hernan Barraza Alfaro
Katrīna Gupalo and The Black Birds "Intoxicating Caramel" Katrīna Gupalo
Katrine Lukins "Running Red Lights" Katrine Lukins, Andris Lūkins, Kaspars Ansons
Kris & Oz "Morning Flight" Artūrs Osipovs, Kristīne Morina, Kristīne Sisējeva, Aleksandrs Solovjovs
Laura Rizzotto "Funny Girl" Laura Rizzotto
Lauris Valters "Lovers Bliss" Lauris Valters, Reinis Briģis
Liene Greifāne "Walk the Talk" Liene Greifāne, Ylva Persson, Linda Persson
MADARA "Esamība" (Existence) Madara Fogelmane
Markus Riva "This Time" Markus Riva, Kaspars Ansons, Edgars Krastiņš, Quincy Thompson
MIONIA "You" Maija Līcīte
Monta "1000 Roses" Monta Ķimene
Rahu the Fool "Oh Longriver" Pēteris Narubins, Rahu the Fool
Riga Reggae "Stop the War U2" Horens Stalbe, Vladimirs Eglītis, Mārtiņš Burkevics, Renarts Braufmanis
Ritvars "Who's Counting?" Rihards Lībietis, Mārcis Vasiļevskis, Toms Lisments, Kristīne Pleša, Erna Daugaviete, Toms Kursītis, Mārtiņš Miļevskis, Dāvis Bindemanis, Sabīne Žuga
Sudden Lights "Just Fine" Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis, Kārlis Matīss Zitmanis, Mārtiņš Matīss Zemītis, Kārlis Vārtiņš

Shows

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final took place on 3 February 2018. Seven of the competing entries performed, and two qualified to the final via a combination of votes from a jury of music professionals and the Latvian public.[5][4][9]

Draw Artist[10] Song Televotes[11] Jury Votes[11] Internet votes[11] Spotify streams[11] Total[11] Result[11] Place
1 Katrīna Gupalo and The Black Birds "Intoxicating Caramel" 357 5 222 24% 9 Eliminated 5
2 Rahu the Fool "Oh Longriver" 165 6 140 3% 13 Eliminated 6
3 DVINES "More Than Meets the Eye" 356 3 386 3% 8 Eliminated 4
4 Agnese Stengrevics "You Are My World" 168 7 260 16% 13 Eliminated 7
5 Sudden Lights "Just Fine" 1154 4 1835 18% 5 Wildcard 3
6 Edgars Kreilis "Younger Days" 550 2 755 31% 4 Advanced 2
7 Liene Greifāne "Walk the Talk" 686 1 509 5% 4 Advanced 1
Semi-final 2

The second semi-final took place on 10 February 2018. Seven of the competing entries performed, and three qualified to the final via a combination of votes from a jury of music professionals and the Latvian public.[5][4][9]

At first, only two entries had qualified, MADARA and Ritvars. However, some days later it was announced that there had been technical errors in the voting during the semifinal, which caused Markus Riva not to qualify. In order to fix this, producers decided to allow both Riva and Ritvars to qualify to the final, due to the errors being internal. As a result, three artists qualified instead of two.[12]

Draw Artist Song Televotes[11] Jury Votes[11] Internet votes[11] Spotify streams[11] Total[11] Result Place[11]
1 Hypnotic "Pray" 167 6 Unused 12% 11 Eliminated 5
2 MADARA "Esamība" 613 2 Unused 25% 4 Advanced 1
3 Markus Riva "This Time" 685 3 Unused 18% 4 Advanced 2
4 In My Head "Sunset" 117 5 Unused 11% 12 Eliminated 6
5 Ritvars "Who's Counting?" 319 1 Unused 10% 5 Advanced 3
6 Monta "1000 Roses" 153 7 Unused 11% 13 Eliminated 7
7 Riga Reggae "Stop the War U2" 423 4 Unused 13% 7 Eliminated 4
Semi-final 3

The third semi-final took place on 17 February 2018. Seven of the competing entries performed, and two qualified to the final via a combination of votes from a jury of music professionals and the Latvian public.[5][4][9]

Draw Artist Song Televotes[11] Jury Votes[11] Internet votes[11] Spotify streams[11] Total[11] Result Place[11]
1 Jenny May "Soledad" 211 7 227 12% 13 Eliminated 7
2 Ed Rallidae "What I Had with You" 211 5 323 17% 8 Eliminated 4
3 Katrine Lukins "Running Red Lights" 96 6 244 16% 11 Eliminated 6
4 Lauris Valters "Lovers Bliss" 254 2 369 12% 6 Advanced 2
5 MIONIA "You" 145 3 141 14% 10 Eliminated 5
6 Kris & Oz "Morning Flight" 316 4 463 14% 6 Eliminated 3
7 Laura Rizzotto "Funny Girl" 1234 1 2536 15% 2 Advanced 1
Final

The final took place on 24 February 2018. The eight qualifying entries performed, from which the winner, Laura Rizzotto with the song Funny Girl, was chosen via a combination of votes from a jury of music professionals and the Latvian public.[5][4][9][12][13][14][15]

Draw Artist Song Televotes Jury Votes Internet votes Spotify Streams Total Place
1 Sudden Lights "Just Fine" 1563 2 2357 28% 4 2
2 Ritvars "Who's Counting?" 488 4 490 11% 10 4
3 MADARA "Esamība" 1490 3 2785 18% 7 3
4 Liene Greifane "Walk the Talk" 398 8 800 7% 13 7
5 Lauris Valters "Lovers Bliss" 285 6 366 5% 14 8
6 Edgars Kreilis "Younger Days" 413 5 781 9% 12 6
7 Laura Rizzotto "Funny Girl" 2956 1 5172 12% 2 1
8 Markus Riva "This Time" 2321 7 2839 10% 10 5

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 took place at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal and consisted of two semi-finals on 8 and 10 May and the final on 12 May 2018. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

Points awarded to Latvia

Points awarded to Latvia (Semi-final 2)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Latvia

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Latvian jury:[16]

  • Valters Pūce – Chairperson – composer, musician, producer, conductor, music educator
  • Mārtiņš Makreckis (Makree) – music producer, songwriter
  • Aminata Savadogo (Aminata) – singer, songwriter, music producer, model, represented Latvia in the 2015 Contest
  • Annija Putniņa – singer, actress, head of musical theatre department in Riga Cathedral Choir School
  • Agnese Cimuška – CEO at Music Export Latvia

References

  1. ↑ "Latvia: Supernova 2018 To Start On February 3rd". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  2. ↑ "Latvia Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  3. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (4 August 2016). "Latvia: LTV confirms participation in Eurovision 2017". esctoday.com. Esctoday. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Agadellis, Stratos (10 December 2017). "Latvia: LTV releases details on Supernova 2018". esctoday.com. Esctoday. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Weaver, Jessica (10 December 2017). "Latvia: Supernova 2018 participants revealed". esctoday.com. Esctoday. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  6. ↑ Weaver, Jessica (10 December 2017). "Latvia: Online voting in Supernova 2018 now open". esctoday.com. Esctoday. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  7. ↑ Weaver, Jessica (10 December 2017). "Latvia: Jury hearing phase takes place for Supernova 2018". esctoday.com. Esctoday. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  8. ↑ Herbert, Emily (6 December 2017). "Latvia: Supernova 2018 Participants Announced". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Herbert, Emily (9 January 2018). "Latvia: Supernova 2018 To Start On February 3rd". Eurovoix.
  10. ↑ Weaver, Jessica (23 January 2018). "Latvia: Supernova 2018 kicks off on 3 February; semi-final 1 acts allocated". ESCToday.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Halpin, Chris (19 February 2018). "Latvia: Split results of Supernova 2018 semi-finals released ahead of wildcard reveal". Wiwibloggs.
  12. 1 2 Hyde, Anne (12 February 2018). "Supernova results overturned!". escbubble.com.
  13. ↑ "Šogad Latviju Eirovīzijā pārstāvēs Laura Rizzotto" (in Latvian). LSM. 25 February 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  14. ↑ Melne, Kristīne (26 February 2018). "Ekskluzīvi: atklāti 'Supernovas' balsojuma dati" (in Latvian). Delfi.lv. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  15. ↑ Mercereau, Damien (9 March 2018). "2018 : Laura Rizzotto, la touche brésilienne de la Lettonie" (in French). Le Figaro. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  16. ↑ Groot, Evert (30 April 2018). "Exclusive: They are the expert jurors for Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
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