Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Eirodziesma 2009 was the tenth edition of Eirodziesma, the music competition that selects Latvia's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Three semi-finals with nine songs each were due to have taken place during January and February 2009. Three songs were to qualify for the final through a mixture of jury and televoting, and a tenth song was to be chosen at a Second Chance round during the last semi-final, and the public would have decided the final song to qualify through 100% televote. The final was due to have taken place on 28 February 2009.[15][16] However, due to financial difficulties, only one semi-final was held, which took place on 27 February 2009, with the final being held on 28 February 2009.[17]

Artists and composers were able to submit their applications and entries to the competition until 30 November 2008. All submitted songs entered could not have been made public before 1 October 2008. Each songwriter can submit at most two songs, and foreign collaborations were allowed as long as a third of the song authors were Latvians. Songs submitted for preselections in other countries were also not allowed.[15][16] 108 songs were received by LTV. 78 songs entered were by Latvian composers, with 30 songs being from international songwriters.[18][19] A nine-member jury selected 21 songs for the competition, with the selected entries being announced on 9 December 2008. Due to the cancellation of the three semi-finals, followed by its reinstatement, LTV asked all participants to confirm their intent to participate in the semi-final, and all 21 artists confirmed their intention to compete.[20]

Before the competition, Kristīna Zaharova withdrew one of her songs "I Wish I Could Pretend" from the competition due to the song being accepted into the 2009 Irish national final.[21][22] As a result of this, her remaining song "Angel of Mine" was then performed as a duet between her and Annija Putniņa.[23] The performer of the song "In Love We Trust" was also changed, with Policistas replacing Aisha, Ella, Olga. The performer of the song "Have To Say Goodbye" was also replaced by Astra, instead of its composer Madara Celma. The running order of the semi-final was announced on 13 January 2009.[23]

The semi-final was held on 27 February 2009 at the Olympic Center in Ventspils, hosted by Kristīne Virsnīte and Uģis Joksts.[24] All twenty acts competed, with the top ten entries decided solely by televoting advanced to the final.[25][26]

The final was held on 28 February 2009 at the Olympic Center in Ventspils, hosted by Kristīne Virsnīte and Uģis Joksts. The 10 qualifiers from the semi-final competed in the final, and the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a jury (50%) and public televote (50%) determined the top three entries to proceed to the superfinal: "Angel of Mine" performed by Kristīna Zaharova & Annija Putniņa, "Sastrēgums" performed by Intars Busulis and "Dynamite" performed by Natālija Tumševica. In the superfinal, "Sastrēgums" performed by Intars Busulis was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote.[3]

Guests performing during the show included last year's Eirodziesma winner and Latvian Eurovision entry Pirates of the Sea, Kristīna Zaharova with the runner-up song of the 2009 Irish national final "I Wish I Could Pretend", as well as Sasha Son and Lidia Kopania, the Lithuanian and Polish Eurovision entries respectively.[25][26]