Country Latvia Selected song "Here We Go" | Selected entrant PeR | |
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Selection process Dziesma 2013
50% jury
50% televoting Selection date(s) Semi-finals:
8 February 2013
9 February 2013
Final:
16 February 2013 Semi-final result Failed to qualify (17th, 13 points) | ||
Latvia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden. The Latvian entry was selected through a national selection, consisting of two semi-finals and a final, organised by the Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV). PeR represented Latvia with the song "Here We Go", which failed to qualify from the second semi-final of the competition, placing 17th and scoring 13 points.
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Dziesma 2013
On 19 October 2012, LTV officially announced their selection procedures and opened the submission period, which lasted from 19 October until 30 November. Both national and international composers were invited to submit songs, however the competing artists had to have Latvian citizenship. The format for the selection consisted of two 12 song semifinals held on 8 and 9 February 2013, with six qualifiers from each semifinal proceeding to the final on 16 February 2013.
On 30 November 2012, LTV received a record 122 submissions of which 24 were selected by a professional jury on 11 December 2012. The short-listed songs were also available to listen to online in their demo versions with songwritiers having until 14 January to nominate the artists who would ultimately perform their songs.
On 15 January 2013, LTV revealed which artists would perform the songs as well as the allocation of the semifinals.
Mārtiņš Meiers, Madara Botmane and Anta Aizupe hosted both the semifinals and the final. Dziesma 2013 was organised in a cooperation with Ventspils City Council and Ventspils Development Agency.
Semi-final 1
The first semifinal of Dziesma 2013 took place on 8 February 2013 at the Palladium Concert Hall in Riga. The six qualifiers were determined by a 50/50 mix of public televoting and a nine-member jury panel. Liene Candy, Antra Stafecka, Headline, Samanta Tīna, Sabīne Berezina and PeR qualified to the final.
The jury panel for the first semifinal consisted of Aija Strazdiņa, Aija Vītoliņa, Ieva Rozentāle, Lara Bellerose (Belgium), Ģirts Lūsis, Valters Pūce, Jegors Jerohomovičs, Kārlis Auzāns and Jānis Palkavnieks. The jury vote was calculated by having each member of the jury rank each song from first to twelfth. The song that came in first place would get one point, while the song that came in last place would get twelve points. These results were combined with the public vote which ranked the songs based on the amount of televotes each entry received. Therefore, the song with the lowest amount of points would achieve first place.
Semi-final 2
The second semifinal of Dziesma 2013 took place on 9 February 2013 at the Palladium Concert Hall in Riga. The six qualifiers were determined by a 50/50 mix of public televoting and a nine-member jury panel. Ieva Sutugova, Marta Ritova, PeR, Dāvids Kalandija & Dināra, Pieneņu Vīns and Niko qualified to the final.
The jury panel for the second semifinal consisted of Aija Strazdiņa, Aija Vītoliņa, Lara Bellerose (Belgium), Vineta Elksne, Ģirts Lūsis, Valters Frīdenbergs, Anmary, Valters Pūce and Jegors Jerohomovičs. The jury vote was calculated by having each member of the jury rank each song from first to twelfth. The song that came in first place would get one point, while the song that came in last place would get twelve points. These results were combined with the public vote which ranked the songs based on the amount of televotes each entry received. Therefore, the song with the lowest amount of points would achieve first place.
Final
The final of Dziesma 2013 took place on 16 February 2013 at the Juras Varti Theatre House in Ventspils. Six qualifiers from each semifinal completed the 12 song line-up for the final where a 50/50 mix of public televoting and a nine-member jury selected Marta Ritova, Samanta Tina, and PeR (with "Here We Go") as the three super finalists in the first round of voting. In the second round of voting, the group PeR with the song "Here We Go" won Dziesma 2013.
Interval acts in the final included 2012 Latvian representative Anmary, 2012 Estonian representative Ott Lepland, Labvēlīgais Tips, DaGamba, Vineta Elksne, Dons and Jānis Stībelis.
The jury panel for the final consisted of Aija Strazdiņa (music video producer), Vineta Elksne (singer and vocal teacher), Ieva Rozentāle (producer of music and culture programs at LTV), Ģirts Lūsis ("Labvēlīgais tips" producer and composer), Sandris Vanzovičs (journalist), Kārlis Auzāns (musician), Jānis Stībelis (musician), Valters Pūce (musician) and Ott Lepland (musician). The jury vote was calculated by having each member of the jury rank each song from first to twelfth. The song that came in first place would get one point, while the song that came in last place would get twelve points. These results were combined with the public vote which ranked the songs based on the amount of televotes each entry received. Therefore, the song with the lowest amount of points would achieve first place.
At Eurovision
Latvia was allocated to compete in the first semi-final on 14 May for a place in the final on 18 May. In the second semifinal, the producers of the show decided that Latvia would open the semi-final and perform 1st, preceding San Marino.
Latvia failed to qualify from the second semi-final of the competition, placing last (17th) and scoring 13 points.