Country Latvia Selected entrant Aarzemnieki Selected songwriter(s) Guntis Veilands | Selection process Dziesma 2014 Selected song "Cake to Bake" | |
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Selection date(s) Semi-finals:
1 February 2014
2 February 2014
Final:
22 February 2014 | ||
Latvia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Latvian entry was selected through Dziesma 2014, a national final format that consisted of two semi-finals and a final, organised by the Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV). Aarzemnieki represented Latvia with the song "Cake to Bake" written by Guntis Veilands, which failed to qualify from the first semi-final, placing 13th with 33 points. This is the sixth year in a row that the nation has failed to qualify for the final.
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Dziesma 2014
Dziesma 2014 was the second edition of the Latvian national final that selected Latvia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. The competition consisted of two semi-finals on 1 and 2 February 2014 and a final on 22 February 2014. On 24 September 2013, LTV confirmed Latvia's participation in the 2014 Contest and announced that the format of Dziesma 2014 would remain similar to the previous year.
Format
Two semi-finals took place in Riga on 1 and 2 February 2014, while the final took place on 22 February 2014 in Ventspils. 12 songs competed in each semi-final with the top 6 from each semi-final qualifying to the final. A 50/50 combination of public televoting and the votes from a jury panel decided the results of each show. In the final, there were two rounds of voting - the first to determine the three superfinalists and a second to determine the winning song that would represent Latvia in Copenhagen. Public televoting included voting by phone, SMS and through the internet, which accepted international votes. Both the semi-finals and the final were hosted by Ēriks Loks and Nauris Brikmanis.
Competing entries
On 1 October 2013, LTV opened the submission deadline for interested artists and composers to submit their entries until the deadline on 20 November 2013. LTV adopted the slogan "Made in Latvia" for the competition and only accepted entry submissions from Latvian residents, abolishing a previous rule that allowed for foreign submissions. Following the deadline, LTV received 73 entries of which 60 of the entries were in English, 11 were in Latvian, 1 was in Russian and 1 was in French. The 24 semi-finalists selected from the received submissions were revealed during a press conference on 2 December 2013. The songs selected for the competition were judged by director Aija Strazdiņa, singer Aija Vītoliņa, music producers and composers Ģirts Lūsis and Kārlis Auzāns, musician and composer Kristaps Krievkalns, British manager at Fascination Records Adam Klein, Swedish composer and producer John Ballard and Slovenian singer and 2011 Slovenian Eurovision entrant Maja Keuc. The composers of the selected entries had until 7 January 2014 to submit the performer and final version for their entry.
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final of Dziesma 2014 took place on 1 February 2014 at the Palladium in Riga. Twelve songs competed for six spots in the final with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote. In addition to the performances of the competing songs, the show featured guest performances by rock group Dzelzs Vilks, ensemble Gapoljeri, folk duo Dimantas, hip-hop performer Pikaso and 2012 Swiss Eurovision entrants Sinplus. The jury panel for the first semi-final consisted of Kristaps Krievkalns (musician, composer and arranger), Jegors Jerohomovičs (music critic and cultural journalist), Aija Strazdiņa (director), Ģirts Lūsis (musician, composer, producer and manager), Uldis Cīrulis aka DJ Monsta (radio DJ), Gabriel and Ivan Broggini (members of Sinplus, 2012 Swiss Eurovision entrants), Vineta Elksne (singer, vocal coach, conductor and songwriter) and Jānis Palkavnieks (spokesman for Draugiem.lv).
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final of Dziesma 2014 took place on 2 February 2014 at the Palladium in Riga. Twelve songs competed for six spots in the final with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote. In addition to the performances of the competing songs, the show featured guest performances by 2012 World Choir Games champions Latvian Voices, 2010 Latvian Eurovision entrant Aija Andrejeva, group Headline, Latvian Song and Dance Festival choir wars winner Latvian Academy of Culture mixed choir Sõla and 2012 Swiss Eurovision entrants Sinplus. The jury panel for the second semi-final consisted of Kristaps Krievkalns (musician, composer and arranger), Jegors Jerohomovičs (music critic and cultural journalist), Aija Strazdiņa (director), Ģirts Lūsis (musician, composer, producer and manager), Uldis Cīrulis aka DJ Monsta (radio DJ), Gabriel and Ivan Broggini (members of Sinplus, 2012 Swiss Eurovision entrants), Zita Lunde (TVNET web portal editor in chief) and Artūrs Ancāns (Emīls Dārziņš mixed choir artistic director and chairman of the board of the Latvian Choir Conductors Association).
Final
The final of Dziesma 2014 took place on 22 February 2014 at the Juras Varti Theatre House in Ventspils. Six qualifiers from each semifinal completed the twelve song line-up for the final where a 50/50 mix of public televoting and jury voting selected the winning entry through two rounds of voting: the first round to select three superfinalists and the second round to select the winner among those three. "Pēdējā vēstule" performed by Dons, "Stay" performed by Samanta Tīna and "Cake To Bake" performed by Aarzemnieki qualified to the superfinal. In the superfinal, Aarzemnieki and "Cake To Bake" were the winners.
In addition to the performances of the competing songs, the show featured guest performances by 2003 Latvian Eurovision entrant (as part of F.L.Y.) Lauris Reiniks, Normunds Rutulis, 2004 Latvian Eurovision entrants Fomins and Kleins, 2013 Latvian Eurovision entrants PeR performing together with Lithuanian singer Jurga and Estonian band Tenfold Rabbit.
At Eurovision
During the semi-final allocation draw on 20 January 2014 at the Copenhagen City Hall, Latvia was drawn to compete in the first half of the first semi-final on 6 May 2014. In the first semi-final, the producers of the show decided that Latvia would perform 2nd, following Armenia and preceding Estonia. Latvia failed to qualify from the first semi-final, placing 13th in a field of 16 songs and scoring 33 points.
The Latvian performance featured the four members of Aarzemnieki playing instruments. The LED screens projected a tree lined park decorated with lights.
In Latvia, both the semi-finals and the final were broadcast on LTV1 with commentary by Valters Frīdenbergs and Kārlis Būmeisters. The Latvian spokesperson revealing the result of the Latvian vote in the final was Ralfs Eilands.
Split voting results
The following five members comprise the Latvian jury:
Semi-final 1
The Latvian votes in the first semi-final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.
Final
The Latvian votes in the first grand final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.