Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Background

Prior to the 2015 Contest, Latvia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifteen times since its first entry in 2000. Latvia won the contest once in 2002 with the song "I Wanna" performed by Marie N. Since the introduction of a semi-final to the format of the contest in 2004, Latvia managed to qualify to compete in the final every year between 2005 and 2008. However, 2008 was the last time Latvia qualified for the final, up to this point. The nation had failed to qualify to the final for six consecutive years including with their 2014 entry "Cake to Bake" performed by Aarzemnieki.

The Latvian broadcaster for the 2015 Contest, who broadcast the event in Latvia and organised the selection process for its entry, was Latvijas Televīzija (LTV). 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 announced that it would be organising a new selection procedure titled Supernova in order to select their 2015 entry.

Supernova 2015

Supernova 2015 was the national final format created by LTV in order to select Latvia’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. The competition was newly developed for 2015 with the aim of finding a charismatic and talented performer and a song that has international hit potential which could become a radio hit outside Latvian territory. The competition consisted of four shows commencing on 1 February 2015 and concluding with a final on 22 February 2015. All shows in the competition were broadcast on LTV1 and online.

Format

The format of the competition consisted of four shows: two heats, one semi-final and a final. The four shows took place at LTV Studio 6 in Riga and were hosted by Ketija Šēnberga and Toms Grēviņš. LTV also broadcast two introductory shows on 18 and 25 January 2015 that covered the background preparation processes and performer auditions that occurred prior to the competition. The two heats, held on 1 and 8 February 2015, each featured ten competing entries from which four advanced to the semi-final from each show. The semi-final, held on 15 February 2015, featured the eight qualifiers from the heats from which the top four proceeded to the final. The final, held on 22 February 2015, selected the Latvian entry for Vienna from the remaining four entries.

Results during the heats and the semi-final shows were determined by the four-member jury panel and votes from the public. In the heats and the semi-final, the songs first faced a public televote where the top two entries qualified. The jury then selected an additional two qualifiers from the remaining entries to proceed in the competition. In the final, public televoting exclusively both determined the winner. During the competition, the jury panel had the right to reinstate an eliminated song if they believed the song had potential with an artist that was still active in the competition. Should this have occurred, the jury would replace a competing artist's song with the eliminated song.

The jury participated in each show by providing feedback to the competing artists and selecting entries to advance in the competition. The panel consists of:

Competing entries

Artists and composers were able to submit their applications and entries to the competition between 3 November 2014 and 10 December 2014. 98 songs were submitted and 123 performers applied for the competition at the conclusion of the submission period. Local and international jury panels were appointed by LTV for the selection process: the international jury conducted the song selection from the received submissions and the local jury evaluated and selected the performers. The international jury panel consisted of Peo Nylén (producer and representative of Scandinavian Songs AB record company), Michael Jay (producer and songwriter) and Jarkko Nordlund (Universal Music Group Finland and the Baltic region manager). The local jury was the four-member panel that was selected to participate during the live broadcasts: Kaspars Roga, Guntars Račs, Dons and Ieva Kerēvica. On 5 January 2015, performer auditions at LTV studios were conducted with 56 of the 123 applicants being invited to attend after an initial screening process. On 13 January 2015, LTV announced the twenty performers and competing songs that were selected for the competition during a press conference.

Shows

Heat 1

The first heat took place on 1 February 2015. Four entries qualified to the semi-final. The ten competing entries first faced a public televote where the top two songs advanced: "Sundance" performed by ElektroFolk and "Nefelibata" performed by MNTHA. An additional two qualifiers were selected from the remaining eight entries by the jury: "It's the Night" performed by Antra Stafecka and "Ziemā" performed by Framest.

Heat 2

The second heat took place on 8 February 2015. Four entries qualified to the semi-final. The ten competing entries first faced a public televote where the top two songs advanced: "Love Injected" performed by Aminata and "Take Me Down" performed by Markus Riva. An additional two qualifiers were selected from the remaining eight entries by the jury: "Your Eyes" performed by Rihards Bērziņš and "Home" performed by Euphony.

Semi-final

The semi-final took place on 15 February 2015. 2009 Latvian entrant Intars Busulis was a guest juror for the semi-final, filling in for Dons. Four entries qualified to the final. The eight competing entries first faced a public televote where the top two songs advanced: "Love Injected" performed by Aminata and "Nefelibata" performed by MNTHA. An additional two qualifiers were selected from the remaining six entries by the jury: "Sundance" performed by ElektroFolk and "Take Me Down" performed by Markus Riva.

Final

The final took place on 22 February 2015. "Love Injected" performed by Aminata was selected as the winner after accumulating the highest amount of televotes and internet votes.

At Eurovision

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. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into five different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 26 January 2015, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Latvia was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 21 May 2015, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2015 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Latvia was set to perform in position 10, following the entry from Israel and before the entry from Azerbaijan. All three shows were televised on LTV1, with commentary by Valters Frīdenbergs, who was joined by Toms Grēviņš for commentary in the final only. The Latvian spokesperson, who announced the Latvian votes during the final, was Markus Riva.

Semi-final

Aminata took part in technical rehearsals on 14 and 16 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 20 and 21 May. This included the jury final where professional juries of each country, responsible for 50 percent of each country's vote, watched and voted on the competing entries.

The stage show featured Aminata in a long red dress and black jewellery standing on a pedestal at the centre of the stage. Special tattoos were applied to Aminata's body for effect. Red and white lighting was used in addition to fast camera shot cuts that showed wide angles, top shots and close shots. The background LED screens displayed cathedral-like windows along with moving rays and white strobe lights. On stage, Aminata was joined by three backing vocalists: Līva Zariņa, Katrīna Anna Vīgante and Anna Zankovska.

At the end of the show, Latvia was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that the Latvia placed second in the semi-final, receiving a total of 155 points. This was the first time in six years that Latvia had managed to qualify to the Eurovision final; their last appearance in a final was in 2008.

Final

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winner's press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries were announced during the semi-final. Latvia was drawn to compete in the second half. Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Latvia was subsequently placed to perform in position 19, following the entry from Poland and before the entry from Romania.

Aminata once again took part in dress rehearsals on 22 and 23 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Aminata performed a repeat of her semi-final performance during the final on 23 May. At the conclusion of the voting, Latvia placed sixth with 186 points. Latvia received 12 points, the maximum number of points a country can give to another country, from three countries. This result was Latvia's best since they placed fifth in 2005 with the song "The War Is Not Over" performed by Walters and Kazha.

Voting

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant 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 could 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 were released shortly after the grand final.

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Latvia had placed eighth with the public televote and second with the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Latvia scored 100 points finishing in tenth place, while in the jury vote, Latvia placed second with 249 points. In the second semi-final, Latvia placed third with the public televote receiving 116 points and second with the jury vote with 155 points.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Latvia and awarded by Latvia in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Latvian jury: