Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

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.

Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Country Latvia
National selection
Selection processSupernova 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 entrantLaura Rizzotto
Selected song"Funny Girl"
Selected songwriter(s)Laura Rizzotto
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (12th, 106 points)
Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2017 • 2018 • 2019►

Background
Main article: Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest

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] The competition commenced on 3 February 2018 and concluded with a final on 24 February 2018.[5] All shows in the competition were broadcast on LTV1 as well as online via the streaming platform Replay.lv, the official Supernova website supernova.lsm.lv and at lsm.lv with commentary by Toms Grēviņš and Edgars Bāliņš.[6]

Format

The format of the competition consisted of four shows: three semi-finals and a final. The four shows took place at Riga Film Studio in Riga and were hosted by 2016 Latvian Eurovision entrant Justs Sirmais and Dagmāra Legante. LTV broadcast two introductory shows on 25 January and 1 February 2018 that covered the background preparation processes and performer auditions that occurred prior to the competition. The three semi-finals, held on 3, 10 and 17 February 2018, each featured seven competing entries from which two advanced to the final from each show. LTV also reserved the right to advance a wildcard act to the final from the remaining non-qualifying entries in the semi-finals. The final, held on 24 February 2018, selected the Latvian entry for Lisbon from the remaining six entries.

Results during the all shows were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and votes from the public.[7] In the semi-finals, the jury vote was calculated by having each juror assign points from 1 to 7 based on individual ranking, with the first place receiving one point and last place receiving seven points. The public vote also assigned points from 1 to 7 based on the number of votes each entry received, with the first place receiving one point and last place receiving seven points. In the final, both the jury and public assigned points from 1 to 8, with the first place receiving one point and last place receiving eight points. Viewers were able to vote via telephone or via SMS. The online vote conducted through the official Supernova website allowed users to vote once per each accepted social network account: Draugiem.lv, Facebook and Twitter. Votes conducted through Spotify were based on unique listener counts, with each stream counting as one vote for each entry.[8]

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

  • Rūdolfs Budze–DJ Rudd – DJ and producer
  • Jolanta Gulbe – jazz singer
  • Jānis Lūsēns – composer

Competing entries

Artists and songwriters were able to submit their applications and entries to the broadcaster between 6 September 2017 and 15 October 2017.[4] 93 songs were submitted for the competition at the conclusion of the submission period. A jury panel appointed by LTV evaluated the submitted songs and shortlisted 63 entries for an online vote. The jury panel consisted of Ilze Jansone (Supernova producer), Toms Grēviņš (radio DJ and journalist), Rūdolfs Budze–DJ Rudd and Jolanta Gulbe.[9] The online vote ran between 18 October 2017 and 29 October 2017, enabling users to listen to the 63 entries while the performers remained anonymous and rate the songs by either selecting the "Like" or "Dislike" option for each entry.[10] However, the voting only provided consultation on which entries should be selected; the jury made the ultimate decisions. The performer auditions took place on 5 November 2017 at the Alfa Park in Riga and featured 33 entries from the initial 63 that had been shortlisted. The twenty-one selected performers and songs were determined on 9 November 2017 and all relevant parties were informed. The twenty-one competing artists and songs were announced on 6 December 2017.[7][11]

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 & 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

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final took place on 3 February 2018. 2017 Latvian Eurovision entrant as part of Triana Park Agnese Rakovska was a guest juror for the semi-final. Seven entries competed and the top two songs qualified to the final via a 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and the Latvian public: "Younger Days" performed by Edgars Kreilis and "Walk the Talk" performed by Liene Greifāne.[12] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show featured guest performances by Dons, 2010 Latvian Eurovision entrant Aija Andrejeva, 2015 Latvian Eurovision entrant Aminata, 2016 Latvian Eurovision entrant Justs Sirmais and Agnese Rakovska.

Draw Artist[13] Song Jury Public Total Place Result
Internet Televote Spotify
streams		 Points
1 Katrīna Gupalo & The Black Birds "Intoxicating Caramel" 5 222 357 24% 4 9 5 Eliminated
2 Rahu the Fool "Oh Longriver" 6 140 165 3% 7 13 6 Eliminated
3 DVINES "More Than Meets the Eye" 3 386 356 3% 5 8 4 Eliminated
4 Agnese Stengrevics "You Are My World" 7 260 168 16% 6 13 7 Eliminated
5 Sudden Lights "Just Fine" 4 1,835 1,154 18% 1 5 3 Wildcard
6 Edgars Kreilis "Younger Days" 2 755 550 31% 2 4 2 Advanced
7 Liene Greifāne "Walk the Talk" 1 509 686 5% 3 4 1 Advanced
Semi-final 2

The second semi-final took place on 10 February 2018. 2013 Latvian Eurovision entrant as part of PeR Ralfs Eilands was a guest juror for the semi-final. Seven entries competed and the top two songs qualified to the final via a 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and the Latvian public: "Esamība" performed by MADARA and "Who's Counting?" performed by Ritvars.[12] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show featured guest performances by DJ Rudd, Māra Upmanis-Holstein and 2011 Latvian Eurovision entrants Musiqq. Due to internal technical errors in the online vote, "This Time" performed by Markus Riva, who originally did not qualify, was later allowed by the producers to also advance.[14]

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

The third semi-final took place on 17 February 2018. 2010 Latvian Eurovision entrant Aija Andrejeva was a guest juror for the semi-final. Seven entries competed and the top two songs qualified to the final via a 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and the Latvian public: "Funny Girl" performed by Laura Rizzotto and "Lovers Bliss" performed by Lauris Valters.[12] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show featured guest performances by Aija Andrejeva and 2017 Latvian Eurovision entrants Triana Park.

Draw Artist Song Jury Public Vote Total Place Result
Internet Televote Spotify
streams		 Points
1 Jenny May "Soledad" 7 227 211 12% 6 13 7 Eliminated
2 Ed Rallidae "What I Had with You" 5 323 211 17% 3 8 4 Eliminated
3 Katrine Lukins "Running Red Lights" 6 244 96 16% 5 11 6 Eliminated
4 Lauris Valters "Lovers Bliss" 2 369 254 12% 4 6 2 Advanced
5 MIONIA "You" 3 141 145 14% 7 10 5 Eliminated
6 Kris & Oz "Morning Flight" 4 463 316 14% 2 6 3 Eliminated
7 Laura Rizzotto "Funny Girl" 1 2,536 1,234 15% 1 2 1 Advanced
Final

The final took place on 24 February 2018. Petri Mannonen was a guest juror for the final. The seven entries that qualified from the semi-final and the wildcard qualifier, "Just Fine" performed by Sudden Lights, competed. The song with the highest number of votes from the jury and the public, "Funny Girl" performed by Laura Rizzotto, was declared the winner.[15][16][17] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show featured guest performances by 2000 Latvian Eurovision entrants Brainstorm, 2006 Latvian Eurovision entrants as part of Cosmos Instrumenti, 2013 Latvian Eurovision entrant as part of PeR Ralfs Eilands, 2009 Latvian Eurovision entrant Intars Busulis, 2016 Latvian Eurovision entrant Justs Sirmais and Dagmāra Legante.[18]

Draw Artist Song Jury Public Vote Total Place
Internet Televote Spotify
streams		 Points
1 Sudden Lights "Just Fine" 2 2,357 1,563 28% 2 4 2
2 Ritvars "Who's Counting?" 4 490 488 11% 6 10 4
3 MADARA "Esamība" 3 2,785 1,490 18% 4 7 3
4 Liene Greifane "Walk the Talk" 8 800 398 7% 5 13 7
5 Lauris Valters "Lovers Bliss" 6 366 285 5% 8 14 8
6 Edgars Kreilis "Younger Days" 5 781 413 9% 7 12 6
7 Laura Rizzotto "Funny Girl" 1 5,172 2,956 12% 1 2 1
8 Markus Riva "This Time" 7 2,839 2,321 10% 3 10 5

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. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 29 January 2018, 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 10 May 2018, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[19]

Once all the competing songs for the 2018 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 14, following the entry from Hungary and preceding the entry from Sweden.[20]

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:[21]

  • 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
Split voting results from Latvia (Semi-final 2)
Draw Country Jury Televote
V. Pūce Makree Aminata A. Putniņa A. Cimuška Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Norway3694106574
02 Romania12451298315
03 Serbia111211561114
04 San Marino15111417151717
05 Denmark13131713111647
06 Russia16144151712112
07 Moldova777725638
08 Netherlands13261238101
09 Australia4232311292
10 Georgia6516989265
11 Poland141713871312
12 Malta28101134713
13 Hungary915811161483
14 Latvia
15 Sweden171110121056
16 Montenegro891516141516
17 Slovenia51612347411
18 Ukraine10106145101210
Split voting results from Latvia (final)
Draw Country Jury Televote
V. Pūce Makree Aminata A. Putniņa A. Cimuška Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Ukraine18101218121883
02 Spain26142516152325
03 Slovenia14262411310122
04 Lithuania36168674112
05 Austria13321084719
06 Estonia18812538210
07 Norway516135211192
08 Portugal2471026221726
09 United Kingdom625262269218
10 Serbia1218119141523
11 Germany11451478317
12 Albania10222017242224
13 France221711321016
14 Czech Republic2317172521374
15 Denmark17212213192465
16 Australia796445613
17 Finland19191424202621
18 Bulgaria815419251420
19 Moldova2020156181647
20 Sweden4213111211
21 Hungary1524920232012
22 Israel2231821101238
23 Netherlands953796515
24 Ireland21112115172114
25 Cyprus161219221119101
26 Italy25132323162556

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. Agadellis, Stratos (10 December 2017). "Latvia: LTV releases details on Supernova 2018". esctoday.com. Esctoday. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  5. Herbert, Emily (9 January 2018). "Latvia: Supernova 2018 To Start On February 3rd". Eurovoix.
  6. "Šovakar noskaidrosies vēl divi konkursa "Supernova 2018" finālisti". parmuziku.lv (in Latvian). 17 February 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  7. Weaver, Jessica (10 December 2017). "Latvia: Supernova 2018 participants revealed". esctoday.com. Esctoday. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  8. "Latvia 2018". ESCKAZ. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  9. Weaver, Jessica (10 December 2017). "Latvia: Jury hearing phase takes place for Supernova 2018". esctoday.com. Esctoday. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  10. Weaver, Jessica (10 December 2017). "Latvia: Online voting in Supernova 2018 now open". esctoday.com. Esctoday. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  11. Herbert, Emily (6 December 2017). "Latvia: Supernova 2018 Participants Announced". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  12. Halpin, Chris (19 February 2018). "Latvia: Split results of Supernova 2018 semi-finals released ahead of wildcard reveal". Wiwibloggs.
  13. Weaver, Jessica (23 January 2018). "Latvia: Supernova 2018 kicks off on 3 February; semi-final 1 acts allocated". ESCToday.
  14. Hyde, Anne (12 February 2018). "Supernova results overturned!". escbubble.com.
  15. Melne, Kristīne (26 February 2018). "Ekskluzīvi: atklāti 'Supernovas' balsojuma dati" (in Latvian). Delfi.lv. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  16. "Šogad Latviju Eirovīzijā pārstāvēs Laura Rizzotto" (in Latvian). LSM. 25 February 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  17. Mercereau, Damien (9 March 2018). "2018 : Laura Rizzotto, la touche brésilienne de la Lettonie" (in French). Le Figaro. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  18. ""Supernova 2018" fināla tiešrraidē uzstāsies "Prāta vētra", "Instrumenti" un Ralfs Eilands". supernova.lsm.lv (in Latvian). 24 February 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  19. Jordan, Paul (29 January 2018). "Which countries will perform in which Semi-Final at Eurovision 2018?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  20. "Running order for Eurovision 2018 Semi-Finals revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  21. 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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