Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002
Latvia was represented by Marie N, with the song "I Wanna" (previously billed as "I Wonna"), at the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 25 May in Tallinn, Estonia. It went on to bring Latvia victory in only their third Eurovision participation. This was at the time the shortest time lapse between first participation and first victory of any country not present at the inaugural contest of 1956; however it was bettered in 2004 when Ukraine won the contest at their second attempt. Latvia had originally been relegated from the 2002 contest following a bad result in 2001, but were reprieved when Portugal opted out.
| Eurovision Song Contest 2002 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Latvia | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Eirodziesma 2002 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 2 March 2002 | |||
| Selected entrant | Marie N | |||
| Selected song | "I Wanna" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 1st, 176 points | |||
| Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Before Eurovision
Eirodziesma 2002
The final took place on 2 March 2002 at the Olympic Centre in Ventspils, hosted by Ija Circene and Ēriks Niedra. The song with the highest number of votes from the public, "I Wonna" performed by Marie N, was declared the winner.[1]
| Final – 2 March 2002 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Televote | Place |
| 1 | Marina Voitjuka | "Wait (for Love)" | Olegs Jumatovs, Leonids Grezers | 744 | 14 |
| 2 | Diāna & Olga Pīrāgs | "My Town" | Diāna Pīrāgs, Gustavs Terzens | 1,661 | 9 |
| 3 | Lauris Reiniks | "My Memory Tape" | Lauris Reiniks | 3,215 | 5 |
| 4 | Caffe | "Amberland" | Raimonds Tigulis, Caffé, Mareks Lindbergs | 766 | 12 |
| 5 | 4.elements | "Remember" | Arnis Mednis, Lauris Reiniks | 1,987 | 8 |
| 6 | Hameleoni | "My Only Dream" | Andris Veinbergs | 502 | 15 |
| 7 | Tumsa | "This Is Not Paradise" | Mārtiņš Freimanis | 8,003 | 3 |
| 8 | Linda Leen & Horens Stalbe | "Stop the War" | Linda Feldberga, Kārlis Lācis, Horens Stalbe | 18,103 | 2 |
| 9 | Sea Stones | "My Love Is for You" | Jānis Stībelis | 753 | 13 |
| 10 | Jānis Stībelis | "Let's Sing the Song" | Jānis Stībelis | 3,102 | 7 |
| 11 | Marie N | "I Wonna" | Marija Naumova, Marats Samauskis | 26,561 | 1 |
| 12 | Madara Celma | "A Girl From a Sunset Town" | Madara Celma | 1,258 | 11 |
| 13 | Andris Ābelīte | "Be Alive" | Andris Ābelīte | 4,864 | 4 |
| 14 | Džulians | "A Place to Call Home" | Janis Zvirgdinš | 1,328 | 10 |
| 15 | Gunārs Kalniņš | "Tell Me Why" | Janis Lamsters, Maris Talbergs, Guntars Račs | 3,148 | 6 |
At Eurovision
On the night of the final Marie N performed 23rd in the running order, following Slovenia and preceding Lithuania. Rather than the song itself, the exceptionally slick and memorable stage presentation and choreography of Marie N and her backers, combined with the advantageous late performance draw, is largely credited for the victory. When voting started the contest quickly turned into a two-horse race between Latvia and Malta with voting always very tight between the two. Malta held a marginal lead over the first half before Latvia gradually edged ahead, finally claiming victory with 176 points to Malta's 164. "I Wanna" picked up maximum 12s from Estonia, Germany, Israel, Lithuania and Spain, with only Romania failing to award the song any points at all. The 12 points from the Latvian televote were awarded to Estonia.[2]
Points awarded to Latvia
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
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References
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Note: Entries scored out are when Latvia did not compete | |||||||||||