Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Supernova 2015 was the first edition of Supernova, the music competition that selects Latvia's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest.[4] The competition was newly developed for 2015 with the goal of finding a charismatic and talented performer and a song that has international hit potential which could become a radio hit outside Latvian territory.[5] 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 as well as online via the broadcaster's official website ltv.lsm.lv.[6]

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.[7] LTV 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 vote 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, a public vote exclusively determined which entry would be 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.[5] Viewers were able to vote via telephone up to five times or via SMS with a single SMS counting as five votes. 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.

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:[7]

• Kaspars Roga – drummer for Brainstorm and director of music videos
• Guntars Račs – musician, songwriter, producer and music publisher
• Dons – singer-songwriter
• Ieva Kerēvica – singer and vocal teacher

Artists and songwriters were able to submit their applications and entries separately to the broadcaster between 3 November 2014 and 10 December 2014.[5] 98 songs were submitted and 123 performers applied for the competition at the conclusion of the submission period.[8] Local and international jury panels were appointed by LTV for the selection process. The international jury panel conducted the song selection from the submitted songs and the local jury screened and selected the performers.[9] 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 consisted of the four-member jury panel during the live shows: Kaspars Roga, Guntars Račs, Dons and Ieva Kerēvica.[10] The performer auditions took place on 5 January 2015 at LTV studios and featured 56 shortlisted performers from the initial 123 that had applied. The twenty competing artists and songs were announced during a press conference on 13 January 2015.[7]

The first heat took place on 1 February 2015. Four entries qualified to the semi-final. The ten competing entries first faced a public vote 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.[11]

The second heat took place on 8 February 2015. Four entries qualified to the semi-final. The ten competing entries first faced a public vote 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.[12]

The semi-final took place on 15 February 2015. 2009 Latvian Eurovision 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 vote 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.[13]

The final took place on 22 February 2015. The four entries that qualified from the semi-final competed. The song with the highest number of votes from the public, "Love Injected" performed by Aminata, was declared the winner.[14]

Aminata at a dress rehearsal for the second semi-final

Aminata took part in technical rehearsals on 14 and 16 May,[21][22] 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.[23]

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.[21][22] On stage, Aminata was joined by three backing vocalists: Līva Zariņa, Katrīna Anna Vīgante and Anna Zankovska.[24]

At the end of the show, Latvia was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final.[25] It was later revealed that the Latvia placed second in the semi-final, receiving a total of 155 points.[26] 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.[1]

Aminata with backing vocalists at a press meet and greet.

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.[27] 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.[28]

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.[29] 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.[30][31] 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.[1]

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.[32]

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.[33] In the second semi-final, Latvia placed third with the public televote receiving 116 points and second with the jury vote with 155 points.[34]

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:[26][31][35][36]

The following five members comprised the Latvian jury:[32]

• Kristaps Krievkalns – Chairperson – composer, producer
• Beāte Zviedre – singer
• Ralfs Eilands – singer, composer, represented Latvia in the 2013 contest as a part of PeR
• Toms Grēviņš – DJ, presenter
• Ilona Jahimoviča – journalist, producer

Split voting results from Latvia (Semi-final 2)
Draw	Country	K. Krievkalns	B. Zviedre	R. Eilands	T. Grēviņš	I. Jahimoviča	Average Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Scoreboard (Points)
01	Lithuania	7	13	1	5	5	5	1	2	10
02	Ireland	4	7	3	2	6	2	14	7	4
03	San Marino	16	16	16	9	16	16	13	15
04	Montenegro	5	2	7	4	14	6	12	9	2
05	Malta	6	9	8	12	9	11	16	14
06	Norway	8	1	4	10	2	3	5	4	7
07	Portugal	14	15	14	16	11	15	15	16
08	Czech Republic	13	12	15	15	10	13	6	10	1
09	Israel	3	3	12	11	15	10	7	8	3
10	Latvia
11	Azerbaijan	12	10	9	8	7	12	10	12
12	Iceland	15	14	11	13	12	14	9	13
13	Sweden	1	4	2	1	1	1	2	1	12
14	Switzerland	11	8	10	7	8	9	11	11
15	Cyprus	10	6	6	3	13	7	3	5	6
16	Slovenia	2	5	5	14	3	4	4	3	8
17	Poland	9	11	13	6	4	8	8	6	5

Split voting results from Latvia (final)
Draw	Country	K. Krievkalns	B. Zviedre	R. Eilands	T. Grēviņš	I. Jahimoviča	Average Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Scoreboard (Points)
01	Slovenia	4	11	12	22	7	10	7	8	3
02	France	5	5	8	6	22	6	24	13
03	Israel	11	12	18	16	24	15	9	10	1
04	Estonia	15	23	2	10	5	9	2	5	6
05	United Kingdom	23	19	15	21	6	18	16	19
06	Armenia	25	25	23	26	17	26	23	25
07	Lithuania	10	14	6	9	8	7	3	4	7
08	Serbia	22	16	11	19	25	24	22	24
09	Norway	24	4	9	15	9	11	8	9	2
10	Sweden	2	3	1	3	2	1	4	1	12
11	Cyprus	8	22	25	7	23	20	12	17
12	Australia	1	1	3	1	10	2	10	6	5
13	Belgium	16	7	4	18	3	8	6	7	4
14	Austria	3	9	7	4	4	3	21	11
15	Greece	7	15	24	20	16	16	25	23
16	Montenegro	17	8	13	8	26	12	19	16
17	Germany	9	10	14	15	15	14	17	14
18	Poland	21	24	19	11	14	21	20	22
19	Latvia
20	Romania	20	21	17	12	21	23	14	20
21	Spain	12	13	20	14	13	13	18	15
22	Hungary	19	20	10	23	12	19	13	18
23	Georgia	13	17	16	17	19	17	11	12
24	Azerbaijan	18	18	21	13	20	22	15	21
25	Russia	6	6	26	5	1	5	1	2	10
26	Albania	26	26	22	24	18	25	26	26
27	Italy	14	2	5	2	11	4	5	3	8