Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Latvia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Love Injected", written and performed by Aminata. Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) organised a new national selection show titled Supernova 2015 in order to select the Latvian entry. "Love Injected" performed by Aminata was the eventual winner of the competition, winning the right to represent Latvia at the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. In the second of the Eurovision semi-finals "Love Injected" placed second out of the 17 participating countries, securing its place among the 26 other songs in the final. This was the first time in six years that Latvia had managed to qualify to a Eurovision final. In Latvia's sixteenth Eurovision appearance on 23 May, "Love Injected" finished in sixth place, receiving 186 points and full marks from three countries. This was Latvia's best finish in the contest since 2005.

Eurovision Song Contest 2015
Country Latvia
National selection
Selection processSupernova 2015
Selection date(s)Introduction shows:
18 January 2015
25 January 2015
Heats:
1 February 2015
8 February 2015
Semi-final:
15 February 2015
Final:
22 February 2015
Selected entrantAminata
Selected song"Love Injected"
Selected songwriter(s)Aminata Savadogo
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (2nd, 155 points)
Final result6th, 186 points
Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2014 2015 2016►

Background

Prior to the 2015 Contest, Latvia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifteen times since its first entry in 2000.[1] 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. The nation had failed to qualify for 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).[2] 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 for the Eurovision final 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.[3]

Before Eurovision

Supernova 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]

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.[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

Competing entries

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]

Artist Song (English translation) Composer(s)
Aminata "Love Injected" Aminata Savadogo
Antra Stafecka "It's the Night" Antra Stafecka, Kerija Kalēja
Atis Ieviņš "Catfish" Ralfs Eilands, Reinis Briģis
ElektroFolk "Sundance" Ainārs Majors, Arnolds Kārklis
Euphony "Home" Andris Kivičs
Framest "Ziemā" (Winter) Jānis Ķirsis, Inga Pizāne – Dilba
Katrīna Bindere "Run to You" Diāna Černe
Katrīna Cīrule "Bass" Katrīna Cīrule, Jānis Ķirsis
Lana Frančeska "Lions" Ingars Viļums, Lana Frančeska Švilpe
Linda Ķaukule "Save Our Love" Ruslans Kuksinovičs
Markus Riva "Take Me Down" Miķelis Ļaksa
Milenin & Kamilla "Colours of Love" Gaitis Lazdāns, Mārtiņš Taranda
MNTHA "Nefelibata" (Cloud walker) Marija Mickeviča
Mārtiņš Ruskis & Ginta Krievkalna "Debesis" (Sky) Jānis Ķirsis, Pēteris Draguns
Ornella "Angel" Rino Rudevičs
Riga Metro "High Heels" Elīna Dumpe, Antons Kekļa, Valters Suķis, Gusts Kaksis
Rihards Bērziņš "Your Eyes" Ingars Viļums
Rihards Saule "Life Lines" Lauris Valters
Signe "Sweet Girl" Reinis Briģis, Alise Kante
The Stones "Free Your Mind" Igors Voļhins
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 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]

  Public vote qualifier   Jury qualifier

Draw Artist Song Result
1 Katrīna Cīrule "Bass" Eliminated
2 Lana Frančeska "Lions" Eliminated
3 Atis Ieviņš "Catfish" Eliminated
4 Milenin & Kamilla "Colours of Love" Eliminated
5 Antra Stafecka "It's the Night" Advanced
6 Framest "Ziemā" Advanced
7 Linda Ķaukule "Save Our Love" Eliminated
8 MNTHA "Nefelibata" Advanced
9 Rihards Saule "Life Lines" Eliminated
10 ElektroFolk "Sundance" Advanced
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 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]

  Public vote qualifier   Jury qualifier

Draw Artist Song Result
1 The Stones "Free Your Mind" Eliminated
2 Signe "Sweet Girl" Eliminated
3 Mārtiņš Ruskis & Ginta Krievkalna "Debesis" Eliminated
4 Ornella "Angel" Eliminated
5 Rihards Bērziņš "Your Eyes" Advanced
6 Euphony "Home" Advanced
7 Riga Metro "High Heels" Eliminated
8 Katrīna Bindere "Run to You" Eliminated
9 Markus Riva "Take Me Down" Advanced
10 Aminata "Love Injected" Advanced
Semi-final

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]

  Public vote qualifier   Jury qualifier

Draw Artist Song Result
1 ElektroFolk "Sundance" Advanced
2 Aminata "Love Injected" Advanced
3 MNTHA "Nefelibata" Advanced
4 Markus Riva "Take Me Down" Advanced
5 Antra Stafecka "It's the Night" Eliminated
6 Euphony "Home" Eliminated
7 Framest "Ziemā" Eliminated
8 Rihards Bērziņš "Your Eyes" Eliminated
Final

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]

Draw Artist Song Public Vote Place
Internet Televote Total
1 Aminata "Love Injected" 8,319 14,017 22,336 1
2 MNTHA "Nefelibata" 3,010 7,352 10,362 4
3 ElektroFolk "Sundance" 2,803 7,971 10,774 3
4 Markus Riva "Take Me Down" 5,818 9,932 15,750 2

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.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17]

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.[18] All three shows were televised on LTV1, with commentary by Valters Frīdenbergs, who was joined by Toms Grēviņš for commentary in the final only.[19] The Latvian spokesperson, who announced the Latvian votes during the final, was Markus Riva.[20]

Semi-final

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]

Final

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

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]

Points awarded to Latvia

Points awarded to Latvia (Semi-final 2)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Points awarded to Latvia (final)
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:[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

References

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  14. Roxburgh, Gordon (22 February 2015). "Aminata to represent Latvia in Vienna". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  15. Siim, Jarmo (10 February 2015). "Australia to compete in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  16. Brey, Marco (25 January 2015). "Tomorrow: The semi-final allocation draw". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
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  28. Storvik-Green, Simon (22 May 2015). "Running order for Grand Final revealed!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
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  30. Storvik-Green, Simon; Roxburgh, Gordon (24 May 2015). "Sweden wins 2015 Eurovision Song Contest". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  31. "Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Grand Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  32. Bakker, Sietse (1 May 2015). "Exclusive: Here are this year's national juries!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  33. Quinn, Angus (24 May 2015). "Eurovision 2015 Split Results: Who Did the Jury Hurt?". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  34. Adams, Willy Lee (25 May 2015). "Semi final split results: Who the jury hurt at Eurovision 2015". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  35. "Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 Second Semi-Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
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