Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000
Latvia was represented by Brainstorm, with the song '"My Star", at the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 13 May in Stockholm. "My Star" was chosen as the Latvian entry at the national final, Eirodziesma, on 26 February and marked Latvia's Eurovision debut, some years after fellow Baltic nations Estonia and Lithuania had first joined the fold.
"My Star" was widely praised for its indie style, which at the time brought a fresh, new and previously unheard type of song to Eurovision. The song went on to bring Latvia one of the most successful Eurovision debuts ever, and remains very well regarded.
Final
Eirodziesma was held at the studios of broadcaster LTV in Riga, hosted by Dita Torstere. Ten songs took part with the winner being chosen nominally by a mix of an "expert" jury and televoting, although the split was approximately 93:7 in favour of the jury. All songs but one were presented in English.[1]
Eirodziesma - 26 February 2000
| Draw |
Artist |
Song |
Votes |
Place |
| 1 |
Marija Naumova |
"For You My Friends" |
114 |
2 |
| 2 |
Yana Kay |
"Waterfall" |
81 |
6 |
| 3 |
Jānis Stībelis |
"I Will Return" |
62 |
8 |
| 4 |
Dace Pūce, Aigars Grāvers & Nataradža |
"Tāda zeme" |
67 |
7 |
| 5 |
Arnis Mednis |
"Everyday in Circle" |
82 |
5 |
| 6 |
Madara Celma |
"Close to You" |
49 |
10 |
| 7 |
Brainstorm |
"My Star" |
147 |
1 |
| 8 |
Linda Leen |
"Let's Go Insane" |
108 |
4 |
| 9 |
Agnese |
"Knowing Love and Loss" |
51 |
9 |
| 10 |
Yana Kay |
"Set My Heart on Fire" |
109 |
3 |
At Eurovision
On the night of the final Brainstorm performed 21st in the running order, following Finland and preceding Turkey. Lead singer Renārs Kaupers gave an energetic and memorable performance, and at the close of voting "My Star" had picked up 136 points (including maximum 12s from Belgium, Estonia, Finland and Norway), placing Latvia third of the 24 entries, a placement as a debuting country bettered only by Poland in 1994. The 12 points from the Latvian televote were awarded to contest winners Denmark.[2]
See also
References