Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010

Eurovision Song Contest 2010
Country  Latvia
National selection
Selection process Eirodziesma 2010
50% Jury
50% Televoting
Selection date(s) 27 February 2010
Selected entrant Aisha
Selected song "What For?"
Finals performance
Semi-final result Failed to qualify (17th, 11 points)
Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2009 • 2010 • 2011►

Latvia and Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) has confirmed participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, to be held in Oslo, Norway in May 2010. This came after financial instability in Latvia and LTV, which could have resulted in a withdrawal of the country.[1] However after securing sponsorships and a co-operation agreement with the Ventspils City Council a Latvian participation in the contest was secured.[2] The Latvian entry will be decided through the Eirodziesma, which will be held in February 2010.

Eirodziesma 2010

The 2010 edition of Eirodziesma was held on 27 February in Ventspils. Due to budget concerns only one show was held rather than a number of semi-finals and a final as was seen in previous years. 10 songs competed in the contest, with the top three songs selected by televoting and a jury progressing to a superfinal, where they competed again. Furthermore, unlike in previous years, the contest was open only to Latvian citizens.[3] The deadline for song submissions was 15 January.[4]

79 songs were submitted to LTV for the contest, of which ten were selected.[5] These ten entries were announced on 22 January by LTV.[6][7] The running order for the final was held on 3 February on the TV show Sems.[8]

During the show, hosted from the Juras Varti Theatre in Ventspils by Ugis Joksts and Kristine Virsnite, Switzerland's 2010 entry Michael von der Heide performed his entry "Il pleut de l'or", and a video message by Poland's entry Marcin Mroziński also gave a video greeting.[9][10][11]

Voting in Eirodziesma 2010 was made in terms of the song's placing, i.e. the 1st placed song received 1 point, the 2nd placed song received 2 points, etc. From the 10 competing songs, three were selected to progress to the super-final: Aisha, Dons and Ivo Grīsniņš-Grīslis were the three superfinalists.[11][12][13]

As there was a tie for first place in the Super Final between Aisha and Dons, the votes of the televote took precedence, which Aisha won. Therefore Aisha was selected to represent Latvia with the song "What For? (Only Mr God Knows Why)", with Dons coming second and Ivo Grīsniņš-Grīslis coming third.[11][12]

 Eirodziesma 2010 - 27 February 2010
Draw Artist Song Lyrics (l) / Music (m) Jury Televoting Total Place
1 PeR "Like a Mouse" Mārtiņš Freimanis (m & l) 10 10 20 10
2 Triānas parks "Lullaby For My Dreammate (Diamond Lullaby)" Agnese Rakovska (m & l) 3 8 11 6
3 Aisha "What For? (Only Mr God Knows Why)" Jānis Lūsēns (m), Guntars Račs (l) 2 1 3 1
4 Lauris Reiniks "Your Morning Lullaby" Lauris Reiniks (m & l) 7 4 11 4
5 Dons "My Religion is Freedom" Zigmārs Liepiņš (m & l), Jānis Liepiņš (m),
Nikita Kellermans (l)		 1 2 3 2
6 Konike "Digi digi dong" Edijs Šnipke (m & l), Andris Konters (l) 6 5 11 5
7 h2o "When I Close My Eyes" Staņislavs Judins (m), Jānis Strapcāns (l) 8 9 17 9
8 Kristīne Kārkla-Puriņa "Rišti räšti" Raimonds Tiguls (m), Valts Ernštreits (l) 5 7 12 8
9 Ivo Grīsniņš-Grīslis "Because I Love You" Ingars Viļums (m & l) 4 6 10 3
10 Kristīna Zaharova "Snow in July" Jānis Strazds (m), Guntars Račs (l) 9 3 12 7
Super-Final
Draw Artist Song Lyrics (l) / Music (m) Jury Televoting Total Place
1 Dons "My Religion is Freedom" Zigmars Liepiņš (m & l), Jānis Liepiņš (m),
Nikita Kellermans (l)		 1 2 3 2
2 Ivo Grīsniņš-Grīslis "Because I Love You" Ingars Viļums (m & l) 3 3 6 3
3 Aisha "What For? (Only Mr.God Knows Why)" Jānis Lūsēns (m), Guntars Račs (l) 2 1 3 1

At Eurovision

Latvia competed in the first semi-final of the contest, on 25 May. However it was eliminated at the semi final stage, ending up last with 11 points.

Points Awarded by Latvia[14]

Semi final

12 points Estonia
10 points Russia
8 points Belgium
7 points Portugal
6 points Finland
5 points Belarus
4 points Poland
3 points Serbia
2 points Iceland
1 point Malta

Final

12 points Germany
10 points Denmark
8 points Russia
7 points Ukraine
6 points Portugal
5 points Spain
4 points Belgium
3 points Romania
2 points Azerbaijan
1 point Armenia

Points Awarded to Latvia (Semi-Final 1)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

See also

References

  1. ↑ Viniker, Barry (2009-10-23). "New crisis for the Eurovision Song Contest". ESCToday. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  2. ↑ Medinika, Aija (2009-12-15). "Latvia confirms participation in 2010". ESCToday. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  3. ↑ Hondal, Victor (2009-12-23). "Latvia launches quest for a Eurovision entry". ESCToday. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  4. ↑ Siim, Jarmo (2010-01-04). "Latvia cuts back on semi-finals". ESCToday. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
  5. ↑ Hondal, Victor (2010-01-15). "79 songs submitted to Eirodziesma 2010". ESCToday. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
  6. ↑ Hondal, Victor (2010-01-22). "LTV reveals 10 Eirodziesma finalists". ESCToday. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  7. ↑ Siim, Jarmo (2010-01-22). "LTV reveals Latvian final ten". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  8. ↑ Medinika, Aija (2010-02-03). "Running order for Eirodziesma 2010 revealed". ESCToday. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  9. ↑ Medinika, Aija (2010-02-27). "LIVE: National final in Latvia". ESCToday. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  10. ↑ Grillhofer, Florian (2010-02-28). "Michael von der Heide presents new version of his song". ESCToday. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Dahlander, Gustav (2010-02-27). "Aisha to represent the Latvian flag in Oslo". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Medinika, Aija (2010-02-27). "Latvia has decided - Aisha to Oslo!". ESCToday. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  13. ↑ Vanzovičs, Sandris (2010-03-01). "Aishai dienu pirms fināla mainīts priekšnesums" (in Latvian). nra.lv. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  14. ↑ Eurovision Song Contest 2008

External links