Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023

Eurovision Song Contest 2023
Country	Latvia
National selection
Selection process	Supernova 2023
Selection date(s)	Semi-final: 4 February 2023 Final: 11 February 2023
Selected entrant	Sudden Lights
Selected song	"Aijā"
Selected songwriter(s)	Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis Kārlis Matīss Zitmanis Kārlis Vārtiņš Mārtiņš Matīss Zemītis
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Failed to qualify (11th)
Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2022 • 2023 • 2024►

Latvia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, with "Aijā" performed by Sudden Lights. The Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) organised the national final Supernova 2023 in order to select the Latvian entry for the contest. 14 songs were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final. In the semi-final on 4 February 2023, ten entries were selected to advance to compete in the final on 11 February 2023 where a public televote and an eight-member jury panel selected "Aijā" performed by Sudden Lights as the winner.

Latvia was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 2023. Performing during the show in position 4, "Aijā" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Latvia placed 11th out of the 15 participating countries in the semi-final with 34 points.

Background

Prior to 2023, Latvia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 22 times since its first entry in 2000. Latvia won the contest once in 2002 with the song "I Wanna" performed by Marie N. Following the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Latvia was able to qualify for the final between 2005 and 2008. Between 2009 and 2014, the nation had failed to qualify to the final for six consecutive years before managing to qualify to the final in 2015 and 2016. Latvia had failed to qualify to the final for five consecutive contests since 2017, including with their 2022 entry "Eat Your Salad" performed by Citi Zēni.

The Latvian broadcaster, Latvijas Televīzija (LTV), broadcasts the event within the country and organises the national selection. Since 2015, Latvia had selected its entries using the national final format Supernova. On 3 August 2022, LTV confirmed its intention to participate in the 2024 contest and to select its entry through Supernova.^[1] On 21 September 2022, it was confirmed by LTV that Supernova would be organised for eighth time to select the Latvian entry for 2023.^[2]

Before Eurovision

Supernova 2023

Supernova 2023 was the eighth edition of the national final format used to select Latvia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition commenced on 4 February 2023 with a semi-final and concluded with a final on 11 February 2023. The two shows in the competition took place at the LTV Studio 6 in Riga, hosted by Ketija Šēnberga and Lauris Reiniks and broadcast on LTV1 as well as online via the streaming platform Replay.lv and the official Supernova website supernova.lsm.lv. The national final was also broadcast on LTV7 with sign language translation as well as online at lsm.lv.

Format

The format of the competition consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final. The semi-final, which was held on 4 February 2023, featured 15 competing entries from which the top ten entries advanced to the final. The final, held on 12 February 2023, selected the Latvian entry for Liverpool from the remaining entries. Results during the semi-final and final shows were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and a public vote, with both the jury and public vote assigning points from 1–8, 10, and 12 based on the number of competing songs in the respective show. Viewers were able to vote via telephone or via SMS.^[3]

The jury voted in each show and selected entries to advance in the competition. The panel consisted of:^[4]

• Anna Platpīre – LTV Content Editor
• Arvīds Babris – Director of LTV
• Aija Auškāpa – Founder of Prāta vētra Recording Company
• Karīna Tropa – Singer and Vocal Coach
• Maija Sējāne – Singer and Music Producer
• Magnuss Eriņš – Radio personality and DJ
• Gediminas Jaunius – Lithuanian TV Director and Producer
• Edward van de Vendel – Dutch Journalist

Competing entries

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On 21 September 2022, the broadcaster opened the song submission for artists to apply, with the deadline set for 1 December 2022.^[2] It was later announced that 121 songs were submitted at the conclusion of the submission period.^[5] The submitted songs were evaluated by a jury panel appointed by LTV and selected 15 performers and songs, which were announced on 5 January 2023.^[3] Among the competing artists was Justs, who represented Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.^[6] On 6 January 2023, Saule was disqualified from the competition due to the song being previously performed in 2021.^[7]

Semi-final

The semi-final took place on 4 February 2023. In the semi-final, 14 acts competed and the top ten entries qualified to the final based on the combination of votes from a jury panel and the Latvian public.^[7][8][9]

Final

The final took place on 11 February 2023. The ten entries that advanced from the semi-final competed. The song with the highest number of votes based on the combination of votes from a jury panel and the Latvian public, "Aijā" by Sudden Lights, was declared the winner.^[11] In addition to the competing entries, the show featured guest performances from Eurovision Song Contest 2019 winner Duncan Laurence, and Elīza Legzdiņa and Beanie from Rudimental.^[12]

Ratings

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (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. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Latvia has been placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 9 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.^[15]

Once all the competing songs for the 2023 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 4, following the entry from Serbia and before the entry from Portugal.^[16]

The two semi-finals and the final were broadcast in Latvia on LTV1 with all shows featuring commentary by Toms Grēviņš [lv] and Lauris Reiniks.^[17] The Latvian spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Latvian jury during the final, was Jānis Pētersons, who represented Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 as a member of Citi Zēni.

Semi-final

Sudden Lights took part in technical rehearsals on 30 April and 2 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 8 and 9 May. This included the jury show on 8 May where the professional back-up juries of each country watched and voted in a result used if any issues with public televoting occurred.^[18] Lead singer of Sudden Lights, Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis, stated "the stage is grand, the sound is fantastic, this is exactly what we hoped to see at the big competition. Our performance was polished at the emotional level, and we are confident that the performance will be impressive".^[19]

At the end of the show, Latvia was not announced among the top 10 entries in the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. This was Latvia's sixth consecutive non-qualification to the grand final having last appeared in 2016. It was later revealed that Latvia placed eleventh in the semi-final, receiving a total of 34 points from public televoting; just three points away from qualification.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Latvia in the first semi-final. Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting in the final vote, while the semi-final vote was based entirely on the vote of the public.^[20] The exact composition of the professional jury, and the results of each country's jury and televoting were released after the final. The Latvian jury consisted of Jānis Stībelis [lv], Kristaps Vanadziņš, Aminata Savadogo, who represented Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, and Asnate Rancāne [lv]. In the first semi-final, Latvia placed 11th with 34 points. This marked Latvia's sixth consecutive non-qualification to the grand final. Over the course of the contest, Latvia awarded its 12 points to Finland in the first semi-final, and to Estonia (jury) and Finland (televote) in the final.^[21][22]

Points awarded to Latvia

Points awarded to Latvia (Semi-final 1)[21] Score Televote 12 points 10 points 8 points Rest of the World 7 points 6 points  Azerbaijan 5 points 4 points  Ireland  Portugal 3 points  Finland  France 2 points  Serbia 1 point  Czech Republic  Germany  Moldova  Netherlands Points awarded by Latvia Points awarded by Latvia (Semi-final 1)[21] Score Televote 12 points  Finland 10 points  Sweden 8 points  Israel 7 points  Croatia 6 points  Moldova 5 points  Czech Republic 4 points  Norway 3 points   Switzerland 2 points  Azerbaijan 1 point  Ireland Points awarded by Latvia (Final)[22] Score Televote Jury 12 points  Finland  Estonia 10 points  Lithuania  Sweden 8 points  Sweden  Spain 7 points  Ukraine  Lithuania 6 points  Estonia  Cyprus 5 points  Israel  Israel 4 points  Croatia  Ukraine 3 points  Norway  Italy 2 points  Slovenia  Belgium 1 point  Czech Republic  Armenia Detailed voting results Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.[23] In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to 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 as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final. Alongside, Ireland, Latvia was one of two countries to appoint four jury members instead of five. The following members comprised the Latvian jury: Jānis Stībelis [lv] Kristaps Vanadziņš Aminata Savadogo Asnate Rancāne [lv] Detailed voting results from Latvia (Semi-final 1)[21] Draw Country Televote Rank Points 01  Norway 7 4 02  Malta 14 03  Serbia 13 04  Latvia 05  Portugal 11 06  Ireland 10 1 07  Croatia 4 7 08   Switzerland 8 3 09  Israel 3 8 10  Moldova 5 6 11  Sweden 2 10 12  Azerbaijan 9 2 13  Czech Republic 6 5 14  Netherlands 12 15  Finland 1 12 Detailed voting results from Latvia (Final)[22] Draw Country Jury Televote Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 3 Juror 4 Rank Points Rank Points 01  Austria 12 13 7 18 13 21 02  Portugal 13 10 9 26 15 23 03   Switzerland 14 8 15 14 16 20 04  Poland 16 20 25 19 24 16 05  Serbia 25 25 12 20 21 18 06  France 23 9 11 9 12 14 07  Cyprus 4 7 16 6 5 6 22 08  Spain 10 2 1 5 3 8 24 09  Sweden 3 3 3 1 2 10 3 8 10  Albania 22 17 23 17 23 26 11  Italy 5 6 24 10 8 3 15 12  Estonia 1 1 4 2 1 12 5 6 13  Finland 24 11 21 21 19 1 12 14  Czech Republic 15 16 8 12 14 10 1 15  Australia 7 18 14 23 17 13 16  Belgium 8 15 5 13 9 2 19 17  Armenia 6 14 13 7 10 1 17 18  Moldova 11 24 26 24 20 11 19  Ukraine 17 23 6 3 7 4 4 7 20  Norway 18 19 17 25 22 8 3 21  Germany 21 21 19 22 26 12 22  Lithuania 2 12 2 8 4 7 2 10 23  Israel 9 5 18 4 6 5 6 5 24  Slovenia 20 22 22 16 25 9 2 25  Croatia 26 4 20 15 11 7 4 26  United Kingdom 19 26 10 11 18 25 References ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (3 August 2022). "Latvia: LTV confirms participation Eurovision 2023". ESCToday. Retrieved 5 January 2023. ^ a b Adams, William Lee (22 September 2022). "Latvia: Supernova 2023 song submission deadline set for December 1". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 5 January 2023. ^ a b "Izvēlēti Latvijas Televīzijas dziesmu konkursa "Supernova" pusfinālisti". ltv.tv (in Latvian). Latvijas Televīzija. 5 January 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2023. ^ Granger, Anthony (15 May 2023). "🇱🇻 Latvia: LTV Reveals Supernova 2023 Jury". Eurovoix. Retrieved 16 February 2024. ^ "Noslēgusies dziesmu pieteikšana LTV konkursam "Supernova"; šogad Eirovīzijas nacionālajai atlasei iesniegta 121 dziesma". supernova.lsm.tv (in Latvian). Retrieved 5 January 2023. ^ Roberts, Dale (5 January 2023). "Latvia: Artists and songs for Supernova 2023 announced". Aussievision. Retrieved 5 January 2023. ^ a b "LTV dziesmu konkursā "Supernova" diskvalificēts mūziķis Saule". www.lsm.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 6 January 2023. ^ "Dziesmu konkursa "Supernova" pusfināls jau sestdien; atklāta dalībnieku uzstāšanās secība". www.lsm.lv (in Latvian). LSM. 29 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023. ^ Eng.LSM.lv (5 February 2023). "Ten Supernova finalists revealed". Eng.LSM.lv. Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 11 February 2023. ^ "Zināmi LTV dziesmu konkursa "Supernova" 10 finālisti". www.lsm.lv (in Latvian). LSM. 4 February 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2023. ^ van Waarden, Franciska (11 February 2023). "🇱🇻 Latvia: Sudden Lights to Eurovision 2023". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 11 February 2023. ^ "Sestdien LTV konkursa "Supernova" finālā noskaidros Latvijas pārstāvi dalībai Eirovīzijā". www.lsm.lv (in Latvian). LSM. 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023. ^ "Grupa "Sudden Lights" LTV konkursā "Supernova" labākie gan skatītāju, gan žūrijas vērtējumā". www.lsm.lv (in Latvian). LSM. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023. ^ "Televīzija". KANTAR Latvija (in Latvian). Retrieved 16 February 2024. ^ Groot, Evert (31 January 2023). "Eurovision 2023: Allocation Draw results". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Retrieved 31 January 2022. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2023 Semi-Final running orders revealed!". Eurovision.tv. EBU. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023. ^ "Eirovīzijas nedēļā Latvijas Televīzijā – "V.I.P." ar "Sudden Lights", diskusijas un krāšņas konkursa tiešraides no Liverpūles". ltv.lsm.lv (in Latvian). 2 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023. ^ Lahav, Doron (28 April 2023). "Eurovision 2023: The Rehearsal Schedule". Esc Beat. Retrieved 16 February 2024. ^ Granger, Anthony (30 April 2023). "🇱🇻 Latvia: Delegation Reflect on Rehearsals So Far & Lost Luggage Update". Eurovoix. Retrieved 16 February 2024. ^ "Voting–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 16 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2023. ^ a b c d "Results of the First Semi-Final of Liverpool 2023". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 21 November 2023. ^ a b c "Results of the Grand Final of Liverpool 2023". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 14 May 2023. ^ "Eurovision 2023 Final Juries". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024. v t e Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest
Supernova
Participation	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Artists	Aarzemnieki Aisha Aminata Anmary Bonaparti.lv Brainstorm Intars Busulis Carousel Citi Zēni Vocal Group Cosmos Dons F.L.Y. Fomins and Kleins Justs Arnis Mednis Musiqq Marie N PeR Pirates of the Sea Laura Rizzotto Sudden Lights Samanta Tīna Triana Park Walters and Kazha
Songs	"Aijā" "Angel in Disguise" "Beautiful Song" "Cake to Bake" "Dziesma par laimi" "Eat Your Salad" "Funny Girl" "Heartbeat" "Hello from Mars" "Here We Go" "Hollow" "I Hear Your Heart" "I Wanna" "Line" "Love Injected" "The Moon Is Rising" "My Star" "Probka" "Questa notte" "Still Breathing" "That Night" "Too Much" "The War Is Not Over" "What For?" "Wolves of the Sea"
Note: Entries scored out signify where Latvia did not compete