Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Country  Latvia
National selection
Selection process Dziesma 2014
Selection date(s) Semi-finals:
1 February 2014
2 February 2014
Final:
22 February 2014
Selected entrant Aarzemnieki
Selected song "Cake to Bake"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Guntis Veilands
Finals performance
Semi-final result Failed to qualify
(13th, 33 points)
Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2013 • 2014 • 2015►

Latvia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Latvian entry was selected through Dziesma 2014, a national final format that consisted of two semi-finals and a final, organised by the Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV). Aarzemnieki represented Latvia with the song "Cake to Bake" written by Guntis Veilands, which failed to qualify from the first semi-final, placing 13th with 33 points. This is the sixth year in a row that the nation has failed to qualify for the final.

Dziesma 2014

Dziesma 2014 was the second edition of the Latvian national final that selected Latvia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. The competition consisted of two semi-finals on 1 and 2 February 2014 and a final on 22 February 2014. On 24 September 2013, LTV confirmed Latvia's participation in the 2014 Contest and announced that the format of Dziesma 2014 would remain similar to the previous year.[1]

Format

Two semi-finals took place in Riga on 1 and 2 February 2014, while the final took place on 22 February 2014 in Ventspils.[2] 12 songs competed in each semi-final with the top 6 from each semi-final qualifying to the final. A 50/50 combination of public televoting and the votes from a jury panel decided the results of each show. In the final, there were two rounds of voting - the first to determine the three superfinalists and a second to determine the winning song that would represent Latvia in Copenhagen. Public televoting included voting by phone, SMS and through the internet, which accepted international votes.[3][4] Both the semi-finals and the final were hosted by Ēriks Loks and Nauris Brikmanis.[5]

Competing entries

On 1 October 2013, LTV opened the submission deadline for interested artists and composers to submit their entries until the deadline on 20 November 2013. LTV adopted the slogan "Made in Latvia" for the competition and only accepted entry submissions from Latvian residents, abolishing a previous rule that allowed for foreign submissions. Following the deadline, LTV received 73 entries of which 60 of the entries were in English, 11 were in Latvian, 1 was in Russian and 1 was in French.[6] The 24 semi-finalists selected from the received submissions were revealed during a press conference on 2 December 2013.[3] The songs selected for the competition were judged by director Aija Strazdiņa, singer Aija Vītoliņa, music producers and composers Ģirts Lūsis and Kārlis Auzāns, musician and composer Kristaps Krievkalns, British manager at Fascination Records Adam Klein, Swedish composer and producer John Ballard and Slovenian singer and 2011 Slovenian Eurovision entrant Maja Keuc.[7] The composers of the selected entries had until 7 January 2014 to submit the performer and final version for their entry.[7]

Artist Song (English Translation) Music (m) / Lyrics (l)
Aarzemnieki "Cake to Bake" Guntis Veilands (m & l)
Aminata Savadogo "I Can Breathe" Aminata Savadogo (m & l)
Andris Kivičs "Pa vidu tu" (You in the middle) Andris Kivičs (m & l)
Anete Volmane "Breathe Slow" Edgars Viļums (m), Anete Volmane (l)
Crazy Dolls "Bučas" (Kisses) Aldis Zaļūksnis (m), Mārtiņs Poļakovskis (l)
DJ Dween and Sabīne Berezina "Dejo tā" (Dance like that) Kaspars Dvinskis (m & l), Sabīne Berezina (l)
Dons "Pēdējā vēstule" (The last letter) Artūrs Šingirejs (m), Ingus Bērziņš (l)
Dāvis Matskins "I Need More" Alise Ketnere (m & l)
Eirošmits "If I Could (Get Away)" Miks Žagars (m & l), Raitis Aušmuksts (m)
Ivo Grīsniņš Grīslis "I've Got" Ivo Grīsniņš Grīslis (m & l)
Katrine Lukins "You Are the Reason" Katrine Lukins (m & l), Kārlis Indrišonoks (m)
Katrīna Bindere "Moment and Tomorrow" Edgars Beļickis (m), Kārlis Auziņš (m), Mikus Frišvelds (l)
Mad Show Boys "I Need a Soul-Twin" Mārtiņš Kits (m & l)
Markus Riva "Lights On" Gaitis Lazdāns (m), Markus Riva (l)
MyRadiantU "Going All the Way" Janis Driksna (m & l)
Niko "Here I Am Again" Vladimirs Koževņikovs (m & l)
Olga and Līgo "Saule riet" (Sunset) Tomass Kleins (m), Guntars Račs (l)
Oskars Deigelis "Just Stop" Oskars Deigelis (m & l), Ruslans Kuksinovičs (m)
Ralfs Eilands and Valters Pūce "Revelation" Ralfs Eilands (m & l), Valters Pūce (m), Ansis Grūbe (m)
Sabīne Berezina "Pressure" Žanna Berezina (m & l)
Sabīne Vidriķe "Is It Possible" Edgard Kokorevičs (m), Sabīne Vidriķe (l)
Samanta Tīna "Stay" Ingars Viļums (m & l)
Tamāra Rutkovska "I'm Happy" Tamāra Rutkovska (m & l)
U.K. "What If It Was" Rolands Ūdris (m & l)

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final of Dziesma 2014 took place on 1 February 2014 at the Palladium in Riga. Twelve songs competed for six spots in the final with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote.[4] In addition to the performances of the competing songs, the show featured guest performances by rock group Dzelzs Vilks, ensemble Gapoljeri, folk duo Dimantas, hip-hop performer Pikaso and 2012 Swiss Eurovision entrants Sinplus.[8] The jury panel for the first semi-final consisted of Kristaps Krievkalns (musician, composer and arranger), Jegors Jerohomovičs (music critic and cultural journalist), Aija Strazdiņa (director), Ģirts Lūsis (musician, composer, producer and manager), Uldis Cīrulis aka DJ Monsta (radio DJ), Gabriel and Ivan Broggini (members of Sinplus, 2012 Swiss Eurovision entrants), Vineta Elksne (singer, vocal coach, conductor and songwriter) and Jānis Palkavnieks (spokesman for Draugiem.lv).[9]

Semi-final 1 – 1 February 2014
Draw Artist Song Jury Internet Vote Televote Total Result
1 DJ Dween and Sabīne Berezina "Dejo tā" 9 7 10 26 Eliminated
2 Crazy Dolls "Bučas" 8 11 12 31 Eliminated
3 Tamara Rutkovska "I'm Happy" 11 12 9 32 Eliminated
4 Niko "Here I Am Again" 7 4 2 13 Finalist
5 Ivo Grīsniņš Grīslis "I've Got" 5 10 11 27 Eliminated
6 Aarzemnieki "Cake To Bake" 6 2 3 11 Finalist
7 Oskars Deigelis "Just Stop" 10 9 8 27 Eliminated
8 Samanta Tīna "Stay" 1 5 5 11 Finalist
9 MyRadiantU "Going All the Way" 3 6 7 16 Finalist
10 Aminata Savadogo "I Can Breathe" 4 3 4 11 Finalist
11 Dāvis Matskins "I Need More" 12 8 6 26 Eliminated
12 Olga and Līgo "Saule riet" 2 1 1 4 Finalist

Semi-final 2

The second semi-final of Dziesma 2014 took place on 2 February 2014 at the Palladium in Riga. Twelve songs competed for six spots in the final with the outcome decided upon by the combination of the votes from a jury panel and a public televote.[10] In addition to the performances of the competing songs, the show featured guest performances by 2012 World Choir Games champions Latvian Voices, 2010 Latvian Eurovision entrant Aija Andrejeva, group Headline, Latvian Song and Dance Festival choir wars winner Latvian Academy of Culture mixed choir Sõla and 2012 Swiss Eurovision entrants Sinplus.[8] The jury panel for the second semi-final consisted of Kristaps Krievkalns (musician, composer and arranger), Jegors Jerohomovičs (music critic and cultural journalist), Aija Strazdiņa (director), Ģirts Lūsis (musician, composer, producer and manager), Uldis Cīrulis aka DJ Monsta (radio DJ), Gabriel and Ivan Broggini (members of Sinplus, 2012 Swiss Eurovision entrants), Zita Lunde (TVNET web portal editor in chief) and Artūrs Ancāns (Emīls Dārziņš mixed choir artistic director and chairman of the board of the Latvian Choir Conductors Association).[11]

Semi-final 2 – 2 February 2014
Draw Artist Song Jury Internet Vote Televote Total Result
1 Ralfs Eilands and Valters Pūce "Revelation" 2 4 4 10 Finalist
2 Katrine Lukins "You Are The Reason" 4 3 7 14 Finalist
3 Mad Show Boys "I Need a Soul-Twin" 10 9 6 25 Eliminated
4 Markus Riva "Lights On" 3 10 5 18 Finalist
5 Anete Volmane "Breathe Slow" 12 5 11 28 Eliminated
6 U.K. "What If It Was" 5 6 10 21 Eliminated
7 Katrīna Bindere "Moment and tomorrow" 7 8 1 16 Finalist
8 Andris Kivičs "Pa vidu tu" 9 12 12 33 Eliminated
9 Dons "Pēdējā vēstule" 1 1 2 4 Finalist
10 Sabīne Vidriķe "Is It Possible" 11 11 3 25 Eliminated
11 Sabīne Berezina "Pressure" 6 7 8 21 Eliminated
12 Eirošmits "If I Could (Get Away)" 8 2 9 19 Finalist

Final

The final of Dziesma 2014 took place on 22 February 2014 at the Juras Varti Theatre House in Ventspils. Six qualifiers from each semifinal completed the twelve song line-up for the final where a 50/50 mix of public televoting and jury voting selected the winning entry through two rounds of voting: the first round to select three superfinalists and the second round to select the winner among those three. "Pēdējā vēstule" performed by Dons, "Stay" performed by Samanta Tīna and "Cake To Bake" performed by Aarzemnieki qualified to the superfinal. In the superfinal, Aarzemnieki and "Cake To Bake" were the winners.

In addition to the performances of the competing songs, the show featured guest performances by 2003 Latvian Eurovision entrant (as part of F.L.Y.) Lauris Reiniks, Normunds Rutulis, 2004 Latvian Eurovision entrants Fomins and Kleins, 2013 Latvian Eurovision entrants PeR performing together with Lithuanian singer Jurga and Estonian band Tenfold Rabbit.[12]

Final – 22 February 2014
Draw Artist Song Jury [13] Televote [13] Total [13] Place
1 Ralfs Eilands and Valters Pūce "Revelation" 1 905 8 9 4
2 Markus Riva "Lights On" 10 632 10 20 11
3 Katrīna Bindere "Moment and Tomorrow" 7 1298 5 12 7
4 Dons "Pēdējā vēstule" 2 2426 1 3 1
5 Samanta Tīna "Stay" 5 1302 4 9 3
6 Niko "Here I Am Again" 11 1269 6 17 9
7 MyRadiantU "Going All the Way" 6 686 9 15 8
8 Olga and Līgo "Saule riet" 9 1960 3 12 6
9 Aminata Savadogo "I Can Breathe" 3 948 7 10 5
10 Aarzemnieki "Cake To Bake" 4 2398 2 6 2
11 Eirošmits "If I Could (Get Away)" 8 541 11 19 10
12 Katrine Lukins "You Are The Reason" 12 380 12 24 12
Superfinal – 22 February 2014
Draw Artist Song Jury [13] Internet [13] SMS [13] Televote Total Place
1 Dons "Pēdējā vēstule" 1 1551 3830 2 3 2
2 Samanta Tīna "Stay" 3 797 1979 3 6 3
3 Aarzemnieki "Cake To Bake" 2 1529 3949 1 3 1

At Eurovision

Aarzemnieki at the first semi-final dress rehearsal

During the semi-final allocation draw on 20 January 2014 at the Copenhagen City Hall, Latvia was drawn to compete in the first half of the first semi-final on 6 May 2014.[14] In the first semi-final, the producers of the show decided that Latvia would perform 2nd, following Armenia and preceding Estonia.[15] Latvia failed to qualify from the first semi-final, placing 13th in a field of 16 songs and scoring 33 points.

The Latvian performance featured the four members of Aarzemnieki playing instruments. The LED screens projected a tree lined park decorated with lights.[16]

In Latvia, both the semi-finals and the final were broadcast on LTV1 with commentary by Valters Frīdenbergs and Kārlis Būmeisters.[17] The Latvian spokesperson revealing the result of the Latvian vote in the final was Ralfs Eilands.[18]

Points awarded to Latvia

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

Points awarded by Latvia

Semi-final 1

Points awarded in first semi-final:

12 points Netherlands
10 points Estonia
8 points Sweden
7 points Ukraine
6 points Armenia
5 points Iceland
4 points Russia
3 points Hungary
2 points Azerbaijan
1 point San Marino

Final

Points awarded in the final:

12 points  Netherlands
10 points  Armenia
8 points  Sweden
7 points  Ukraine
6 points  Austria
5 points  Norway
4 points  Spain
3 points  Finland
2 points  Russia
1 point  Hungary

Split voting results

The following five members comprise the Latvian jury:[19]

Semi-final 1

The Latvian votes in the first semi-final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.[20]

Semi-final 1 – Latvian Results
Draw Country H. Zarins M. Ritova E. Beļickis I. Gaike K. Ansons Average Jury Rank Televote Rank Combined Rank Scoreboard (Points)
01  Armenia 2 1 1 3 2 1 10 5 6
02  Latvia
03  Estonia 7 8 7 5 8 6 2 2 10
04  Sweden 4 4 3 1 5 3 5 3 8
05  Iceland 9 5 5 7 4 5 8 6 5
06  Albania 6 9 8 6 9 7 14 11
07  Russia 12 12 12 11 14 11 4 7 4
08  Azerbaijan 8 2 4 2 6 4 12 9 2
09  Ukraine 3 7 13 9 7 8 3 4 7
10  Belgium 15 13 10 13 13 13 9 12
11  Moldova 13 14 11 14 11 12 15 15
12  San Marino 14 10 15 10 15 14 7 10 1
13  Portugal 11 15 14 15 12 15 11 14
14  Netherlands 1 3 2 4 1 2 1 1 12
15  Montenegro 10 6 6 8 10 9 13 13
16  Hungary 5 11 9 12 3 10 6 8 3

Final

The Latvian votes in the first grand final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.[21]

Final – Latvian Results
Draw Country H. Zarins M. Ritova E. Beļickis I. Gaike K. Ansons Average Jury Rank Televote Rank Combined Rank Scoreboard (Points)
01  Ukraine 8 10 21 10 12 11 3 4 7
02  Belarus 21 23 18 24 21 22 4 12
03  Azerbaijan 7 4 6 3 2 4 21 11
04  Iceland 16 8 12 16 11 12 15 13
05  Norway 4 1 11 4 6 5 11 6 5
06  Romania 15 22 10 20 15 17 20 20
07  Armenia 2 2 2 5 3 2 6 2 10
08  Montenegro 18 11 15 9 24 16 26 23
09  Poland 23 25 25 25 13 24 10 19
10  Greece 26 26 20 26 26 26 17 24
11  Austria 17 12 13 11 7 10 5 5 6
12  Germany 13 6 16 12 10 9 19 14
13  Sweden 5 7 4 1 4 3 7 3 8
14  France 25 21 26 21 16 23 24 26
15  Russia 22 19 22 17 23 21 1 9 2
16  Italy 10 18 23 22 18 19 25 25
17  Slovenia 19 20 17 13 20 18 23 22
18  Finland 6 5 9 8 5 6 14 8 3
19  Spain 3 15 7 7 9 7 12 7 4
20   Switzerland 20 17 19 15 22 20 9 15
21  Hungary 9 14 14 19 8 14 8 10 1
22  Malta 11 16 3 6 14 8 22 16
23  Denmark 14 13 5 14 19 15 16 17
24  Netherlands 1 3 1 2 1 1 2 1 12
25  San Marino 24 24 24 23 25 25 13 21
26  United Kingdom 12 9 8 18 17 13 18 18

See also

References

  1. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (24 September 2013). "Latvia: LTV confirms participation - provisional dates released". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  2. ↑ Clark, Liam (22 October 2013). "Latvia: LTV changes dates for Dziesma 2014". escXtra.com. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  3. 1 2 Roxbough, Gordon (1 October 2013). "Latvia retains Dziesma format for 2014". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  4. 1 2 Roxburgh, Gordon (1 February 2014). "First six qualifiers through to Latvian Final". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  5. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (15 January 2014). "Latvia: Ēriks Loks and Nauris Brikmanis to host Dziesma 2014". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  6. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (20 November 2013). "Latvia: LTV receives 73 songs for Dziesma 2014". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  7. 1 2 Ārniece, Ilze (2 December 2013). "Izvēlētas 24 Eirovīzijas dziesmu konkursa nacionālās atlases dziesmas". Eurovision.tv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  8. 1 2 Jiandani, Sanjay (30 January 2014). "Latvia: Sinplus and Aisha guests at Dziesma 2014 semi-finals". ESCToday.com. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  9. ↑ "Noskaidroti pirmie seši Eirovīzijas dziesmu konkursa nacionālās atlases finālisti". lsm.lv (in Latvian). 1 February 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  10. ↑ "Six more songs complete Latvian line-up". Eurovision.tv. 2 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  11. ↑ "Zināmas visas Eirovīzijas dziesmu konkursa nacionālās atlases finālistes". LTV (in Latvian). 2 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  12. ↑ "Eirovīzijas dziesmu konkursa nacionālajā finālā viesojas visu trīs Baltijas valstu mūziķi". LTV (in Latvian). 16 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mikheev, Andy (23 February 2014). "Eurovision 2014 — Aarzemnieki (Latvia / Латвия)". ESCKAZ.
  14. ↑ Escudero, Victor M. (20 January 2014). "Allocation Draw results: Who's in which Semi-Final?". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  15. ↑ Siim, Jarmo (24 March 2014). "Running order for Eurovision Semi-Finals decided". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  16. ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (28 April 2014). "Aarzemnieki have the perfect recipe". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  17. ↑ "'Eirovīziju' atkal komentēs Valters un Kaža" (in Latvian). Delfi. 4 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  18. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 2014: ecco l’elenco degli spokesperson" (in Italian). Eurofestival News. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  19. ↑ Brey, Marco (1 May 2014). "Who will be in the expert juries?". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  20. ↑ "Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 First Semi-Final". Eurovision.tv. 11 May 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  21. ↑ "Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 Grand Final". Eurovision.tv. 11 May 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
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