Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014

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.

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

Before Eurovision

Dziesma 2014

Dziesma 2014 was the second edition of Dziesma, the music competition that selects Latvia's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition commenced on 1 February 2014 and concluded with a final on 22 February 2014.[1]

Format

The format of the competition consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. The semi-finals took place at Palladium Concert Hall in Riga and the final took place at the Jūras vārti Theatre in Ventspils. The three shows were hosted by Ēriks Loks and Nauris Brikmanis.[2] The two semi-finals, held on 1 February and 2 February 2014, each featured twelve competing entries from which six were selected to advance to the final from each show. The winning song in the final, held on 22 February 2014, was selected over two rounds of voting: the first round results selected the top three songs and the second round decided the winner from those three songs.[3]

Results during the semi-final and final shows were determined by a jury panel and votes from the public. The jury vote was calculated by having each member of the jury rank each song from first to twelfth. The song that came in first place would get one point, while the song that came in last place would get twelve points. These results were combined with the public vote which ranked the songs based on the number of televotes each entry received. Therefore, the song with the fewest points would achieve first place. Viewers were able to vote via telephone or via SMS. The online vote conducted through the official LTV website allowed local and international users to vote once per each accepted social network account: Draugiem.lv, Facebook and Twitter.[4][5]

Competing entries

Artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 1 October 2013 and 20 November 2013. LTV adopted the slogan "Made in Latvia" for the competition, meaning that all artists and songwriters were required to be Latvian unlike in previous years. 73 songs were submitted (60 in English, 11 in Latvian, 1 in Russian and 1 in French) at the conclusion of the submission period, and an international and local jury panel evaluated the submitted entries and selected 24 entries to compete in the national final.[6][4] The international jury panel consisted of Adam Klein (British music manager at Fascination Records), John Ballard (Swedish composer and producer) and Maja Keuc (2011 Slovenian Eurovision entrant). The local jury consisted of Aija Strazdiņa (director), Aija Vītoliņa (singer), Ģirts Lūsis (producer and composer), Kārlis Auzāns (producer and composer) and Kristaps Krievkalns (musician and composer). The twenty competing songs and their authors were announced on 2 December 2013. Songwriters had until 7 January 2014 to nominate the performers of their songs.[7] The twenty competing artists were announced on 8 January 2014.[8]

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 & 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" Garijs Poļskis (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 & Līgo "Saule riet" (Sunset) Tomass Kleins (m), Guntars Račs (l)
Oskars Deigelis "Just Stop" Oskars Deigelis (m & l), Ruslans Kuksinovičs (m)
Ralfs Eilands & 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 took place on 1 February 2014. Twelve of the competing entries performed, and six qualified to the final via a combination of votes from a jury panel and the Latvian public.[5] The jury panel that voted in 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 Broggini (member of 2012 Swiss Eurovision entrants Sinplus), Ivan Broggini (member of 2012 Swiss Eurovision entrants Sinplus), Vineta Elksne (singer, vocal coach, conductor and songwriter) and Jānis Palkavnieks (spokesman for Draugiem.lv).[9]

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.[10]

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

Semi-final 2

The second semi-final took place on 2 February 2014. Twelve of the competing entries performed, and six qualified to the final via a combination of votes from a jury panel and the Latvian public.[11] The jury panel that voted in 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 Broggini (member of 2012 Swiss Eurovision entrants Sinplus), Ivan Broggini (member of 2012 Swiss Eurovision entrants Sinplus), 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).[12]

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.[10]

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

Final

The final took place on 22 February 2014. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and the Latvian public determined the top three entries to proceed to the superfinal: "Pēdējā vēstule" performed by Dons, "Stay" performed by Samanta Tīna and "Cake to Bake" performed by Aarzemnieki. In the superfinal, the winner, "Cake to Bake" performed by Aarzemnieki was selected by the public and jury vote.[13]

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.[14]

Final – 22 February 2014
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
1 Ralfs Eilands & 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 1,298 5 12 7
4 Dons "Pēdējā vēstule" 2 2,426 1 3 1
5 Samanta Tīna "Stay" 5 1,302 4 9 3
6 Niko "Here I Am Again" 11 1,269 6 17 9
7 MyRadiantU "Going All the Way" 6 686 9 15 8
8 Olga & Līgo "Saule riet" 9 1,960 3 12 6
9 Aminata Savadogo "I Can Breathe" 3 948 7 10 5
10 Aarzemnieki "Cake to Bake" 4 2,398 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 Public Vote Total Place
Internet Televote Total Points
1 Dons "Pēdējā vēstule" 1 1,551 3,830 5,381 2 3 2
2 Samanta Tīna "Stay" 3 797 1,979 2,776 3 6 3
3 Aarzemnieki "Cake to Bake" 2 1,529 3,949 5,478 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.[15] In the first semi-final, the producers of the show decided that Latvia would perform 2nd, following Armenia and preceding Estonia.[16] 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.[17]

In Latvia, both the semi-finals and the final were broadcast on LTV1 with commentary by Valters Frīdenbergs and Kārlis Būmeisters.[18] The Latvian spokesperson revealing the result of the Latvian vote in the final was Ralfs Eilands.[19]

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

Split voting results

The following five members comprise the Latvian jury:[20]

  • Harijs Zarins – Chairperson – guitarist, composer, lyricist
  • Marta Ritova – singer, composer
  • Edgars Beļickis – composer, music producer, transcriber
  • Igeta Gaike – singer, vocal teacher, composer, musical producer
  • Kaspars Ansons – composer, transcriber

Semi-final 1

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

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.[22]

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