Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Participating broadcaster	Latvijas Televīzija (LTV)
Country	Latvia
Selection process	Eirodziesma 2009
Selection date	28 February 2009
Competing entry
Song	"Probka"
Artist	Intars Busulis
Songwriters	Kārlis Lācis Jānis Elsbergs Sergejs Timofejevs
Placement
Semi-final result	Failed to qualify (19th)
Participation chronology
◄2008 • 2009 •2010►

Latvia was represented at theEurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Probka", written byKārlis Lācis, Jānis Elsbergs and Sergejs Timofejevs, and performed byIntars Busulis. The Latvian participating broadcaster,Latvijas Televīzija (LTV), organised the national finalEirodziesma 2009 in order to select its entry for contest. Twenty songs were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final. In the semi-final, ten entries were selected to advance based on a public vote. Ten songs ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 28 February 2009 where two rounds of voting by the public and a five-member jury panel selected "Sastrēgums" performed by Intars Busulis as the winner. The song was later translated from Latvian to Russian for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled "Probka".

Latvia was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 14 May 2009. Performing during the show in position 3, "Probka" was not among the 10 qualifying entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Latvia placed nineteenth (last) out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 7 points.

Prior to the 2009 contest,Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) had participated in theEurovision Song Contest representing Latvia nine times since its first entry in 2000.^[1] Latvia won the contest once in2002 with the song "I Wanna" performed byMarie N. Following theintroduction of semi-finals for the2004, Latvia was able to qualify to compete in the final between 2005 and 2008 including with their2008 entry "Wolves of the Sea" performed byPirates of the Sea. Despite a possible boycott to be held between the three Baltic states due to theRussian participation in the2008 South Ossetia war in Georgia as announced by Estonian Minister of CultureLaine Jänes, LTV confirmed its intention to participate at the 2009 contest on 26 August 2008.^[2][3] The broadcaster has selected its entries for the Eurovision Song Contest through a national final. Since their debut in 2000, LTV had organised the selection showEirodziesma and on 3 November 2008, the broadcaster announced that they would organiseEirodziesma 2009 in order to select its entry for the 2009 contest.^[4]

On 17 December 2008, it was revealed that LTV had requested to theEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU) their withdrawal from the 2009 contest due to budget cuts of 2 millionLats (over €3 million) by the Latvian government that led to the forced cancellation of planned shows for 2009 includingEirodziesma 2009.^[5][6][7] After talks between the two parties for a way that the nation could participate in the contest, LTV confirmed their withdrawal on 20 December 2008 without being penalised for withdrawing three days after the deadline.^[8][9][10] However, the EBU announced that Latvia would still participate on 12 January 2009 after a lowered participation fee was granted to LTV,^[11][12] while LTV confirmed the continued organisation ofEirodziesma 2009 on 23 January 2009 after securing sponsorships and a cooperation agreement with the Ventspils Development Agency and Ventspils City Council.^[13][14]

Eirodziesma 2009 was the tenth edition ofEirodziesma, the music competition that selects Latvia's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition commenced with the semi-final on 27 February 2009 and concluded with a final on 28 February 2009. All shows in the competition took place at the Olympic Center inVentspils, hosted by Uģis Joksts and Kristīne Virsnīte and broadcast onLTV1 as well as online via the broadcaster's official Eurovision Song Contest websiteeirovizija.lv.^[15][16]

The format of the competition consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final. The semi-final, held on 27 February 2009, featured twenty competing entries facing a public vote where the top ten advanced to the final. The final, held on 28 February 2009, selected the Latvian entry for Moscow from the remaining ten entries over two rounds of voting: the first round selected the top three songs as determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and a public vote, and the second round (superfinal) selected the winner exclusively by a public vote.^[13] The initial format was to broadcast five shows: three semi-finals each featuring nine competing entries from which three would advance directly to the final, a Second Chance round from which one would proceed to the final. However, such plans was later cancelled.^[17][18] Both the jury and public vote assigned points from 1 to 10 based on ranking in the first round of the final, with the first place receiving one point and last place receiving ten points. Viewers were able to vote via telephone up to five times or via SMS with a single SMS counting as five votes.

Artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 3 November 2008 and 30 November 2008. All artists and songwriters were required to have Latvian citizenship or residency, however foreign collaborations were allowed as long as one-thirds of the composition were by Latvian songwriters.^[19] 108 entries were submitted at the conclusion of the submission period.^[20][21] A jury panel appointed by LTV evaluated the submitted songs and selected twenty-one entries for the competition. The jury panel consisted of Daina Markova (musicologist and content editor at LTV), Raimonds Macats (musician and composer), Aivars Hermanis (musician and producer), Ance Krauze (singer and vocal teacher), Dace Pūce (director and producer), Jegors Jerohomovičs (music critic and cultural journalist), Edmunds Kaševskis (producer atRadio SWH) and members of the LTV Eurovision team: Iveta Lepeško, Zita Kaminska, Arvīds Babris, Baiba Saleniece and Uldis Salenieks. The twenty-one competing artists and songs were announced on 9 December 2008.^[22][23] Among the artists wasValters Frīdenbergs who representedLatvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 as part ofWalters and Kazha.^[24]

On 12 January 2009, Kristīna Zaharova withdrew "I Wish I Could Pretend" from the competition in favour of the song competing in the2009 Irish Eurovision national final.^[25][26] On 13 February 2009, LTV announced that the song "In Love We Trust" would be performed by Policistas instead ofAisha, Ella and Olga, while the song "Have to Say Goodbye" would be performed by Astra Dreimane instead of Madara Celma.^[27]

The semi-final took place on 27 February 2009.^[28] Twenty acts competed and the ten entries with the highest number of votes from the public qualified to the final.^[29][30]

The final took place on 28 February 2009. The ten entries that qualified from the semi-final competed and the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, three songs advanced to the second round, the superfinal, based on the combination of votes from a jury panel and the Latvian public. In the superfinal, the song with the highest number of votes from the public, "Sastrēgums" performed byIntars Busulis, was declared the winner.^[31][32] The jury panel that voted in the final consisted of Daiga Mazvērsīte (musicologist),Jānis Lūsēns (composer), Aivars Hermanis (musician and producer), Jolanta Gulbe (singer and vocal teacher) and Edmunds Kaševskis (producer atRadio SWH).^[33]

In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers included participant Kristīna Zaharova,2004 Latvian Eurovision entrantFomins and Kleins,2008 Latvian Eurovision entrantPirates of the Sea,2009 Lithuanian Eurovision entrantSasha Son and2009 Polish Eurovision entrantLidia Kopania.^[34][35]

On 1 March, it was announced that "Sastrēgums" would be translated from Latvian to Russian for the Eurovision Song Contest, titled "Probka" with lyrics by Sergejs Timofejevs.^[37][38] The official music video for the song was released on 24 March.^[39]

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top nine songs from each semi-final as determined by televoting progress to the final, and a tenth was determined by back-up juries. TheEuropean 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 30 January 2009, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals. Latvia was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2009.^[40][41][42] The running order for the semi-finals was decided through another draw on 16 March 2009 and Latvia was set to perform in position 3, following the entry fromIreland and before the entry fromSerbia.

The two semi-finals and the final were broadcast in Latvia onLTV1 with all shows featuring commentary by Kārlis Streips. The Latvian spokesperson, who announced the Latvian votes during the final, wasRoberto Meloni.

Intars Busulis took part in technical rehearsals on 5 and 8 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 13 and 14 May.^[43] The Latvian performance featured Intars Busulis wearing a blue jacket with circular badges, a blue shirt and a red tie, joined on stage by a keyboard player, two guitarists and two backing vocalists. Busulis interacted with the other performers during the performance, while the LED screens displayed the silhouette of a city and a road signpost that mentioned the names of several European cities:Stockholm,Brussels,Riga,Rome,Berlin,Oslo andYerevan.^[44][45] The director for the Latvian performance was Viktors Runtulis.^[46] The musicians that joined Intars Busulis were: Gints Pabērzs, the co-composer of "Probka"Kārlis Lācis and Kaspars Zemītis, while the two backing vocalists were Jolanta Strikaite and Vineta Elksne.^[47]

At the end of the show, Latvia was not announced among the top 10 entries in the second semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Latvia placed nineteenth (last) in the semi-final, receiving a total of 7 points.^[48]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Latvia and awarded by Latvia in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Estonia in the semi-final and to Norway in the final of the contest.

Points awarded to Latvia (Semi-final 2)^[49]

Score	Country
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points	Lithuania
5 points
4 points
3 points
2 points
1 point	Estonia

Points awarded by Latvia (Semi-final 2)[49] Score Country 12 points  Estonia 10 points  Norway 8 points  Azerbaijan 7 points  Lithuania 6 points  Ukraine 5 points  Ireland 4 points  Greece 3 points  Denmark 2 points  Moldova 1 point  Cyprus

Points awarded by Latvia (Final)[50] Score Country 12 points  Norway 10 points  Estonia 8 points  Iceland 7 points  Lithuania 6 points  Russia 5 points  France 4 points  Azerbaijan 3 points  Denmark 2 points  United Kingdom 1 point  Malta

Detailed voting results from Latvia (Final)^[51][52]

Draw	Country	Results			Points
		Jury	Televoting	Combined
01	Lithuania	6	6	12	7
02	Israel
03	France	4	4	8	5
04	Sweden		2	2
05	Croatia	1		1
06	Portugal
07	Iceland	12	5	17	8
08	Greece
09	Armenia
10	Russia		8	8	6
11	Azerbaijan		7	7	4
12	Bosnia and Herzegovina
13	Moldova	2		2
14	Malta	5		5	1
15	Estonia	8	10	18	10
16	Denmark	7		7	3
17	Germany
18	Turkey
19	Albania
20	Norway	10	12	22	12
21	Ukraine		1	1
22	Romania
23	United Kingdom	3	3	6	2
24	Finland
25	Spain

• Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009
• 2009 in Latvia

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