Summary
Latvia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "The War Is Not Over" written by Mārtiņš Freimanis. The song was performed by Walters and Kazha. Songwriter Mārtiņš Freimanis represented Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 as part of the group F.L.Y. with the song "Hello from Mars" where they placed twenty-fourth in the competition. The Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) organised the national final Eirodziesma 2005 in order to select the Latvian entry for the 2005 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. Twenty songs were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. In the semi-finals on 29 January and 5 February 2005, five entries were selected to advance from each show: three entries selected based on a public televote and two entries selected by a jury panel. Ten songs ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 26 February 2005 where two rounds of public voting selected "The War Is Not Over" performed by Valters and Kaža as the winner.
| Eurovision Song Contest 2005 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Latvia | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Eirodziesma 2005 | |||
| Selection date(s) | Semi-finals: 29 January 2005 5 February 2005 Final: 26 February 2005 | |||
| Selected entrant | Walters and Kazha | |||
| Selected song | "The War Is Not Over" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) | Mārtiņš Freimanis | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Qualified (10th, 85 points) | |||
| Final result | 5th, 153 points | |||
| Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Latvia competed in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 19 May 2005. Performing during the show in position 5, "The War Is Not Over" was announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 21 May. It was later revealed that Latvia placed tenth out of the 25 participating countries in the semi-final with 85 points. In the final, Latvia performed in position 23 and placed fifth out of the 24 participating countries, scoring 153 points.
Background edit
Prior to the 2005 contest, Latvia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest five times since its first entry in 2000.[1] Latvia won the contest once in 2002 with the song "I Wanna" performed by Marie N. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Latvia had failed to qualify to the final with the entry "Dziesma par laimi" performed by Fomins and Kleins. The Latvian national broadcaster, Latvijas Televīzija (LTV), which broadcasts the event within Latvia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry, confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest on 4 September 2004.[2] Latvia has selected their entries for the Eurovision Song Contest through a national final. Since their debut in 2000, LTV had organised the selection show Eirodziesma. Along with their participation confirmation, the broadcaster announced that they would organise Eirodziesma 2005 in order to select the Latvian entry for the 2005 contest.[2]
Before Eurovision edit
Eirodziesma 2005 edit
Eirodziesma 2005 was the sixth edition of Eirodziesma, the music competition that selects Latvia's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition commenced on 29 January 2005 and concluded with a final on 26 February 2005. All shows in the competition were hosted by Elvis Jansons and Ija Circene and broadcast on LTV1.[3]
Format edit
The format of the competition consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. The two semi-finals, held on 29 January and 5 February 2005, each featured ten competing entries from which five advanced to the final from each show. The final, held on 26 February 2005, selected the Latvian entry for Kyiv from the remaining ten entries over two rounds of voting: the first round selected the top three songs and the second round (superfinal) selected the winner. Results during the semi-final shows were determined by a jury panel and votes from the public. The songs first faced a public vote where the top three entries qualified. The jury then selected an additional two qualifiers from the remaining entries to proceed in the competition. In the final, a public vote exclusively determined which entry would be the winner.[4] Viewers were able to vote via telephone or SMS.[5]
Competing entries edit
Artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 10 September 2004 and 16 November 2004.[6] 64 entries were submitted at the conclusion of the submission period.[7] A jury panel appointed by LTV evaluated the submitted songs and selected twenty entries for the competition. The jury panel consisted of Alar Kotkas (Estonian composer), Amberlife (Lithuanian musician and songwriter), Michael Cederberg (representative of Sveriges Radio P3), Ramona Forsström (Promotion Manager of International Repertoire at EMI Finland), Edward van de Vendel (Dutch poet and lyricist), Jānis Lūsēns (composer), members of the LTV Eurovision team and music directors at LTV. The twenty competing artists and songs were announced during a press conference on 2 December 2004.[8][9] On 6 January 2005, LTV announced that the song "Your Love Is on My Side" would be performed by the duo Creem instead of Lily.[10]
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 4.elements | "What About Your Heart" | Lauris Reiniks |
| Agnese and Intars | "Sing It! Swing It!" | Boriss Rezņiks, Ēriks Balodis |
| Amber | "Dance Together" | Aija Vītoliņa |
| C-Stones | "L.O.V.E." | Līva Boitmane, Zane Beļska, Kristians Korns, Olafs Bergmanis |
| Chilli | "Shut Up" | Mārtiņš Freimanis, Freddy Kirstein |
| Creem | "Your Love Is on My Side" | Yana Kay |
| Ella and Marizo | "Sing With Me" | Elīna Fūrmane, Māris Rumba |
| Flash | "In Your Arms" | Artūrs Palkēvičs, Iveta Priede |
| Gunārs Kalniņš | "Ja nu" | Gunārs Kalniņš, Madara Celma |
| Iedomu spārni | "No Way Back" | Jānis Dreiškins, Laura Veisa |
| Igeta | "In a Desert" | Igeta Gaiķe, Agris Palkavnieks |
| Ksenija | "In the Heat of the Night" | Tommy Kasa, Kent Wennman, Uģis Tirzītis |
| Madara Celma | "I Might Be the One" | Madara Celma |
| Marta | "Loving, Missing, Crying" | Gints Stankevičs, Tatjana Timčuka |
| Morning Kids | "Your Girlfriend" | Romāns Faļkenšteins, Dina Faļkenšteina |
| Nicol | "A Woman to Love" | Viktorija Zeļinska |
| Prego | "We Are One" | Ivo Grīsniņš Grīslis, Olafs Vēveris |
| Santa Zapacka | "Wandering Words" | Santa Zapacka, Daiga Rūtenberga |
| Valters and Kaža | "The War Is Not Over" | Mārtiņš Freimanis |
| Z-Scars | "To Touch, to Breathe, to Love" | Andris Kivičs |
Shows edit
Semi-finals edit
The two semi-finals took place on 29 January and 5 February 2005. The live portion of the show was held at the LTV Studio 1 in Riga where the artists awaited the results while their performances, which were filmed earlier on 23 January 2005, were screened.[5] In each semi-final ten acts competed and five entries qualified to the final. The competing entries first faced a public vote where the top three songs advanced; an additional two qualifiers were then selected from the remaining seven entries by the jury.[11]
Public vote qualifier Jury qualifier
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Rank | |||||
| 1 | Igeta | "In a Desert" | 8 | 1,341 | 5 | Eliminated |
| 2 | Morning Kids | "Your Girlfriend" | 10 | 762 | 9 | Eliminated |
| 3 | Santa Zapacka | "Wandering Words" | 9 | 1,177 | 6 | Eliminated |
| 4 | 4.elements | "What About Your Heart" | 7 | 1,004 | 7 | Eliminated |
| 5 | Gunārs Kalniņš | "Ja nu" | 5 | 904 | 8 | Eliminated |
| 6 | Prego | "We Are One" | 6 | 1,740 | 2 | Advanced |
| 7 | Ella and Marizo | "Sing With Me" | 3 | 1,692 | 4 | Advanced |
| 8 | Nicol | "A Woman to Love" | 1 | 1,718 | 3 | Advanced |
| 9 | Flash | "In Your Arms" | 2 | 692 | 10 | Advanced |
| 10 | Iedomu spārni | "No Way Back" | 4 | 1,986 | 1 | Advanced |
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Rank | |||||
| 1 | Amber | "Dance Together" | 2 | 369 | 10 | Advanced |
| 2 | Z-Scars | "To Touch, to Breathe, to Love" | 8 | 676 | 9 | Eliminated |
| 3 | Marta | "Loving, Missing, Crying" | 3 | 2,150 | 5 | Advanced |
| 4 | Madara Celma | "I Might Be the One" | 6 | 1,119 | 8 | Eliminated |
| 5 | C-Stones | "L.O.V.E." | 7 | 1,534 | 6 | Eliminated |
| 6 | Chilli | "Shut Up" | 5 | 1,217 | 7 | Eliminated |
| 7 | Ksenija | "In the Heat of the Night" | 9 | 5,693 | 2 | Advanced |
| 8 | Valters and Kaža | "The War Is Not Over" | 1 | 5,902 | 1 | Advanced |
| 9 | Agnese and Intars | "Sing It! Swing It!" | 4 | 4,466 | 3 | Advanced |
| 10 | Creem | "Your Love Is On My Side" | 10 | 2,345 | 4 | Eliminated |
Final edit
The final took place at the Olympic Center in Ventspils on 26 February 2005. The ten entries that qualified from the preceding two semi-finals competed and the winner was selected over two rounds of public televoting. In the first round, the top three songs advanced to the second round, the superfinal. In the superfinal, "The War Is Not Over" performed by Valters and Kaža was declared the winner.[12] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers included singers Amberlife and Ladybird, the group re:public, the band Symbolic with Niks Matvejevs, 2001 Latvian Eurovision entrant Arnis Mednis together with the group Odis, 2003 Latvian Eurovision entrant F.L.Y. and 2004 Latvian Eurovision entrant Fomins and Kleins.[13]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prego | "We Are One" | 1,844 | 6 |
| 2 | Valters and Kaža | "The War Is Not Over" | — | — |
| 3 | Ella and Marizo | "Sing With Me" | 1,790 | 7 |
| 4 | Flash | "In Your Arms" | 622 | 9 |
| 5 | Ksenija | "In the Heat of the Night" | — | — |
| 6 | Agnese and Intars | "Sing It! Swing It!" | — | — |
| 7 | Iedomu spārni | "No Way Back" | 2,344 | 5 |
| 8 | Nicol | "A Woman to Love" | 1,546 | 8 |
| 9 | Amber | "Dance Together" | 486 | 10 |
| 10 | Marta | "Loving, Missing, Crying" | 6,977 | 4 |
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valters and Kaža | "The War Is Not Over" | 28,214 | 1 |
| 2 | Ksenija | "In the Heat of the Night" | 8,308 | 3 |
| 3 | Agnese and Intars | "Sing It! Swing It!" | 20,318 | 2 |
At Eurovision edit
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom), and the ten highest placed finishers in the 2004 contest are required to qualify from the semi-final on 19 May 2005 in order to compete for the final on 21 May 2005; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final. On 22 March 2005, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order for the semi-final and Latvia was set to perform in position 5, following the entry from Moldova and before the entry from Monaco.[14] Latvian Sign Language was also used by Walters and Kazha for the performance, making it the first Eurovision entry to feature a sign language.[15] At the end of the show, Latvia was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Latvia placed tenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 85 points. The draw for the running order for the final was done by the presenters during the announcement of the ten qualifying countries during the semi-final and Latvia was drawn to perform in position 23, following the entry from Switzerland and before the entry from France. Latvia placed fifth in the final, scoring 153 points.[16]
The semi-final and the final were broadcast in Latvia on LTV1 with all shows featuring commentary by Kārlis Streips. The Latvian spokesperson, who announced the Latvian votes during the final, was Marie N.[17]
Voting edit
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Latvia and awarded by Latvia in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Estonia in the semi-final and to Switzerland in the final of the contest.
Points awarded to Latvia edit
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Points awarded by Latvia edit
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References edit
- ^ "Latvia Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
- ^ a b Lingeberzinsh, Eriks (5 September 2004). "Latvia: Eurodziesma 2005 entries welcome". Esctoday. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ ""EIRODZIESMA 2005" 1. pusfināla dalībnieku uzstāšanās secība". eirovizija.lv (in Latvian). 7 January 2005. Archived from the original on 9 February 2005. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ "Eirodziesmas 2005.gada konkursa nolikums". eirovizija.lv (in Latvian). 10 September 2004. Archived from the original on 7 February 2005. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ a b "Eirodziesma 2005 uzsāk ceļu uz finālu". eirovizija.lv (in Latvian). 24 January 2005. Archived from the original on 11 February 2005. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ "Izsludināta pieteikšanās Eirovīzijas dziesmu konkursa 2005 nacionālajai atlasei". eirovizija.lv. 10 September 2004. Archived from the original on 15 February 2005. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ Medinika, Aija (16 November 2004). "Latvia: 64 songs for Eirodziesma 2005". Esctoday.
- ^ Medinika, Aija (2 December 2004). "Latvia: Eirodziesma 2005 finalists known".
- ^ "Latvijas Televīzija nosauc Eirovīzijas dziesmu konkursa nacionālā pusfināla dalībniekus". eirovizija.lv (in Latvian). 14 December 2004. Archived from the original on 9 February 2005. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ "Izlozēta "Eirovīzijas" pusfinālistu uzstāšanās secība". Apollo.lv (in Latvian). 6 January 2005.
- ^ "LATVIAN SEMI-FINALS 2005".
- ^ Straumanis, Andris (27 February 2005). "Valters un Kaža win Eurovision run-up". Latvians Online. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ "Eirodziesma 2005 tuvojas finiša taisnei!". eirovizija.lv (in Latvian). 16 February 2005. Archived from the original on 10 March 2005. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ Bakker, Sietse (22 March 2005). "TODAY: The draw for running order". Esctoday. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
- ^ Hughes, Niamh (12 May 2018). "What is the rarest language used at Eurovision?". BBC News. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ "Grand Final of Kyiv 2005". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
- ^ Philips, Roel (2005-05-17). "The 39 spokespersons!". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 2005-12-19. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
- ^ a b "Results of the Semi-Final of Kyiv 2005". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
- ^ a b "Results of the Grand Final of Kyiv 2005". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.