Latvia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Here We Go", written by Ralfs Eilands and Arturas Burke, and performed by the group PeR. The Latvian participating broadcaster, (LTV), organised the national final Dziesma 2013 in order to select its entry for the contest. Twenty-four 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 8 and 9 February 2013, six entries were selected to advance from each show. Twelve songs ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 16 February 2013 where two rounds of voting by a public televote and a nine-member jury panel selected "Here We Go" performed by PeR as the winner.
Latvia was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 16 May 2013. Performing as the opening entry for the show in position 1, "Here We Go" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Latvia placed seventeenth (last) out of the 17 participating countries in the semi-final with 13 points.
Background
Prior to the 2013 contest, (LTV) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Latvia thirteen 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 for the 2004, Latvia was able to qualify to compete in the final between 2005 and 2008. Between 2009 and 2012, the nation had failed to qualify to the final for four consecutive years including with their 2012 entry "Beautiful Song" performed by Anmary.
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, LTV organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster confirmed its intentions to participate at the 2013 contest on 16 October 2012. LTV has selected its entries for the Eurovision Song Contest through a national final. Since their debut in 2000 until 2012, LTV had organised the selection show Eirodziesma. In a response to its failure to qualify to the final at Eurovision since 2008, the broadcaster announced that the national final would be rebranded and retooled as Dziesma in order to select its entry for the 2013 contest, organised in cooperation with the Ventspils City Council and Ventspils Development Agency.
Before Eurovision
Dziesma 2013 Dziesma 2013 was the first edition of Dziesma, the music competition that selects Latvia's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition commenced with the first of two-semi finals on 8 February 2013 and concluded with a final on 16 February 2013. All shows in the competition were hosted by Mārtiņš Meiers, Madara Botmane and Anta Aizupe and broadcast on LTV1 as well as online via the broadcaster's official website ltv.lv. The final was also streamed online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.
Format The format of the competition consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. The two semi-finals, held on 8 and 9 February 2013, each featured twelve competing entries from which six advanced to the final from each show. The final, held on 16 February 2013, selected the Latvian entry for Malmö from the remaining twelve 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 and final shows were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and a public vote. Both the jury and public vote assigned points from 1 to 12 based on ranking in the semi-finals and the first round of the final, with the first place receiving one point and last place receiving twelve points. In the superfinal, the jury and public both assigned points from 1 to 3 also based on ranking with the first place receiving one point and last place receiving three points. Ties were decided in favour of the entries that received higher points from the public. Viewers were able to vote via telephone up to five times or via SMS with a single SMS counting as five votes.
Competing entries Songwriters were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 19 October 2012 and 30 November 2012. 122 entries were submitted at the conclusion of the submission period. A jury panel appointed by LTV evaluated the submitted songs and the twenty-four selected songwriters had until 14 January 2013 to nominate the performers for their songs. The jury panel consisted of Aija Strazdiņa (director and producer), Ģirts Lūsis (musician, composer and manager of the groups Labvēlīgais tips and 2007 Latvian Eurovision entrant Bonaparti.lv), Kārlis Auzāns (producer and composer), Vineta Elksne (singer, vocal coach, conductor and songwriter), Aija Vītoliņa (singer), Valters Frīdenbergs (2005 Latvian Eurovision entrant as part of Walters and Kazha), Ott Lepland (2012 Estonian Eurovision entrant) and Adam Klein (British music manager). The twenty-four competing songs were announced during a press conference on 11 December 2012, while the competing artists were announced on 15 January 2013. Artist SongSongwriter(s) Aiwink "Now or Never"Aleksandrs Rjabčuns Andris Kivičs "Hey! Hey!"Andris Kivičs Antra Stafecka "When You Are With Me"Raph Schillebeeckx, Karen Verresen, Bruce R.F. Smith Dāvids Kalandija and Dināra "Fool in Love"Jonas Gladnikoff, Camilla Gottschalck, Christina Schilling, Liza Petersen Dominic Okolue "Good Woman"Dominic Okolue Fox Lima "Tirpini"Alise Ketnere Framest "Let the Night Belong to the Lovers"Erik Anjou Headline "Love"Mārcis Rēdmanis, Lauris Busulis Ieva Sutugova "Cold Heart"Jānis Miltiņš, Ieva Sutugova Ivo Grīsniņš Grīslis "Give Me a Try"Ingars Viļums Kristīne Šomase "Phoenix Fly"Mathias Kallenberger, Andréas Berlin, Filip Lindfors, Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad Liene Candy "Higher and Higher"Christof Straub Liene Matveja and Baiba Reine "Love Responder"Edgars Viļums Marta Ritova "I Am Who I Am"Marta Ritova Mārtiņš Ruskis and 4 vēji "Joey"Eric Anjou, Peter Svensson Niko "One"Johnny Sanchez, Michael James Down, Hanif Sabzevari Hitmanic Olafs Bergmanis and the Random People "Never Let Me Go"Jānis Polis PeR "Here We Go"Ralfs Eilands, Arturas Burke "Sad Trumpet"Ralfs Eilands, Arturas Burke Pieneņu vīns "Better Than You"Jurijs Koškins, Evilena Protektore "The One"Jurijs Koškins, Evilena Protektore Rūta Dūduma "Here I Am"Patrik Öhlund, Madelene Hamberg Sabīne Berezina "Upside Down"Filip Lindfors, Bertel Österberg, Kristoffer Eriksson Samanta Tīna "I Need a Hero"Johnny Sanchez, Michael James Down, Marcus Fernell, Beatrice Eriksson
Shows
Semi-finals The two semi-finals took place at the Palladium Concert Hall in Riga on 8 and 9 February 2013. In each semi-final twelve acts competed and six entries qualified to the final based on the combination of votes from a jury panel and the Latvian public. The jury panel that voted in the semi-finals consisted of Aija Strazdiņa (director and producer), Aija Vītoliņa (singer), Lara Bellerose (Belgian actress and singer-songwriter), Ģirts Lūsis (musician, composer and manager of the groups Labvēlīgais tips and 2007 Latvian Eurovision entrant Bonaparti.lv), Valters Pūce (musician), Jegors Jerohomovičs (music critic and cultural journalist), Ieva Rozentāle (head of the LTV Culture Broadcasts Editorial Office; first semi-final), Kārlis Auzāns (producer and composer; first semi-final), Jānis Palkavnieks (spokesman for Draugiem.lv; first semi-final), Vineta Elksne (singer, vocal coach, conductor and songwriter; second semi-final), Valters Frīdenbergs (2005 Latvian Eurovision entrant as part of Walters and Kazha; second semi-final), Anmary (2012 Latvian Eurovision entrant; second semi-final). + Semi-final 1 – 8 February 2013 Artist Song Jury Televote Place Votes Rank Votes Rank 1 Liene Candy "Higher and Higher" 30 1 630 5 3 2 Fox Lima "Tirpini" 63 8 302 12 11 3 Dominic Okolue "Good Woman" 83 11 339 10 12 4 Antra Stafecka "When You Are With Me" 54 5 582 7 5 5 Olafs Bergmanis and the Random People "Never Let Me Go" 70 10 420 9 9 6 Headline "Love" 45 4 532 8 6 7 Pieneņu vīns "Better Than You" 61 7 593 6 7 8 Ivo Grīsniņš Grīslis "Give Me a Try" 64 9 304 11 10 9 Samanta Tīna "I Need a Hero" 41 3 1,099 1 1 10 Liene Matveja and Baiba Reine "Love Responder" 93 12 635 4 8 11 Sabīne Berezina "Upside Down" 60 6 669 2 4 12 PeR "Sad Trumpet" 38 2 652 3 2
+ Semi-final 2 – 9 February 2013 Artist Song Jury Televote Place Votes Rank Votes Rank 1 Aiwink "Now or Never" 82 10 708 7 9 2 Ieva Sutugova "Cold Heart" 55 6 520 8 6 3 Marta Ritova "I Am Who I Am" 32 2 980 2 2 4 PeR "Here We Go" 13 1 979 3 3 5 Dāvids Kalandija and Dināra "Fool in Love" 67 8 813 6 5 6 Mārtiņš Ruskis and 4 vēji "Joey" 87 11 838 4 8 7 Andris Kivičs "Hey! Hey!" 93 12 246 11 12 8 Pieneņu Vīns "The One" 60 7 819 5 4 9 Niko "One" 43 3 1,429 1 1 10 Framest "Let the Night Belong to the Lovers" 53 5 211 12 10 11 Kristīne Šomase "Phoenix Fly" 71 9 449 9 11 12 Rūta Dūduma "Here I Am" 46 4 435 10 7
Final The final took place at the Jūras vārti Theatre in Ventspils on 16 February 2013. The twelve entries that qualified from the preceding two semi-finals 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, "Here We Go" performed by PeR was declared the winner through the combination of votes from the jury and public. The jury panel that voted in the final consisted of Aija Strazdina (director and producer), Vineta Elksne (singer, vocal coach, conductor and songwriter), Ieva Rozentāle (Head of the LTV Culture Broadcasts Editorial Office), Ģirts Lūsis (musician, composer and manager of the groups Labvēlīgais tips and 2007 Latvian Eurovision entrant Bonaparti.lv), Sandris Vanzovičs (music journalist), Kārlis Auzāns (producer and composer), Jānis Stībelis (musician), Valters Pūce (musician) and Ott Lepland (2012 Estonian Eurovision entrant).
In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers included Jānis Stībelis, Labvēlīgais tips, Ott Lepland, Vineta Elksne, cello trio DaGamba, singer Dons and 2012 Latvian Eurovision entrant Anmary. + Final – 16 February 2013 Artist Song Jury Televote Place Votes Rank Votes Rank 1 Niko "One" 92 11 2,576 3 6 2 Dāvids Kalandija and Dināra "Fool in Love" 74 9 569 11 11 3 Antra Stafecka "When You Are With Me" 42 4 1,467 5 4 4 PeR "Sad Trumpet" 58 6 467 12 10 5 Pieneņu Vīns "The One" 90 10 857 7 9 6 Marta Ritova "I Am Who I Am" 28 3 1,958 4 3 7 Liene Candy "Higher and Higher" 51 5 713 9 7 8 Samanta Tīna "I Need a Hero" 25 2 3,305 2 2 9 Ieva Sutugova "Cold Heart" 67 8 843 8 8 10 Headline "Love" 64 7 918 6 5 11 Sabīne Berezina "Upside Down" 95 12 678 10 12 12 PeR "Here We Go" 16 1 3,847 1 1 + Superfinal – 16 February 2013 Artist Song Jury Televote Place Votes Rank Votes Rank 1 Marta Ritova "I Am Who I Am" 20 2 3,318 3 3 2 PeR "Here We Go" 11 1 6,289 1 1 3 Samanta Tīna "I Need a Hero" 23 3 6,204 2 2
Promotion PeR specifically promoted "Here We Go" as the Latvian Eurovision entry on 21 April by performing during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell. The group also took part in promotional activities in Estonia on 1 May with appearances on ERR, TV3+, Raadio 2, Raadio 4 and Skyraadio.
At Eurovision