Eurovision Song Contest 2000
Country Latvia
National selection
Selection processEirodziesma 2000
Selection date(s)26 February 2000
Selected entrantBrainstorm
Selected song"My Star"
Selected songwriter(s)Renārs Kaupers
Finals performance
Final result3rd, 136 points
Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest
2000 • 2001►

Latvia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 with the song "My Star" by band Brainstorm. The song was written by band's lead singer Renārs Kaupers. The Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) organised the national final Eirodziesma 2000 in order to select the Latvian entry for the 2000 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. Ten songs were selected to compete in the national final on 26 February 2000 where a public televote and a fourteen-member jury panel selected "My Star" performed by Brainstorm as the winner.

Latvia competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 13 May 2000. Performing during the show in position 21, Latvia placed third out of the 24 participating countries, scoring 136 points.

Background

On 15 December 1999, the Latvian national broadcaster, Latvijas Televīzija (LTV), confirmed their intentions to debut at the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 for the first time.[1][2] That decision was motivated by the participation of Estonia and Lithuania as well as having received sufficient funds for participation through sponsorships.[3] The nation had previously planned to debut at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993 and 1999; the latter year the broadcaster withdrew their application due to the financial problems.[4][5][6] LTV, which broadcast the 1998 and 1999 contests in Latvia, organised the selection process for the nation's entry in addition to broadcasting further events within the nation.[3] Along with the participation confirmation, the broadcaster confirmed that the Latvian entry for the 2000 contest would be selected through a national selection show Eirodziesma.[1]

Before Eurovision

"My Star" was written and composed by Brainstorm's lead singer Renārs Kaupers (pictured in 2015)

Eirodziesma 2000

To select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2000, LTV hosted a national final, entitled Eirodziesma 2000, on 26 February 2000 at the LTV studios in Zaķusala, Riga. National final was hosted by Dita Torstere and broadcast on LTV1.[7][8][9] Prior to the event, LTV opened a submissions window for interested artists and composers to submit their songs for consideration, by the close of which, 67 songs were submitted and 14 performers applied for the contest; twelve competing entries were then selected for the competition.[10][11][12] Two songs were later disqualified prior to the competition.[13] Ten remaining entries competed with the winning song determined by the combination of votes from a jury panel and public televoting.[14][15] At the close of voting, "My Star" performed by Brainstorm received the most votes and was selected as the Latvian entry.[16][17] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Feliks Kigelis, Linga, Liga Robezniece and Quentin Elias performed as special guests.[7]

Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points
1 Marija Naumova "For You My Friends" 106 95 8 114 2
2 Yana Kay "Waterfall" 80 6 1 81 6
3 Jānis Stībelis "I Will Return" 58 31 4 62 8
4 Dace Pūce, Aigars Grāvers and Arnis Heidermanis "Tāda zeme" 62 37 5 67 7
5 Arnis Mednis "Everyday in Circle" 75 53 7 82 5
6 Madara Celma "Close to You" 47 18 2 49 10
7 Brainstorm "My Star" 135 227 12 147 1
8 Linda Leen "Let's Go Insane" 102 55 6 108 4
9 Agnese "Knowing Love and Loss" 48 15 3 51 9
10 Yana Kay "Set My Heart on Fire" 99 202 10 109 3
Detailed Jury Votes[14]
Draw Song Musicians International Media Cultural Total
Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 3 Juror 4 Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 3 Juror 4 Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 3 Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 3
1 "For You My Friends" 10 6 3 7 3 10 10 6 8 6 12 10 10 5 106
2 "Waterfall" 7 7 2 3 7 8 5 10 6 4 8 7 4 2 80
3 "I Will Return" 6 5 10 2 5 2 4 3 4 5 4 4 3 1 58
4 "Tāda zeme" 5 3 6 4 2 3 1 4 3 10 3 6 5 7 62
5 "Everyday in Circle" 4 4 1 6 1 4 3 7 5 8 5 5 12 10 75
6 "Close to You" 3 2 4 1 6 5 2 2 2 3 6 2 1 8 47
7 "My Star" 12 8 12 12 4 12 8 8 10 7 10 12 8 12 135
8 "Let's Go Insane" 8 12 5 8 8 7 7 5 12 12 7 3 2 6 102
9 "Knowing Love and Loss" 2 1 8 5 10 1 6 1 1 2 1 1 6 3 48
10 "Set My Heart on Fire" 1 10 7 10 12 6 12 12 7 1 2 8 7 4 99
Members of the Jury[18]
Jury Members
Musicians
  • Ainars Mielavs – musician
  • Uldis Marhilēvičs – musician
  • Boriss Rezņiks – producer
  • Gatis Gaujenieks – sound recording director
International members
  • Munro Forbes (United Kingdom)
  • Kato Martins Hansen (Norway)
  • Milan Marche (Yugoslavia)
  • Quentin Elias (France)
Media representatives
  • Ēriks Niedra – Easy FM
  • Uģis Polis – Super FM
  • Ivo Baumanis – Biznes & Baltiya
Cultural workers
  • Vija Virtmane – Director of the Cultural Policy Department of the Latvian Ministry of Culture
  • Ineta Ķirse – choreographer
  • Rolands Tjarve – General Director of LTV

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2000 took place at the Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, on 13 May 2000.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2000 took place at the Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, on 13 May 2000.[19] According to the Eurovision rules, the 24-country participant list for the contest was composed of: the previous year's winning country and host nation Sweden, "Big Four" countries, the thirteen countries, which had obtained the highest average points total over the preceding five contests, and any eligible countries which did not compete in the 1999 contest.[20] Latvia was one of the eligible countries which did not compete in the 1999 contest, and thus were permitted to participate.[21] The running order for the contest was decided by a draw held on 21 November 1999;[20] Latvia was assigned to perform 21st at the 2000 contest, following Finland and preceding Turkey.[22] Eurovision Song Contest 2000 was televised in Latvia on LTV with the commentary by Kārlis Streips.[23] The contest was watched by a total of 380 thousand viewers in Latvia with the market share of 42%.[24]

The Latvian performance featured Brainstorm members performing with instruments on stage in a band set-up. The stage colours were predominantly blue and green and the LED screens displayed blue and green leaves.[25] After the voting concluded, Latvia scored 136 points, including 4 sets of highest score of 12 points, from Belgium, Estonia, Finland and Norway;[26] and placed 3rd.[27] This result was Latvia's best placing in its competitive history until the nation's win in 2002 and was the nation's first finish in top 3.

Voting

The same voting system in use since 1975 was again implemented for 2000 contest, with each country providing 1–8, 10 and 12 points to the ten highest-ranking songs as determined by a selected jury or the viewing public through televoting, with countries not allowed to vote for themselves.[28][20] Latvia had intended to use televoting, however, due to a technical failure of the telephone system caused by an unexpectedly large number of votes being cast, the votes of jury panel were instead used to determine nation's points.[29] The Latvian spokesperson, who announced the Latvian votes during the final, was Lauris Reiniks.[29] Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Latvia and awarded by Latvia in the grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Denmark in the contest.[30]

Controversy

After the contest, the Latvian jury votes in the final faced scrutiny in Russian media. Latvian jury didn't award Russia any points; this led to some suggesting that the Latvian jury votes might have been politically influenced.[29][31][32] Prime Minister of Latvia Andris Berzins later denied accusations of politicization of the Latvian jury, saying that "this case cannot be politicized".[33]

References

  1. 1 2 "Dažos vārdos". Baltic News Service. 15 December 1999. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  2. ↑ "Песня на экспорт". Biznes & Baltiya (in Russian). No. 242 (1372). 16 December 1999.
  3. 1 2 "EIROVĪZIJAS DZIESMU KONKURSA NACIONĀLĀ ATLASE". diva.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  4. ↑ Roxburgh 2020, p. 131.
  5. ↑ "Jerusalem 1999".
  6. ↑ "Participants 1999 Eurovision Song Contest". eurosong.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 January 2002. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  7. 1 2 "Eirovīzijas dziesmu konkursa 2000 nacionālā atlase (2000-04-08)". diva.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  8. ↑ "45. Starptautiskais Eirovīzijas dziesmu festivāls". LTV (in Latvian). Archived from the original on 26 February 2000. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  9. ↑ "Будет объявлена песня, которая представит Латвию на конкурсе Евровидение". Baltic News Service (in Russian). Riga, Latvia. 26 February 2000.
  10. ↑ Bakker, Sietse (17 November 2003). "69 songs for Latvian national final 2004". Esctoday. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  11. ↑ "Eirovīzijas dziesmu festivālam pieteiktas 60 dziesmas". delfi.lv (in Latvian). 11 January 2000. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  12. ↑ "12 dziesmas cīnīsies par tiesībām piedalīties Eirovīzijas festivālā". delfi.lv (in Latvian). 14 January 2000. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  13. ↑ "Pauls un Račs atsauc savu dziesmu no Latvijas fināla Eirovīzijas konkursam". delfi.lv (in Latvian). 14 February 2000. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  14. 1 2 "Žūrijas komisijas vērtējums". LTV (in Latvian). Archived from the original on 21 June 2000. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  15. ↑ "Наш человек на Евровидении". Chas (in Russian). Vol. 49, no. 771. 28 February 2000.
  16. ↑ "Latviju Eirovīzijas festivālā pārstāvēs Kaupera dziesma "My Star"". 28 February 2000.
  17. ↑ Aina Muchka Kalniņa (25 March 2000). "Uz Eirovīzijas festivālu!". Brīvā Latvija. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  18. ↑ "Žūrijas komisija". LTV (in Latvian). Archived from the original on 21 June 2000. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  19. ↑ "Stockholm 2000". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  20. 1 2 3 "Rules of the 45th Eurovision Song Contest, 2000" (PDF). European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  21. ↑ "Jerusalem 1999 – Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  22. ↑ "Final of Stockholm 2000". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  23. ↑ "Streips kā dalībnieks debitē "Eirovīzijā"" (in Latvian). Delfi. 9 November 2011. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  24. ↑ "Eirodziesma 2002 ir sākusies!". eirovizija.tv.lv. Archived from the original on 20 January 2002. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  25. ↑ Eurovision Song Contest 2000 (Television programme). Stockholm, Sweden: Sveriges Television (SVT). 13 May 2000.
  26. ↑ "Results of the Final of Stockholm 2000 - Eurovision Song Contest".
  27. ↑ "Final of Stockholm 2000". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  28. ↑ "In a Nutshell – Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. 31 March 2017. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  29. 1 2 3 "Неверный прогноз LTV ввёл в заблуждение тысячи зрителей". Biznes & Baltiya (in Russian). No. 97 (1479). 19 May 2000. Retrieved 4 December 2022. (registration required)
  30. 1 2 3 "Results of the Final of Stockholm 2000". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  31. ↑ Egor Erohomovich (16 May 2000). "Быть Риге маленьким Лондоном! С легкой руки Скандинавов". Biznes & Baltiya (in Russian). No. 94 (1476).
  32. ↑ Екатерина Прянник (27 May 2000). "Соло для Европы". Moskovskij Komsomolets (in Russian). Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  33. ↑ "Премьер опровергает политизацию хоккейного чемпионата и конкурса Евровидения в Латвии". Baltic News Service (in Russian). 19 May 2000.

Bibliography

  • Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84583-163-9.
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