Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003

Background

Main article: Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2003 contest, Latvian Television (LTV) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Latvia three times since its first entry in 2000. It won the contest once in 2002 with the song "I Wanna" performed by Marie N. 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. Since its debut in 2000, the broadcaster had organised the selection show Eirodziesma, a selection procedure that was continued in order to select its entry for the 2003 contest.

Before Eurovision

{{lang|lv|Eirodziesma}} ''2003''

Eirodziesma 2003 was the fourth edition of Eirodziesma, the music competition organised by LTV to selects its entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition took place at the Olympic Center in Ventspils on 1 February 2003, hosted by Ilze Jaunalksne and Ģirts Līcis with Samija Šerifa hosting from the green room. The show was broadcast on LTV1, via radio on Latvijas Radio 1 as well as online via the broadcaster's official Eurovision Song Contest website eirovizija.lv. The national final was watched by 525,000 viewers in Latvia with a market share of 50%.

Competing entries

Artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 3 October 2002 and 4 November 2002. 57 entries were submitted at the conclusion of the submission period; 49 of the songs were in English, six were in Latvian and two were in Russian. An international jury panel appointed by LTV evaluated the submitted songs and selected fifteen entries for the competition. The twenty competing artists and songs were announced during a press conference on 15 November 2002.

Final

The final took place on 1 February 2003. Fifteen acts competed and the winner was selected over two rounds of public televoting. In the first round, the top five songs advanced to the second round, the superfinal. In the superfinal, the voting results were revealed by Latvia's five regions alongside votes submitted via mobile phones and SMS, and the song with the highest number of votes, "Hello from Mars" performed by F.L.Y., was declared the winner. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers included Marie N,winner of ; Lior Narkis, who would represent ; and Oleksandr Ponomariov, who would represent .

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the bottom ten countries in the 2002 contest competed in the final. As the host country, Latvia automatically qualified to compete in the final on 24 May 2003. On 29 November 2002, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Latvia was set to perform in position 21, following the entry from Poland and before the entry from Belgium. Latvia finished in twenty-fourth place with 5 points. The show was broadcast in Latvia on LTV1 featuring commentary by Kārlis Streips.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Latvia and awarded by Latvia in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Russia in the contest. LTV appointed Ģirts Līcis as its spokesperson to announce the Latvian votes during the final.

References

References

1. "Latvia Country Profile". [[European Broadcasting Union.
2. Medinika, Aija. (30 September 2003). "Latvian National Final on February 28, 2004".
3. Kļaviņa, Anda. (1 February 2003). "Eirovīzija gaida skatītāju balsis".
4. Medinika, Aija. (2003-02-06). "Eurovision 2024 Eirodziesma 2003 high in Latvian TV ratings - ESCToday.com".
5. (3 October 2002). "Aicina pieteikt dziesmas Eirovīzijas nacionālajai atlasei".
6. Bakker, Sietse. (4 November 2002). "57 entries submitted for Eirodziesma 2003".
7. "Uz tiesībām Latviju pārstāvēt Eirovīzijas Dziesmu konkursā 2003 pretendē 57 dziesmas".
8. Наталия ЗАЯЦ. (5 February 2003). "Филипп Киркоров помогает Александру Пономареву подобрать песню для конкурса "Евровидение"".
9. Bakker, Sietse. (15 November 2002). "LTV announced participants Eirodziesma 2003".
10. Trops, Jānis. (3 February 2003). "Ventspili pāršalc Eirodziesmas aura".
11. (20 November 2002). "RULES OF THE 2003 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST". European Broadcasting Union.
12. Bakker, Sietse. (28 November 2002). "Draw to be made public Friday 17:00 CET". ESCToday.com.
13. "Final of Riga 2003". European Broadcasting Union.
14. Šaitere, Tekla. (22 May 2003). "www.eurovision.tv". [[Diena]].
15. "Results of the Final of Riga 2003". European Broadcasting Union.
16. Bakker, Sietse. (22 May 2003). "Girts Licis: press conferences and Latvian votes". ESCToday.