Earlier in the year, Samanta Tīna was internally selected to represent Latvia at Eurovision 2021. And now she’s one step closer. Samanta revealed that she has now selected the song that she will be taking to Rotterdam.
Samanta Tīna made the announcement in an Instagram video posted on the official Eurovision account. There she revealed that from 11 demos, her team had selected one song for Eurovision 2021. The Latvian diva explained:
“Hey, everybody. This is Samanta Tīna from Latvia. I am already so excited to go to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2021. I hope all of you are safe and taking care of your health, because from now on it’s most important.
About my Eurovision song – yes, we already have it, because we made a songwriting camp. We made 11 demos and I chose the one, and I think this is the best choice. We’re already working on the performance, on the show, on the staging, so a lot of work to do.
And I can’t wait to see you there, guys. And hopefully everything is gonna be as usual. So, take care, and see you soon.”
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But while the song has been selected, it is yet to be released. Samanta has given no clue as to when her Eurovision 2021 entry will be made public.
The Latvian songwriting camp gets results
In October, Samanta Tīna took part in a songwriting camp along with some of Latvia top musical creatives. Among the camp attendees were Latvia’s Eurovision 2015 star Aminata Savadogo, “Still Breathing” producer Arnis Račinskis and “Love Injected” producer Kaspars Ansons.
The team at the camp seemed to favour the sort of electronic pop that Samanta Tīna has created in recent years. This suggests her song for 2021 won’t move too far from the direction of her bombastic 2020 synth-pop entry “Still Breathing”.
The news that Samanta’s team has internally selected one song appears to rule out the possibility of LTV holding some sort of national final to select the song. Earlier in the year, LTV had made comments that suggested some sort of television show would be involved.
Since Latvia’s Eurovision debut in 2000, they have always used a national final to select their entry. 2021 marks the first time LTV has gone internal.
Samanta Tīna’s journey to Eurovision
It’s been a long road for Samanta Tīna to make it to Eurovision. She made five previous attempts at Latvia’s national final — and two attempts in neighbouring Lithuania — before finally winning Supernova 2020 with “Still Breathing”.
After Eurovision 2020 was cancelled, there was initial uncertainty if Samanta would get a return ticket to Rotterdam. But in a special show ahead of Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light, Samanta was surprised with the good news that she had been internally selected for Eurovision 2021.
She will finally have the chance to take her musical eleganza to Rotterdam in May 2021.
Do you think you’ll like Latvia’s 2021 entry? Would you like to see Aminata write Samanta’s song this year as well? Let us know in the comments below!
I loved Still Breathing so I really have my fingers crossed for her to have another great entry.
On the plus side, it will likely be the most watched MelFest year ever, right? 😛
Unpopular opinion: I hope her song will be more in Cutting The Wire than Still Breathing style
With all these acts confirmed a long time before the contest, there’s a chance we’ll see better staging choices, because I imagine most songs will be developed as part of a bigger concept.
Hurricane will represent Serbia next year
so glad to hear this! Still Breathing was in my top 3 for 2020 – I love her stage presence, and what a voice! can’t wait to hear what Samanta and the team have come up with 🙂
I agree. I know that the delegations aren’t exactly keeping each other in the loop, but I would be sure that some of them might imagine that releasing their song in November / December / January would give them a proper highlight for the time. They wouldn’t be sharing the spotlight. Besides that, they’d have way more time to do a potential ”revamp” if the song has a lukewarm reception.
Also, some songs are growers, need some time to find a fanbase. I would say that the problem is to be between the first songs, because people tend to be really harsh about them. But I guess more countries should try at least early February release dates, when some people are anxious to find something they love and before an avalanche of entries where many are suddenly forgotten and discarded by the heavy competition in just a few weeks.
I am feeling pretty good about Samanta and I can’t wait to hear her song! She’s tried so hard for so long with many obstacles. I am so happy her Eurovision dreams are happening:)
I think she would’ve been a borderline qualifier with Still Breathing and she has the skills to go even farther!
I’m kind of confident that Latvia qualify this year! Her vocals are untouchable, so his her stage charisma, and also song will be probably modern and hip!