Latvia’s Eurovision selection Supernova is a story of highs and lows. From Aminata Savadogo coming second with the jury in the Eurovision 2015 grand final…to fan favourites Triana Park and Samanta Tina coming dead last in their semi-finals in 2017 and 2021, Latvia is a real roller coaster of results.
And today we are one step closer to seeing what Fortune has in store this year with the opening of the song submission process for LTV’s Supernova 2023 — its national selection show.
Applications are being accepted until December 1 on the official Supernova website https://supernova.lsm.lv/lv/.
In a press release, the producers clarified the basic rules.
“Performers, authors and producers who have reached the age of 16 are invited to participate in the competition. Applications from soloists, duets and groups (up to six participants) are welcome. Foreign citizens may participate in the competition as authors of song lyrics, music authors or producers of phonograms. The submitted song must not have been published or played publicly before September 1, 2022.”
A special jury will determine which songs and entries make it to the Supernova broadcasts. This jury will consist of professionals within the Latvian music, events and TV industry, as well as foreign professionals. LTV also reserves the right to invite performers and authors to participate in the competition.
Interestingly, the broadcaster says it will not reveal the names of these jury members until after Eurovision in May “for security reasons.” This is likely to avoid any attempts to influence said jury members before the show and to reduce hostilities and hurt feelings within the industry after the reveal.
“The participants and songs selected for the competition will be available for public evaluation in January 2023. The television shows are expected on the LTV in February 2023.”
Agnese Strause-Kubliņa, Head of Children, Youth and Entertainment Broadcasting at LTV, sang the praises of the country’s most recent entry.
“Supernova is the biggest competition organized by the Television of Latvia (LTV), the winners of which get a ticket to the Eurovision, which is not only a fantastic opportunity and an unforgettable experience for artists, but also a very responsible task of representing Latvia. We are proud of the audience’s recognition this year – the ratings of the Supernova were the best in recent years! The winners – Citi Zeni – allowed everyone to notice Latvia in the Eurovision, but who will be next?! Although there is no specific formula for creating a Eurovision winning song, we wish musicians creative flight and courage in submitting songs to the Supernova contest!”
In the run-up to Eurovision 2022, Citi Zeni established themselves as darlings of the promo tour, appearing at concert after concert while slaying social media with their unique sense of humour. Their song, which promoted the virtues of the vegan lifestyle, opened with that vulgar line about stimulating the female genitals using the tongue or lips.
Wiwiblogger Robyn was able to look past it. As she wrote in our Wiwi Jury review post:
“The unavoidable opening line grabs a lot of attention, but if you look beyond it, Eat Your Salad is a funky bop. It’s reminiscent of Bruno Mars or even the feel-good tunes of Daði Freyr. The song has an environmental message, but it’s not delivered in a heavy-handed way, instead giving listeners something to groove to while they eat their salad and think about their cat.”
Are there any artists you hope to see submit this year? Let us know down below!
They were certainly good enough to qualify this year. Weirdly it was televoting letting their down while eating up Norway.
Fingers crossed for Latvia and Georgia as both have been waiting for a spot in GF since 2016.
I have no expectations for Latvia, but I hope they get to send something at least good enough to take them back to the final, though at this point they should take a break from ESC or change things up a bit
Like I eat coq…..au vin?
Or Cock A Leekie if it’s in Glasgow!
I couldn’t care less unless they send a song in Latvian. It’s due.
That would be a change of pace, considering that their neighbor Lithuania sent something in their national language for the first time since the 90s. But that’s not a guarantee it will bring them back to the final, because the song could either be bad itself or performed badly. The only time they sent a song in Latvian was in 2004 where They didn’t qualify from the semifinal.
As much as I loved some of Latvia’s entries in the past years 5 NQ’es in a row and you might wanna consider changing things up.
Yeah, or they should withdraw to take a break and reset . Let’s hope they have something in their nf next year that can bring them back to the final, even if it’s a borderline.
Well at least they have been individualistic and original. Imagine the (usual) hysteria if Eat Your Salad had been the Swedish entry. At least it wouldn’t have been put in the starting slot of death.
Yeah like I said I really loved some of their last few entries. Line, That Night & Eat My salad were all in my top 5 and did not make the final.
When something as edgy and contemporary as Line does not qualify I am not sure what they are meant to do. Resurrect the dreadful I Wanna?
In my opinion, Latvia should take a risk and choose Madara as a representative during Eurovision, if we add that she has good songs in Latvian, especially her last single and it hurts me that she had no chance so far, and in my opinion she will give a promotion and a good place in the final Estonia somehow managed in 2009
Latvia needs a break
Zero expectations for Latvia.
If Aminata couldn’t even deliver a decent song, I have no hope for the rest of them.