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Musiqq making music for Latvia

26 April 2011 at 15:28 CEST

Latvia had a fairly lengthy selection process this year, with two semi-finals and a second chance round before eleven songs competed in their national final Eirodziesma on the 26th of February. A mixture of televoting and a specially formed jury determined which three songs would proceed to a further "superfinal"  and from that the Musiqq emerged as the winner with their song Angel In Disguise. You can watch their entry below, and watch our interview with the duo.

Who are Musiqq? 

Musiqq [mjuzi:k] is an R'n'B/Soul/Hip-Hop duet which consists of Marats Ogleznevs, who is the music author and the producer of the group, and Emils Balceris – the lead vocalist.

Marats began his career in music as a member of the band Device, in the framework of which three albums were released, cooperation with popular musicians was established and concerts all around Latvia were organised. However, the group ended their existence after 10 years of cooperation. Marats was the music author and the lyricist of the group.

Emils was a laureate of many local and international competitions of young performers. And his successful participation in the TV3 show Koru Kari (Clash of the Choirs), where Emils represented the Red Liepaja Choir, earned him an instant recognition. At the moment, Emils is a student in Form 12 of Liepaja district Grobina Secondary School.

Cooperation of both artists began in 2009 through media mediation – Marats noticed Emils while he was performing a song on the LTV broadcast programme Sems. After the broadcast, Marats offered him to collaborate. As a result, four songs were recorded during their first meeting and they decided to launch a project – Musiqq.

Latvia won Europe's favourite TV-show in 2002 with I Wanna sung by Marie N. They last qualified for the Final in 2008. This year Latvia is drawn at position seventeen in the second Semi-Final taking place in the Düsseldorf arena on 12th May.

Can they bring a return of fortune for Latvia in the contest with Angel In Disguise?