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Tonight: Latvia to select entry for Moscow

28 February 2009 at 01:03 CET

A lot of discussions had been going on in the last few months whether the Latvian public broadcaster LTV could or should take part in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in the light of the economic crisis, which had hit the Baltic state hard. But, fortunately, a solution was found, and Latvia will be represented in Moscow after all.

However, the national final, Eirodziesma, which should initially comprise three semi-finals and one final, was reduced to just one semi-final and a final, on two consecutive days. Both shows are being broadcast live from the city of Ventspils. The semi-final took place yesterday (you can read more about the show here), and out of twenty candidates, the following ten finalists were picked by televoting:

  • Simply 4 - When The Sun Is Going Down
  • Aisha - Hey
  • Kristīna Zaharova & Annija Putniņa - Angel Of Mine
  • Sabīne Berezina feat. PeR - Bye Bye
  • Iveta Baumane & Ivo Grīsniņš-Grīslis - Tic Tac
  • Intars Busulis - Sastrēgums
  • Natālija Tumševica - Dynamite
  • Camillas - Time Goes
  • Triānas Parks - Call Me Anytime You Need A Problem
  • Ketta - Without You

The winner of tonight's show will be chosen in two steps: First, three super-finalists will be selected by a 50/50 combination of televoting and the votes of an expert jury. Then, in the second round of voting, the Latvian representative for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest will be decided solely by televoting out of the three remaining acts.

Latvia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 2000. Only two years later, Marie N won the Eurovision Song Contest with I Wanna and brought the contest to the Latvian capital Riga. This year, Latvia will take part in the Second Semi-Final of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, to be held on May 14th in Moscow.