Best of the Bunch: Latvia

Latvia is one of Eurovision’s newer nations, as they made their debut in 2000. They have since participated in 17 contests, and reached 10 finals. Even in their short time in Eurovision (short in the context of the history of Eurovision), they have managed to win the contest in 2002 with Marie N and the song I Wanna.  Their next best result was in their debut year, where Brainstorm reached 3^rd place with the song My Star.

Throughout their 17 contests, Latvia has performed in English 14 of those times. The other three were in 2004, where Fomins and Kleins performed in Latvian, in 2007 when Bonaparti.lv performed in Italian, and lastly, in 2009 when Intars Busulis performed his song in Russian.

Today we begin our Best of the Bunch journey in 2006, and finish up in 2015. After we recap the performances, it’s then your turn to tell us which Latvian entry, or entries, you love the most!

In 2006, Latvia sent the A Cappella group Vocal Group Cosmos to perform the song I Hear Your Heart. A Cappella performances highlight the power of the voice, and this was no exception. The stage performance was interesting, with the robot character, however it wasn’t Europe’s favourite act. Latvia were automatically qualified into the final due to their top 11 finish the previous year, but in the final, they ended up in 16^th place with 30 points.

The following year, Bonaparti.lv were selected to represent Latvia with the song Questa Notte. The song was a moving ballad sung in Italian, and easily qualified through to the final in 5^th position. In the final itself, the group ended up in 16^th place once again, this time with 54 points.

In 2008, one of Latvia’s most colourful and fun groups took to the Eurovision stage. Pirates of the Sea was the name of the group, and the song was called Wolves of the Sea. The group featured Robert Meloni, who was also a part of Bonaparti.lv the year previous. Once again, Latvia sailed into the final, this time in 6^th place, and in the final reached 12^th position with 83 points.

In 2009, the eccentric Intars Busulis was chosen to represent the nation, originally with the song Sastrēgums, however for Eurovision, which was being hosted in Russia, Intars decided to change the language to Russian. Unfortunately for Latvia, it produced one of their worst results, with 19^th place and only 7 points.

The following year, Aisha was selected to represent Latvia with the song What For? It left many thinking, what for in reference to the fact it looked like she was wearing her dressing gown, but regardless of that, unfortunately it didn’t improve Latvia’s results. They ended up in last place once again, at 17^th with 11 points.

The duo Musiqq was up next to perform for Latvia with the song Angel in Disguise. Despite a confident vocal performance, it was yet another song that failed to impact Europe. The song didn’t qualify to the final, and ultimately ended up in 17^th place with 25 points.

In 2012, Anmary came into Eurovision confidently with her song called Beautiful Song. While she was waiting for her song to become a worldwide hit, Europe was busy voting for the other songs, as unfortunately Latvia’s unlucky streak continued, as Anmary ended up in 16^th position with 17 points.

The following year, PeR was selected to fly the Latvian flag, and they opened their semi-final with the upbeat song Here We Go. Despite making a big impact at number 1 in the running order, Europe again wasn’t very impressed, with another last place with 13 points.

In 2014, Latvia had a mission, not only to return to the Eurovision final, but to bake a cake. It was a performance which was totally just adorable, and a song which oozed innocence, however once again Latvia were robbed of a place in the final, however they did inch slightly closer, with this time finishing in 13^th place in the semi-final with 33 points.

We finish our journey in 2015, where Latvia made the comeback of all comebacks. Aminata was chosen by the Latvian public in the national final with the song Love Injected, and was something so modern than it was sure to break the losing streak the nation had in the years previous. The song flew into the final in 2^nd position, and the hopes were high for the final. Aminata did not disappoint, ending up in a very credible 6^th place in the final with 186 points. This was their best result since 2005, where Latvia ended in 5^th place.

Now we’ve look at all the entries, it’s time for you to vote on your favourites! Although Latvia had quite a few years in a row without reaching the final, some of these songs still remain our favourites, and we’re sure you love them too! Vote here: