Latvia was represented by Valters & Kaža in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "The War Is Not Over", written and composed by Mārtiņš Freimanis. It placed tenth in the semi-final and fifth at the Eurovision Final giving Latvia its third-best position ever in the contest.
The format of the competition consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. The semi-finals took place at LTV studios in Riga and the final took place at the Olympic Centre in Ventspils. The three shows were hosted by Elvis Jansons and Ija Circene. The two semi-finals, held on 29 January and 5 February 2005, each featured ten competing entries from which five were selected to advance to the final from each show. The final, held on 26 February 2005, selected the final winner from the ten qualifiers from the semi-finals. Results during the semi-final shows were determined by a jury and votes from the public. In the semi-finals, the songs first faced a public vote where the top three entries qualified. The jury then selected an additional two qualifiers from the remaining entries to proceed in the competition. In the final, a public vote exclusively determined the winner in two rounds: the first round selected the top three songs and the second round selected the winner.
Competing entries
Artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster until 16 November 2004. 64 songs were submitted at the conclusion of the submission period, and an international and local jury panel evaluated the submitted entries and selected 20 entries to compete in the national final. The international jury panel consisted of Alar Kotkas, Amberlife, Michael Cederberg, Ramona Forsström and Edward van de Vendel. The local jury consisted of Jānis Lūsēns, representatives of LTV and representatives of Latvian sound engineers. The twenty competing artists and songs were announced on 2 December 2004. The running order draw for the semi-finals took place on 6 January 2005.
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final took place on 29 January 2005. Five entries qualified to the final. The ten competing entries first faced a public televote where the top three entries qualified. A jury then selected an additional two qualifiers from the remaining entries to proceed in the competition.
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final took place on 5 February 2005. Five entries qualified to the final. The ten competing entries first faced a public televote where the top three entries qualified. A jury then selected an additional two qualifiers from the remaining entries to proceed in the competition.
Final.
The final took place on 26 February 2005. The winner was selected over two rounds of public televoting. In the first round, the top three entries were selected to proceed to the second round: "The War Is Not Over" performed by Valters & Kaža, "In the Heat of the Night" performed by Ksenija and "Sing It! Swing It!" performed by Agnese & Intars. In the second round, "The War Is Not Over" performed by Valters & Kaža was declared the winner.
At Eurovision
Because Latvia failed to qualify in 2004 country was forced to compete in the Eurovision semi-final. They performed 5th, following Moldova and preceding the Monaco "The War Is Not Over" qualified for the final by placing 10th in the semi-final and scoring 85 points. At the Contest final,Latvia performed 23rd, following Switzerland and preceding the France it placed fifth with 153 points.Meaning that Latvia automatically qualified for the final in the 2006 contest.. The spokesperson who revealed Latvia's votes for other countries was the 2002 Contest winner and 2003 Contest host Marie N.
