Latvia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden. The Latvian entry was selected through a national selection, consisting of two semi-finals and a final, organised by the Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija. PeR represented Latvia with the song "Here We Go", which failed to qualify from the second semi-final of the competition, placing 17th and scoring 13 points.
The format of the competition consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. The semi-finals took place at Palladium Concert Hall in Riga and the final took place at the Jūras vārti Theatre in Ventspils. The three shows were hosted by Mārtiņš Meiers, Madara Botmane and Anta Aizupe. The two semi-finals, held on 8 February and 9 February 2013, each featured twelve competing entries from which six were selected to advance to the final from each show. The winning song in the final, held on 16 February 2013, was selected over two rounds of voting: the first round results selected the top three songs and the second round decided the winner from those three songs. Results during the semi-final and final shows were determined by a jury panel and votes from the public. The jury vote was calculated by having each member of the jury rank each song from first to twelfth. The song that came in first place would get one point, while the song that came in last place would get twelve points. These results were combined with the public vote which ranked the songs based on the number of televotes each entry received. Therefore, the song with the fewest points would achieve first place.
Competing entries
Artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 19 October2012 and 30 November 2012. Songwriters of any nationality were allowed to submit entries, but songs were required to be performed by citizens of Latvia. A record number of 122 songs were submitted at the conclusion of the submission period. A jury panel evaluated the submitted entries and selected 20 songs for the competition. The twenty competing songs and their authors were announced on 11 December 2012, and were released online in their demo versions. Songwriters had until 14 January 2013 to nominate the performers of their songs. The twenty competing artists were announced on 15 January 2013. The allocation and running order for the semi-finals were announced on 15 January 2013.
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final took place on 8 February 2013. Twelve of the competing entries performed, and five qualified to the final via a combination of votes from a jury panel and the Latvian public. The jury panel that voted in the first semi-final consisted of Aija Strazdiņa, Aija Vītoliņa, Ieva Rozentāle, Lara Bellerose, Ģirts Lūsis, Valters Pūce, Jegors Jerohomovičs, Kārlis Auzāns and Jānis Palkavnieks.
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final took place on 9 February 2013. Twelve of the competing entries performed, and five qualified to the final via a combination of votes from a jury panel and the Latvian public. The jury panel that voted in the first semi-final consisted of Aija Strazdiņa, Aija Vītoliņa, Lara Bellerose, Vineta Elksne, Ģirts Lūsis, Valters Frīdenbergs, Anmary, Valters Pūce and Jegors Jerohomovičs.
Final
The final took place on 16 February 2013. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and the Latvian public determined the top three entries to proceed to the superfinal: "I Am Who I Am" performed by Marta Ritova, "I Need a Hero" performed by Samanta Tīna and "Here We Go" performed by PeR. In the superfinal, the winner, "Here We Go" performed by PeR was selected by the public and jury vote. The jury panel that voted in the both rounds of the final consisted of Aija Strazdiņa, Vineta Elksne, Ieva Rozentāle, Ģirts Lūsis, Sandris Vanzovičs, Kārlis Auzāns, Jānis Stībelis, Valters Pūce and Ott Lepland. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers included 2012 Latvian representative Anmary, 2012 Estonian representative Ott Lepland, Labvēlīgais Tips, DaGamba, Vineta Elksne, Dons and Jānis Stībelis.
At Eurovision
Latvia was allocated to compete in the first semi-final on 14 May for a place in the final on 18 May. In the second semifinal, the producers of the show decided that Latvia would open the semi-final and perform 1st, preceding San Marino. Latvia failed to qualify from the second semi-final of the competition, placing last and scoring 13 points.
