Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017
Latvia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Line" written by Agnese Rakovska, Kristaps Ērglis, Kristians Rakovskis. The song was performed by Triana Park. The Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija organized the national final Supernova 2017 in order to select the Latvian entry for the 2017 contest in Kiev, Ukraine. 22 songs were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of four shows: two heats, one semi-final and a final. In the heats and the semi-final, four entries were selected to advance from each show: two entries - based on a public televote and two entries by a jury panel. Four songs ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 26 February 2017 where a public vote exclusively selected the winner.
Latvia was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 2017. Performing as the closing entry during the show in position 18, "Line" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final.
Background
Prior to the 2017 Contest, Latvia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest seventeen times since its first entry in 2000. Latvia won the contest once in 2002 with the song "I Wanna" performed by Marie N. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the, Latvia was able to qualify to compete in the final between 2005 and 2008. Between 2009 and 2014, the nation had failed to qualify to the final for six consecutive years. In the 2015 contest, Latvia managed to qualify to the final with the song "Love Injected" performed by Aminata, which placed 6th in the final, scoring 186 points, giving them their best placing since 2005. In 2016, Latvia managed to qualify to the final and place 15th with the song "Heartbeat" performed by Justs.The Latvian national broadcaster, Latvijas Televīzija, broadcasts the event within Latvia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Latvia has selected their entries for the Eurovision Song Contest through a national final. Since their debut in 2000 until 2012, LTV had organised the selection show Eirodziesma. In a response to the nation's failure to qualify to the final at Eurovision since 2008, between 2013 and 2014, the competition was rebranded and retooled as Dziesma. However, after failing to produce successful entries those two years, LTV developed the Supernova national final in order to select their 2015 entry. The competition produced two Latvian entries in 2015 and 2016 that managed to qualify the nation to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2017, LTV announced that the Supernova format would return once again to select the Latvian entry.
Before Eurovision
''Supernova 2017''
Supernova 2017 was the third edition of Supernova, the music competition that selects Latvia's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition producer Ilze Jansone stated that the goal of Supernova, as in the previous two years, is to find a competitive song and artist with potential for international success. The competition commenced on 5 February 2017 and concluded with a final on 26 February 2017.Format
The format of the competition consisted of four shows: two heats, one semi-final and a final. The four shows took place at LTV Studio 6 in Riga. LTV broadcast two introductory shows on 22 and 29 January 2017 that covered the background preparation processes and performer auditions that occurred prior to the competition. The competing entries were announced during the second introductory show on 29 January. The two heats, held on 5 and 12 February 2017, featured between eight and ten competing entries from which four were selected to advance to the semi-final from each show. The semi-final, held on 19 February 2017, featured the eight qualifiers from the heats from which the top four were to proceed to the final. The final, held on 26 February 2017, selected the Latvian entry for Kiev from the remaining four entries.Results during the heats and the semi-final shows were determined by a jury panel and votes from the public. In the heats and the semi-final, the songs first faced a public vote from which the top two entries were selected. 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 which entry would be the winner.
Competing entries
Artists and songwriters were able to submit their applications and song entries separately to the broadcaster between 17 August 2016 and 28 October 2016. Local and international jury panels were appointed by LTV for the selection process. The international jury panel evaluated the submitted songs between 28 October and 10 November 2016 and only provided consultation on which entries would be selected; the local jury made the ultimate decisions. The international jury panel consisted of Petri Mannonen, Matthias Mueller, Fruzsina Szép and Joy Deb. The local jury shortlisted artists for auditions that took place on 15 and 22 November 2016 at LTV Studio 6. The selected performers and songs were determined by 12 December 2016 and all relevant parties were informed. The competing artists and songs were announced during a press conference held on 13 January 2017.| Artist | Song ' | Composer |
| Anna Zankovska | "Rage Love" | Anna Zankovska, Agnese Upleja |
| Crime Sea | "Escape" | Crime Sea, Marija Mickeviča |
| Edgars Kreilis | "We Are Angels" | Edgars Kreilis |
| First Question | "Naked" | Mikus Tillers |
| Franco Franco | "Up" | Kristīne Vaksa, Reinis Kārkliņš, Mārtiņš Spuris, Elizabete Vētra |
| Katrīna Cīrule | "Blood Runs Quicker" | Katrīna Cīrule |
| Katrine Lukins | "Silhouette" | Katrine Lukins, Kārlis Indrišonoks, Andris Lūkins |
| Laura Lo & Chris Oak | "Little Weird" | Laura Ločmele |
| Lauris Valters | "Magic Years" | Lauris Valters |
| Linda Leen | "Who Is In Charge" | Linda Leen |
| Markus Riva | "Dynamite" | Markus Riva |
| Miks Dukurs | "Spiritual Priest" | Gints Smukais, Edijs Dukurs |
| Miks Galvanovskis | "Runaway" | Miks Galvanovskis |
| My Radiant You | "All I Know" | Jānis Driksna |
| Pikaso | "U " | Jānis Lipšāns, Jānis Aišpurs, Arnis Račinskis |
| Rock’n’Berries | "Feel the Love" | Reinis Ašmanis, Oskars Millers, Jānis Narbuts |
| Santa Daņeļeviča | "Your Breath" | Santa Daņeļeviča |
| THE HiQ | "Taju ot lyubvi" ' | Kristaps Čimbars |
| The Ludvig | "I'm In Love With You" | Jēkabs Ludvigs Kalmanis |
| Toms Kalderauskis | "We Won’t Back Down" | Gints Stankevičs, Kerija Kalēja |
| Triana Park | "Line" | Agnese Rakovska, Kristaps Ērglis, Kristians Rakovskis |
| UP | "One by One" | Agnese Upleja |
Shows
Heat 1
The first heat took place on 5 February 2017. The eleven competing entries first faced a public vote where the top two songs advanced: "Magic Years" performed by Lauris Valters and "Who's In Charge" performed by Linda Leen. An additional two qualifiers were selected from the remaining nine entries by the jury: "Up" performed by Franco Franco and "Spiritual Priest" performed by Miks Dukurs.Heat 2
The first heat took place on 12 February 2017. The eleven competing entries first faced a public vote where the top two songs advanced: "All I Know" performed by My Radiant You and "Line" performed by Triana Park. An additional two qualifiers were selected from the remaining nine entries by the jury: "Your Breath" performed by Santa Daņeļeviča and "I'm In Love With You" performed by The Ludvig.Semi-final
The semi-final took place on 19 February 2017. The remaining eight competing entries first faced a public vote where the top two songs advanced: "I'm In Love With You" performed by The Ludvig and "Line" performed by Triana Park. An additional two qualifiers were selected from the remaining four entries by the jury: "All I know" performed by My Radiant You and "Your Breath" performed by Santa Daņeļeviča.Final
The final took place on 26 February 2017. The four entries that qualified from the semi-final competed. The song with the highest number of votes from the public was declared the winner.At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2017, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Latvia was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 9 May 2017, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.Once all the competing songs for the 2017 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Latvia was set to perform in position 18, closing the show and following Slovenia.
Semi-final
Triana Park took part in technical rehearsals on 1 May and 5 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 8 and 9 May. This included the jury show on 8 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.At the end of the show, Latvia was not announced among the top 10 entries in the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Latvia placed last in the semi-final, receiving a total of 21 points: 20 points from the televoting and 1 point from the juries.