Laura Rizzotto has won Supernova 2018 and will represent Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon.
The grand final of Supernova 2018 was held tonight in Riga. The eight qualifiers from the three semi-finals competed for the chance to represent Latvia in Lisbon. Former Lativan representatives Ralfs Eilands (2013) and Brainstorm (2000) also performed the during the show.
The competing acts were:
- Sudden Lights — “Just Fine” – 2nd
- Ritvars — “Who’s Counting” – 4th
- MADARA — “Esamība” – 3rd
- Liene Greifane — “Walk the Talk” – 7th
- Lauris Valters — “Lovers Bliss” – 8th
- Edgars Kreilis — “Younger Days” – 6th
- Laura Rizzotto — “Funny Girl” – 1st
- Markus Riva — “This Time” – 5th
A jury, consisting of Ilze Jansone, DJ Rudd, Toms Grēviņš and Jolanta Gulbe accounted for 50% of the vote. The remaining 50% was decided by Spotify streams, phone and text voting.
Supernova was first used to select the Latvian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015. It proved successful, as the act chosen that year, Aminata Savadogo, finished 7th in the final with “Love Injected”. That was Latvia’s first appearance in the final since 2008 and first top 10 placing since 2005.
Latvia will perform in the second half of the second semi-final on May 10th.
Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest
Latvia debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2000, being the last of the Baltic nations to join the contest. On their debut, Brainstorm finished in 3rd place with the song “My Star”. Latvia won the contest for the first and only time in 2002, with Marie N’s “I Wanna”. Latvia only participated in 2002 thanks to the withdrawal of Portugal from the contest, as Latvia’s poor result in 2001 had relegated them from the 2002 contest. Latvia struggled in to the contest after 2002, failing to qualify for the final for six years between 2009 and 2014. In 2015 and 2016 Latvia has finished 6th and 15th in the final respectively.