LTV has announced that the winner of Supernova 2020 will be chosen entirely by public vote alone.
The Latvian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 will be chosen entirely by the public. Contest Producer Ilze Jansone explained that the winner will be determined by SMS, telephone and internet voting alone, but that there will still be a jury present at the show.
The jury which is formed of both Latvian and international jurors will feedback on each of the performances during the show, but they will not have any say in the result. The jurors are:
- Maarja Merivoo-Parro (Estonia) – Content editor for Raadio 2
- Geruta Griniūtė (Lithuania) – LRT Host
- Petri Mannonen (Finland) – Head of Universal Music for the Baltics
- Artis Dvarionas (Latvia) – Radio SWH program producer
The final of Supernova 2020 is set to take place on Saturday 8th February and will be hosted by Toms Grēviņš, Ketija Šēnberga and Beta Beidz. The running order for the show is as follows:
- Celeste – Like Me
- DRIKSNA – Stay
- Katrīna Bindere – I Will Break Your Heart
- Edgars Kreilis – Tridymite
- Katrīna Dimanta – Heart Beats
- Miks Dukurs – I’m Falling For You
- ANNNA – Polyester
- Bad Habits – Sail With You
- Samanta Tīna – Still Breathing
Source: LTV / Image Source: Lauris Vīksne / LTV
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.