Samanta Tīna has spent part of this week in the recording studio working on the song she will perform at Eurovision 2021.
Between October 14 and 15 Samanta Tīna took part in a songwriting camp organised by Riga Live. The aim of the camp was to create the song that Samanta will perform for Latvia at next years Eurovision Song Contest.
Among the participants of the camp was Aminata who represented Latvia at Eurovision 2015. Other participants included Kaspars Ansons, Arnis Račinskis (Producer of “I’m Still Breathing”), Niklavs Sekac, Alise Joste and others.
Samanta Tīna was internally selected by LTV to represent Latvia at Eurovision 2021. She had won Supernova earlier this year winning the right to represent Latvia at Eurovision 2020, the 2020 contest was subsequently cancelled due to COVID-19.
Who Is Samanta Tīna?
Samanta Poļakova, better known as Samanta Tīna, was born on March 31 1989 in Tukums in western Latvia. She first came to public attention after winning the music show O!Kartes akadēmija, which allowed her to study in the Tech Music School in London.
Samanta has attempted to compete at Eurovision on a number of occasions. In 2012, she finished second in Eirodziesma, performing the song “I Want You Back” along with Dāvids Kalandija. In 2013, she finished second as solo artist with the song “I Need a Hero”. The same year, she took part in the Lithuanian national selection with Vudis performing “Hey Chiki – Mama”, which did not advance from the first heat.
In 2016, Samanta participated in Supernova with two songs. “We Live for Love” did not advance from the first heat. “The Love Is Forever” advanced to the semi-final from the second heat. After performing in the semi-final, Samanta decided to withdraw. In 2017, she participated in the Lithuanian national selection with Tadas Rimgaila. Their song “Tavo oda” did not advance from the first heat. Last year, Samanta finished 7th in the final of Supernova with “Cutting the Wire”.
Image Source: LTV – Lauris Viksne / Source: TVNet.lv
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.
