# Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest

Latvia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 24 times since making its debut at the contest in 2000, where the song "My Star" performed by the group Brainstorm finished third. Latvia won the contest in 2002, with the song "I Wanna" by Marie N, defeating Malta by 12 points. Latvia is the second former Soviet country to win the contest. The 2003 contest was held in the Latvian capital Riga. The country achieved its third top 10 result in 2005, when "The War Is Not Over" by Walters and Kazha finished fifth. The Latvian participant broadcaster in the contest is Latvijas Televīzija (LTV), which select its entrant since 2015 with the national selection Supernova.
Latvia did not participate in the final from 2009 to 2014, when they failed to qualify from the semi-finals for six consecutive years, including finishing last on three occasions, in 2009, 2010, and 2013. Latvia qualified for the final for the first time since 2008 at the 2015 contest with the song "Love Injected" by Aminata. Its sixth place in the final is Latvia's fourth top 10 finish and best result in the contest since 2005. Latvia made its 10th appearance in the final in 2016. After failing to qualify for the final from 2017 to 2023, it finally managed to qualify to the final in the 2024 contest with "Hollow" by Dons.
Latvia has the distinction of having finished last in the Eurovision semi-finals more than any other country. Since its introduction in 2004, Latvia has finished last in five semi-finals, with "Probka" by Intars Busulis (2009), "What For?" by Aisha (2010), "Here We Go" by PeR (2013), "Line" by Triana Park (2017), and "The Moon Is Rising" by Samanta Tīna (2021).

## Participation

Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) is a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 1 January 1993, thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest since then. It has participated in the contest representing Latvia since its 45th edition in 2000.
LTV has chosen all its entrants in the contest through a national final, with the exception of "The Moon Is Rising" performed by Samanta Tīna in 2021. Since 2015, the Latvian national selection is Supernova. Previously, the national selections were Eirodziesma (2000–2012) and Dziesma (2013–2014).

## Participation overview

| Year | Artist | Song | Language | Final | Points | Semi | Points |
| 2000 | Brainstorm | "My Star" | English | 3 | 136 | No semi-finals | No semi-finals |
| 2001 | Arnis Mednis | "Too Much" | English | 18 | 16 | No semi-finals | No semi-finals |
| 2002 | Marie N | "I Wanna" | English | 1 | 176 | No semi-finals | No semi-finals |
| 2003 | F.L.Y. | "Hello from Mars" | English | 24 | 5 | No semi-finals | No semi-finals |
| 2004 | Fomins and Kleins | "Dziesma par laimi" | Latvian | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 17 | 23 |
| 2005 | Walters and Kazha | "The War Is Not Over" | English | 5 | 153 | 10 | 85 |
| 2006 | Vocal Group Cosmos | "I Hear Your Heart" | English | 16 | 30 | Top 11 in 2005 final | Top 11 in 2005 final |
| 2007 | Bonaparti.lv | "Questa notte" | Italian | 16 | 54 | 5 | 168 |
| 2008 | Pirates of the Sea | "Wolves of the Sea" | English | 12 | 83 | 6 | 86 |
| 2009 | Intars Busulis | "Probka" (Пробка) | Russian | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 19 ◁ | 7 |
| 2010 | Aisha | "What For?" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 17 ◁ | 11 |
| 2011 | Musiqq | "Angel in Disguise" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 17 | 25 |
| 2012 | Anmary | "Beautiful Song" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 16 | 17 |
| 2013 | PeR | "Here We Go" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 17 ◁ | 13 |
| 2014 | Aarzemnieki | "Cake to Bake" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 13 | 33 |
| 2015 | Aminata | "Love Injected" | English | 6 | 186 | 2 | 155 |
| 2016 | Justs | "Heartbeat" | English | 15 | 132 | 8 | 132 |
| 2017 | Triana Park | "Line" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 18 ◁ | 21 |
| 2018 | Laura Rizzotto | "Funny Girl" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 12 | 106 |
| 2019 | Carousel | "That Night" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 15 | 50 |
| 2020 | Samanta Tīna | "Still Breathing" | English | Contest cancelled X | Contest cancelled X | Contest cancelled X | Contest cancelled X |
| 2021 | Samanta Tīna | "The Moon Is Rising" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 17 ◁ | 14 |
| 2022 | Citi Zēni | "Eat Your Salad" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 14 | 55 |
| 2023 | Sudden Lights | "Aijā" | English, Latvian | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 11 | 34 |
| 2024 | Dons | "Hollow" | English | 16 | 64 | 7 | 72 |
| 2025 | Tautumeitas | "Bur man laimi" | Latvian | Upcoming † | Upcoming † | Upcoming † | Upcoming † |

## Hostings

| Year | Location | Venue | Presenters |
| 2003 | Riga | Skonto Hall | Marija Naumova and Renārs Kaupers |

## Related involvement
### Heads of delegation

Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the contestants, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others.
| Year | Head of delegation | Ref. |
| 2012–2020 | Zita Kaminska | |
| 2021–2025 | Guntars Gulbiņš | |

### Commentators and spokespersons

| Year | Commentator | Spokesperson |
| 1998 | Kārlis Streips [lv] | Did not participate |
| 1999 | Kārlis Streips [lv] | Did not participate |
| 2000 | Kārlis Streips [lv] | Lauris Reiniks |
| 2001 | Kārlis Streips [lv] | Renārs Kaupers |
| 2002 | Kārlis Streips [lv] | Ēriks Niedra |
| 2003 | Kārlis Streips [lv] | Ģirts Līcis |
| 2004 | Kārlis Streips [lv] | Lauris Reiniks |
| 2005 | Kārlis Streips [lv] | Marie N |
| 2006 | Kārlis Streips [lv] | Mārtiņš Freimanis |
| 2007 | Kārlis Streips [lv] | Janis Šipkevics |
| 2008 | Kārlis Streips [lv] | Kristīne Virsnīte |
| 2009 | Kārlis Streips [lv] | Roberto Meloni |
| 2010 | Kārlis Streips [lv] | Kārlis Būmeisters |
| 2011 | Valters Frīdenbergs (all), Uģis Joksts (final) | Aisha |
| 2012 | Valters Frīdenbergs (all), Kārlis Būmeisters (final) | Valters Frīdenbergs |
| 2013 | Valters Frīdenbergs (all), Kārlis Būmeisters (final) | Anmary |
| 2014 | Valters and Kaža | Ralfs Eilands |
| 2015 | Valters Frīdenbergs (all), Toms Grēviņš (final) | Markus Riva |
| 2016 | Valters Frīdenbergs (all), Toms Grēviņš (final) | Toms Grēviņš |
| 2017 | Valters Frīdenbergs (all), Toms Grēviņš (final) | Aminata Savadogo |
| 2018 | Toms Grēviņš (all), Magnuss Eriņš (final) | Dagmāra Legante |
| 2019 | Toms Grēviņš (all), Ketija Šēnberga (final) | Laura Rizzotto |
| 2021 | Toms Grēviņš (all), Marija Naumova (final) | Aminata Savadogo |
| 2022 | Toms Grēviņš (all), Lauris Reiniks (final) | Samanta Tīna |
| 2023 | Toms Grēviņš (all), Lauris Reiniks (final) | Jānis Pētersons |
| 2024 | Toms Grēviņš (all), Lauris Reiniks (final) | Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis |
* Karlis Streips is the first Latvian Eurovision commentator in history. He provided Eurovision Song Contest commentary until 2010
* Valters Frīdenbergs was lead commentator from 2011 until his illness in 2017 and death in 2018
* Toms Grēviņš has been lead Latvian commentator since 2018

## Photo gallery

* Bonaparti.lv performing "Questa notte" in Helsinki (2007)
* Pirates of the Sea performing "Wolves of the Sea" in Belgrade (2008)
* Aisha in Oslo (2010)
* Musiqq performing "Angel in Disguise" in Düsseldorf (2011)
* PeR performing "Here We Go" in Malmö (2013)
* Aarzemnieki performing "Cake to Bake" in Copenhagen (2014)
* Aminata performing "Love Injected" in Vienna (2015)
* Justs performing "Heartbeat" in Stockholm (2016)
* Triana Park performing "Line" in Kyiv (2017)
* Laura Rizzotto performing "Funny Girl" in Lisbon (2018)
* Citi Zēni performing "Eat Your Salad" in Turin (2022)
* Sudden Lights performing "Aijā" in Liverpool (2023)
* Dons performing "Hollow" in Malmö (2024)