Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Latvia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) organized the national final "Supernova 2018" in order to select the Latvian entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. Background. Prior to the 2018 contest, Latvia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest eighteen 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 2017, Latvia was represented by Triana Park and the song "Line", but the country did not qualify for the final. The Latvian national broadcaster, Latvijas Televīzija (LTV), 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 2018, LTV announced that the "Supernova" format would return once again to select the Latvian entry. Before Eurovision. Section::::"Supernova 2018". "Supernova 2018" was the fourth edition of Supernova, the music competition that selects Latvia's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition commenced on 3 February 2018 and concluded with a final on 24 February 2018. All shows in the competition were broadcast on LTV1 as well as online via the streaming platform "Replay.lv", the official Supernova website "supernova.lsm.lv" and at "lsm.lv" with commentary by Toms Grēviņš and Edgars Bāliņš. Format. The format of the competition consisted of  four shows: three semi-finals and a final. The four shows took place at Riga Film Studio in Riga and were hosted by 2016 Latvian Eurovision entrant Justs Sirmais and Dagmāra Legante. LTV broadcast two introductory shows on 25 January and 1 February 2018 that covered the background preparation processes and performer auditions that occurred prior to the competition. The three semi-finals, held on 3, 10 and 17 February 2018, each featured seven competing entries from which two advanced to the final from each show. LTV also reserved the right to advance a wildcard act to the final from  the remaining non-qualifying entries in the semi-finals. The final, held on 24 February 2018, selected the Latvian entry for Lisbon from the remaining six entries. Results during the all shows were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and votes from the public. In the semi-finals, the jury vote was calculated by having each juror assign points from 1 to 7 based on individual ranking, with the first place receiving one point and last place receiving seven points. The public vote also assigned points from 1 to 7 based on the number of  votes each entry received, with the first place receiving one point and last place receiving seven points. In the final, both the jury and public assigned points from 1 to 8, with the first place receiving one point and last place receiving eight points. Viewers were able to vote via telephone or via SMS. The online vote conducted through the official "Supernova" website allowed users to vote once per each accepted social network account: Draugiem.lv, Facebook and Twitter. Votes conducted through Spotify were based on unique listener counts, with each stream counting as one vote for each entry. The jury  participated in each show by providing feedback to the competing artists and selecting entries to advance in the competition. The panel consisted of: Competing entries. Artists and songwriters were able to submit their applications and entries to the broadcaster between 6 September 2017 and 15 October 2017. 93 songs were submitted for the competition at the conclusion of the submission period. A jury panel appointed by LTV evaluated the submitted songs and shortlisted 63 entries for an online vote. The jury panel consisted of Ilze Jansone (Supernova producer), Toms Grēviņš (radio DJ and journalist), Rūdolfs Budze–DJ Rudd and Jolanta  Gulbe. The online vote ran between 18 October 2017 and 29 October 2017, enabling users to listen to the 63 entries while the performers remained anonymous and rate the songs by either selecting the "Like" or "Dislike" option for each entry. However, the voting only provided consultation on which entries should be selected; the jury made the ultimate decisions. The performer auditions took place on 5 November 2017 at the Alfa Park in Riga and featured 33 entries from the initial 63 that had been shortlisted. The twenty-one selected performers and songs were determined on 9 November 2017 and  all relevant parties were informed. The twenty-one competing artists and songs were announced on 6 December 2017. Semi-finals. Three semi-finals took place on 3, 10 and 17 February 2018. In each semi-final seven entries competed and the top two songs qualified to the final via a 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and the Latvian public. One jury wildcard was also awarded to one of the remaining non-qualifying entries in the semi-finals, which also advanced to the final. Due to internal technical errors in the online vote, "This Time" performed by Markus  Riva, which originally did not qualify, was later allowed by the producers to also advance. Each show featured a guest juror in addition to the three regular jury members: 2017 Latvian Eurovision entrant as part of Triana Park Agnese Rakovska was a guest juror for semi-final 1; 2013 Latvian Eurovision entrant as part of PeR Ralfs Eilands was a guest juror for semi-final 2; and 2010 Latvian Eurovision entrant Aija Andrejeva was a guest juror for semi-final 3. In addition to the competing entries, the shows also featured guest performances. Dons, 2010 Latvian Eurovision entrant Aija Andrejeva , 2015 Latvian Eurovision entrant Aminata, 2016 Latvian Eurovision entrant Justs Sirmais and Agnese Rakovska featured in semi-final 1; DJ Rudd, Māra Upmanis-Holstein and 2011 Latvian Eurovision entrants Musiqq featured in semi-final 2; and Aija Andrejeva and 2017 Latvian Eurovision entrants Triana Park featured in semi-final 3. Final. The final took place on 24 February 2018. Petri Mannonen was a guest juror for the final. The seven entries that qualified from the semi-final and the wildcard qualifier, "Just Fine" performed by Sudden Lights, competed. The song with the highest number of votes from the jury and  the public, "Funny Girl" performed by Laura Rizzotto, was declared the winner. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show featured guest performances by 2000 Latvian Eurovision entrants Brainstorm, 2006 Latvian Eurovision entrants as part of Cosmos Instrumenti, 2013 Latvian Eurovision entrant as part of PeR Ralfs Eilands, 2009 Latvian Eurovision entrant Intars Busulis, 2016 Latvian Eurovision entrant Justs Sirmais and Dagmāra Legante. At Eurovision. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) 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 (EBU) 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 29 January 2018, 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 second semi-final, to be held on 10  May 2018, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2018 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 14, following the entry from Hungary and preceding the entry from Sweden. Voting. Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and  the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well  as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final. Detailed voting results. The following members comprised the Latvian jury: