Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
On March 1, 2008, the band Pirates of the Sea was chosen to represent Latvia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Wolves of the Sea". It was placed 12th. It was the last time Latvia had made it to the ESC final until 7 years later, when they finally qualified for the final in 2015 with the song "Love Injected" by Aminata. Before Eurovision. Eirodziesma 2008. Latvia once again selected their entry for the 2008 contest using the Eirodziesma 2008 format. "Eirodziesma 2008" was the ninth edition of Eirodziesma, the  music competition that selects Latvia's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition commenced on 2 February 2008 and concluded with a final on 24 February 2007. Format. The format of the competition consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. The semi-finals took place at LTV studios in Riga and the final took place at the Olympic Centre in Ventspils. The three shows were hosted by Uģis Joksts and Kristīne Virsnīte. The two semi-finals, held on 2 February and 9 February 2008, each featured ten competing entries from which five were selected to advance  to the final from each show. The final, held on 1 March 2008, selected the final winner from the ten qualifiers from the semi-finals. Results during the semi-final shows were determined by a jury and votes from the public. In the semi-finals, the songs first faced a public vote where the top three entries qualified. The jury then selected an additional two qualifiers from the remaining entries to proceed in the competition. In the final, a public vote exclusively determined the winner in two rounds: the first round selected the top three songs and the second round  selected the winner. Competing entries. Artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster until 20 November 2007. 88 songs were submitted at the conclusion of the submission period, and an international and local jury panel evaluated the submitted entries and selected 20 entries to compete in the national final. The international jury panel consisted of Sopho Khalvashi (2007 Georgian Eurovision entrant), 4Fun (2007 Lithuanian Eurovision entrants), Christer Björkman (Head of Delegation for Sweden at Eurovision and supervisor of Melodifestivalen) and Adam Klein (British music manager). The local jury consisted of Bonaparti.lv (2006 Latvian Eurovision entrants) and  Kaspars Zavileiskis (journalist). The twenty competing artists and songs were announced on 11 December 2007. "Wolves of the Sea" has originally been written for the 2007 edition of the Swedish competition Melodifestivalen, where it was submitted in Swedish as "Här mellan himmel och jord" for Swedish group Drängarna. After being rejected for that event it was rewritten by the songwriters into English with the pirate-themed lyrics and submitted for Eirodziesma. Semi-finals. Two semi-finals took place on 2 and 9 February 2008, with five entries qualified to the final from each semi-final. The ten competing entries in  each show first faced a public televote where the top three entries qualified; a jury then selected an additional two qualifiers from the remaining entries to proceed in the competition. Final. The final took place on 1 March 2008. The winner was selected over two rounds of public televoting. In the first round, the top three entries were selected to proceed to the second round. In the second round, "Wolves of the Sea" performed by Pirates of the Sea was declared the winner. At Eurovision. Since Latvia had come in 16th in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 , Pirates of the Sea were obliged to perform their song in one of the two semi-finals of the 2008 contest. The EBU split up countries with a friendly voting history into the two different semi-finals, to give a better chance to other countries to win. On 28 January 2008, the EBU held a special draw which determined that Latvia would be in the second semi-final, held on 22 May 2008. Latvia performed 10th, following Belarus and preceding Croatia. Latvia qualified to the final, placing 6th in the semi-final and scoring 86 points. In the final they  performed 14th, following Portugal and preceding Sweden. They finished 12th with 83 points (including a maximum 12 from Ireland). For the 2008 contest the spokesperson for Latvia was Kristīne Virsnīte. After Eurovision. Following the contest, "Wolves of the Sea" went on to have minor success in European music charts, peaking at number 40 in Denmark's Hitlisten. The song was subsequently covered by Scottish folk metal band Alestorm and included on their 2009 album "Black Sails at Midnight", and in Afrikaans by South African singer Willem Botha as "Hi Hi Ho", which has also been used as a chant by  fans of the South Africa national rugby union team, the Springboks, during team matches.