Latvia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song „Probka“ written by Kārlis Lācis, Jānis Elsbergs and Sergejs Timofejevs. The song was performed by Intars Busulis. The Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) organised the national final Eirodziesma 2009 in order to select the Latvian entry for the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia. Twenty songs were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final. In the semi-final, ten entries were selected to advance based on a public vote. Ten songs ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 28 February 2009 where two rounds of voting by the public and a five-member jury panel selected „Sastrēgums“ performed by Intars Busulis as the winner. The song was later translated from Latvian to Russian for the Eurovision Song Contest and was titled „Probka“.
Latvia was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 14 May 2009. Performing during the show in position 3, „Probka“ was not among the 10 qualifying entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Latvia placed nineteenth (last) out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 7 points.
Eirodziesma 2009
Eirodziesma 2009 was the tenth edition of Eirodziesma, the music competition that selects Latvia’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition commenced with the semi-final on 27 February 2009 and concluded with a final on 28 February 2009. All shows in the competition took place at the Olympic Center in Ventspils, hosted by Uģis Joksts and Kristīne Virsnīte and broadcast on LTV1 as well as online via the broadcaster’s official Eurovision Song Contest website eirovizija.lv.
Format
The format of the competition consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final. The semi-final, held on 27 February 2009, featured twenty competing entries facing a public vote where the top ten advanced to the final. The final, held on 28 February 2009, selected the Latvian entry for Moscow from the remaining ten entries over two rounds of voting: the first round selected the top three songs as determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and a public vote, and the second round (superfinal) selected the winner exclusively by a public vote. The initial format was to broadcast five shows: three semi-finals each featuring nine competing entries from which three would advance directly to the final, a Second Chance round from which one would proceed to the final. However, such plans was later cancelled. Both the jury and public vote assigned points from 1 to 10 based on ranking in the first round of the final, with the first place receiving one point and last place receiving ten points. Viewers were able to vote via telephone up to five times or via SMS with a single SMS counting as five votes.
Competing entries
Artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 3 November 2008 and 30 November 2008. All artists and songwriters were required to have Latvian citizenship or residency, however foreign collaborations were allowed as long as one-thirds of the composition were by Latvian songwriters. 108 entries were submitted at the conclusion of the submission period. A jury panel appointed by LTV evaluated the submitted songs and selected twenty-one entries for the competition. The jury panel consisted of Daina Markova (musicologist and content editor at LTV), Raimonds Macats (musician and composer), Aivars Hermanis (musician and producer), Ance Krauze (singer and vocal teacher), Dace Pūce (director and producer), Jegors Jerohomovičs (music critic and cultural journalist), Edmunds Kaševskis (producer at Radio SWH) and members of the LTV Eurovision team: Iveta Lepeško, Zita Kaminska, Arvīds Babris, Baiba Saleniece and Uldis Salenieks. The twenty-one competing artists and songs were announced on 9 December 2008. Among the artists was Valters Frīdenbergs who represented Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 as part of Walters and Kazha.
On 12 January 2009, Kristīna Zaharova withdrew „I Wish I Could Pretend“ from the competition in favour of the song competing in the 2009 Irish Eurovision national final. On 13 February 2009, LTV announced that the song „In Love We Trust“ would be performed by Policistas instead of Aisha, Ella and Olga, while the song „Have to Say Goodbye“ would be performed by Astra Dreimane instead of Madara Celma.
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
| Aisha feat. G-Point | „Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey“ | Kjell Jennstig, Leif Golkuhl |
| Astra Dreimane | „Have to Say Goodbye“ | Madara Celma |
| Camillas | „Time Goes“ | Romāns Falkenšteins, Ņina Kovaiko |
| Dace and Frīdis | „Running Around“ | Mārtiņš Freimanis |
| Edijs Šnipke | „Make My Day“ | Edijs Šnipke |
| Fidji | „Don’t Want to Say Goodbye“ | Katrīna Tene, Tarmo Keränen |
| Ginta Ēķe | „Be Yourself“ | Kristaps Krievkalns, Ginta Ēķe |
| Girts Zebuliņš | „Place to Be“ | Andris Barons, Brita Barone, Diāna Dubrovska |
| Intars Busulis | „Sastrēgums“ | Kārlis Lācis, Jānis Elsbergs |
| Iveta Baumane and Ivo Grīsniņš-Grīslis | „Tic Tac“ | Ingars Viļums |
| Johnny Salamander | „Party“ | Jānis Gūža, Meldra Gūža |
| Ketta | „Without You“ | Pavel Murashov |
| Kristīna Zaharova and Annija Putniņa | „Angel of Mine“ | Mārtiņš Freimanis |
| Miks Dukurs | „Aizejot“ | Edijs Dukurs, Miks Dukurs |
| Natālija Tumševica | „Dynamite“ | Mikael Erlandsson |
| Policistas | „In Love We Trust“ | Tomass Kleins, Guntars Račs |
| Sabīne Berezina feat. PeR | „Bye, Bye“ | Markus Riva |
| Simply 4 | „When The Sun Is Going Down“ | Artūrs Palkevičs, Leonīds Jevsejevs, Sergejs Ivanovs |
| Triānas parks | „Call Me Any Time You Need a Problem“ | Aivars Rakovskis, Agnese Rakovska |
| Valters Frīdenbergs | „For a Better Tomorrow“ | Valters Frīdenbergs |
Shows
Semi-final
The semi-final took place on 27 February 2009. Twenty acts competed and the ten entries with the highest number of votes from the public qualified to the final.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Camillas | „Time Goes“ | 1,434 | 8 |
| 2 | Dace and Frīdis | „Running Around“ | 603 | 15 |
| 3 | Girts Zebuliņš | „Place to Be“ | 1,239 | 12 |
| 4 | Johnny Salamander | „Party“ | 399 | 19 |
| 5 | Miks Dukurs | „Aizejot“ | 533 | 16 |
| 6 | Iveta Baumane and Ivo Grīsniņš-Grīslis | „Tic Tac“ | 1,510 | 7 |
| 7 | Ginta Ēķe | „Be Yourself“ | 448 | 18 |
| 8 | Natālija Tumševica | „Dynamite“ | 1,601 | 5 |
| 9 | Triānas parks | „Call Me Any Time You Need a Problem“ | 1,427 | 9 |
| 10 | Intars Busulis | „Sastrēgums“ | 1,730 | 4 |
| 11 | Kristīna Zaharova and Annija Putniņa | „Angel of Mine“ | 2,935 | 1 |
| 12 | Astra Dreimane | „Have to Say Goodbye“ | 316 | 20 |
| 13 | Edijs Šnipke | „Make My Day“ | 719 | 14 |
| 14 | Ketta | „Without You“ | 1,415 | 10 |
| 15 | Policistas | „In Love We Trust“ | 1,401 | 11 |
| 16 | Fidji | „Don’t Want to Say Goodbye“ | 517 | 17 |
| 17 | Aisha feat. G-Point | „Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey“ | 2,564 | 3 |
| 18 | Simply 4 | „When The Sun Is Going Down“ | 2,704 | 2 |
| 19 | Sabīne Berezina feat. PeR | „Bye, Bye“ | 1,559 | 6 |
| 20 | Valters Frīdenbergs | „For a Better Tomorrow“ | 856 | 13 |
Final
The final took place on 28 February 2009. The ten entries that qualified from the semi-final competed and the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, three songs advanced to the second round, the superfinal, based on the combination of votes from a jury panel and the Latvian public. In the superfinal, the song with the highest number of votes from the public, „Sastrēgums“ performed by Intars Busulis, was declared the winner. The jury panel that voted in the final consisted of Daiga Mazvērsīte (musicologist), Jānis Lūsēns (composer), Aivars Hermanis (musician and producer), Jolanta Gulbe (singer and vocal teacher) and Edmunds Kaševskis (producer at Radio SWH).
In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers included participant Kristīna Zaharova, 2004 Latvian Eurovision entrant Fomins and Kleins, 2008 Latvian Eurovision entrant Pirates of the Sea, 2009 Lithuanian Eurovision entrant Sasha Son and 2009 Polish Eurovision entrant Lidia Kopania.
Final – 28 February 2009
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Jury | Televote | Televote | Total | Place |
| Votes | Points | Votes | Points | |||||
| 1 | Simply 4 | „When The Sun Is Going Down“ | 47 | 9 | 5,351 | 2 | 11 | 7 |
| 2 | Aisha feat. G-Point | „Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey“ | 25 | 6 | 4,781 | 4 | 10 | 6 |
| 3 | Kristīna Zaharova and Annija Putniņa | „Angel of Mine“ | 33 | 7 | 6,127 | 1 | 8 | 2 |
| 4 | Sabīne Berezina feat. PeR | „Bye, Bye“ | 39 | 8 | 1,998 | 10 | 18 | 9 |
| 5 | Iveta Baumane and Ivo Grīsniņš-Grīslis | „Tic Tac“ | 48 | 10 | 3,31 | 8 | 18 | 10 |
| 6 | Intars Busulis | „Sastrēgums“ | 6 | 1 | 4,871 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| 7 | Natālija Tumševica | „Dynamite“ | 14 | 2 | 3,376 | 7 | 9 | 3 |
| 8 | Camillas | „Time Goes“ | 19 | 3 | 2,431 | 9 | 12 | 8 |
| 9 | Triānas parks | „Call Me Any Time You Need a Problem“ | 20 | 4 | 3,846 | 6 | 10 | 4 |
| 10 | Ketta | „Without You“ | 24 | 5 | 4,16 | 5 | 10 | 5 |
Detailed Jury Votes
| Draw | Song | Juror 1 | Juror 2 | Juror 3 | Juror 4 | Juror 5 | Total |
| 1 | „When The Sun Is Going Down“ | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 47 |
| 2 | „Hey Hey Hey Hey“ | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 25 |
| 3 | „Angel of Mine“ | 8 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 23 |
| 4 | „Bye, Bye“ | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 33 |
| 5 | „Tic Tac“ | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 48 |
| 6 | „Sastrēgums“ | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 7 | „Dynamite“ | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 14 |
| 8 | „Time Goes“ | 4 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 19 |
| 9 | „Call Me Any Time You Need A Problem“ | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 20 |
| 10 | „Without You“ | 2 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 24 |
Superfinal – 28 February 2009
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
| 1 | Intars Busulis | „Sastrēgums“ | 21,027 | 1 |
| 2 | Natālija Tumševica | „Dynamite“ | 5,662 | 3 |
| 3 | Kristīna Zaharova and Annija Putniņa | „Angel of Mine“ | 19,679 | 2 |
Gallery
