Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001

Latvia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with the song "Too Much" written by Arnis Mednis and Gustavs Terzens. The song was performed by Arnis Mednis. The Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) organised the national final Eirodziesma 2001 in order to select the Latvian entry for the 2001 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark. Ten songs were selected to compete in the national final on 24 February 2001 where a public televote and four thematical jury groups selected "Too Much" performed by Arnis Mednis as the winner.

Eurovision Song Contest 2001
Country Latvia
National selection
Selection processEirodziesma 2001
Selection date(s)24 February 2001
Selected entrantArnis Mednis
Selected song"Too Much"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Arnis Mednis
  • Gustavs Terzens
Finals performance
Final result18th, 16 points
Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2000 2001 2002►

Latvia competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 12 May 2001. Performing during the show in position 9, Latvia placed eighteenth out of the 23 participating countries, scoring 16 points.

Background edit

Prior to the 2001 contest, Latvia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest one time since its first entry in 2000 with the song "My Star" performed by Brainstorm which placed 3rd.[1] The Latvian national broadcaster, Latvijas Televīzija (LTV), broadcasts the event within Latvia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. LTV has selected their entry in 2000 through the national selection show Eirodziesma, a selection procedure that was continued in order to select the Latvian entry for the 2001 contest.

Before Eurovision edit

Eirodziesma 2001 edit

Eirodziesma 2001 was the second edition of Eirodziesma, the music competition that selects Latvia's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The final took place at the LTV studios in Zaķusala, Riga on 24 February 2001, hosted by Horens Stalbe and Dita Torstere and broadcast on LTV1.[2][3]

Competing entries edit

45 entries were submitted for the second edition of Eirodziesma, Eirodziesma 2001, following a submission period and a jury panel appointed by LTV evaluated the submitted songs and selected ten entries for the competition.[4][5] Competing entries were presented to the public on 27 January 2001.[6]

Final edit

The final took place at the LTV studios in Zaķusala, Riga. Ten acts competed and the song with the highest number of votes based on the combination of votes from four thematical jury groups (4/5) and the Latvian public (1/5), "Too Much" performed by Arnis Mednis, was declared the winner.[7][8][9]

Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points
1 Linda Leen and Lauris Reiniks "I Wish I Knew" Lauris Reiniks 32 12,463 8 40 2
2 Tumsa "It's Not the End" Mārtiņš Freimanis 32 8,520 4 36 4
3 Madara Celma and Kristaps Krievkalns "Staying Alive" Kristaps Krievkalns, Madara Celma 9 1,897 1 10 9
4 Yana Kay "Falling Into You" Yana Kay 18 12,390 7 25 7
5 Labvēlīgais tips "Koka klucis Konstantīns" Labvēlīgais tips, Andris Freidenfelds 27 10,899 6 33 6
6 Marija Naumova "Hey, Boy, Follow Me" Marija Naumova 26 35,305 12 38 3
7 Credo "Cita tautasdziesma" Armands Alksnis 7 5,569 3 10 9
8 Gunārs Kalniņš "Diamonds and Pearls" Gunārs Kalniņš, Guntars Račs 18 3,755 2 20 8
9 Shake and Bake "Spirit of Love" Shake and Bake, Jānis Stībelis 31 9,005 5 36 4
10 Arnis Mednis "Too Much" Arnis Mednis, Gustavs Terzens 32 16,994 10 42 1
Detailed Jury Votes
Draw Song Musicians Industry Cultural International Total
1 "I Wish I Knew" 8 7 10 7 32
2 "It's Not the End" 5 12 5 10 32
3 "Staying Alive" 1 2 4 2 9
4 "Falling Into You" 2 5 6 5 18
5 "Koka klucis Konstantīns" 6 6 7 8 27
6 "Hey, Boy, Follow Me" 3 8 3 12 26
7 "Cita tautasdziesma" 4 1 1 1 7
8 "Diamonds and Pearls" 7 3 2 6 18
9 "Spirit of Love" 12 4 12 3 31
10 "Too Much" 10 10 8 4 32
Members of the Jury[10]
Jury Members
Musicians
  • Jānis Lūsēns – composer
  • Raimonds Macats – musician
  • Aigars Krēsla – musician
Music industry personnel
  • Jānis Šipkēvics – programme director of Radio SWH
  • Ojārs Grasmanis – Head of Pasadena Group Promotion”
  • Helvijs Stengrēvics – businessman and musician
Cultural workers
  • Rolands Tjarve – General Director of LTV
  • Dzintris Kolāts – General Director of Latvijas Radio
  • Vija Virtmane – Director of the Cultural Policy Department of the Latvian Ministry of Culture
International members
  • Lars Salls (Denmark) – commercial attaché at the Embassy of Denmark in Latvia
  • Edward van de Vendel (Netherlands) – poet and lyricist
  • Mi Saraskoski (Finland) – producer and music manager

Promotion edit

To promote "Too Much" as the Latvian Eurovision entry, Arnis Mednis performed during the Lithuanian Eurovision national final "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka on 9 March 2001.[11]

At Eurovision edit

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the bottom seven countries in the 2001 contest competed in the final on 12 May 2001.[12] On 21 November 2000, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Latvia was set to perform in position 9, following the entry from Lithuania and before the entry from Croatia.[13] Latvia finished in eighteenth place with 16 points.[14][15]

The show was broadcast in Latvia on LTV1 featuring commentary by Kārlis Streips. The Latvian spokesperson, who announced the Latvian votes during the final, was Renārs Kaupers.

Voting edit

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Latvia and awarded by Latvia in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Estonia in the contest.[16]

References edit

  1. ^ "Latvia Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  2. ^ "Eirodziesma 2001".
  3. ^ "45.Starptautiskais Eirovīzijas dziesmu konkurss". eirovizija.tv.lv (in Latvian). Archived from the original on 21 February 2001. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  4. ^ Bakker, Sietse (17 November 2003). "69 songs for Latvian national final 2004". Esctoday. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  5. ^ "Rules of national competition of the international Eurovision song contest (angliski)". eirovizija.tv.lv. Archived from the original on 2 April 2001. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  6. ^ "トイレつまりeurosong". Archived from the original on 17 April 2001.
  7. ^ "LATVIAN NATIONAL FINAL 2001".
  8. ^ "Oficiālie rezultāti". eirovizija.tv.lv (in Latvian). Archived from the original on 8 April 2001. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  9. ^ "Skatītāju balsojums". eirovizija.tv.lv (in Latvian). Archived from the original on 5 April 2001. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  10. ^ "Konkursa žūrija". eirovizija.tv.lv (in Latvian). Archived from the original on 6 April 2001.
  11. ^ "На "Евровидении" Литву будет представлять группа Skamp". Baltic News Service (in Russian). 12 March 2001.
  12. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2001". EBU. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  13. ^ "RULES OF THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2001" (PDF). Myledbury.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  14. ^ "Final of Copenhagen 2001". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  15. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest". Esc-history.com. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  16. ^ "Latvia 2001". ESC-History. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  17. ^ a b "Results of the Final of Copenhagen 2001". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.