Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
participated in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2008
The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcas ...
with the song "Wolves of the Sea" written by Jonas Liberg, Torbjörn Wassenius, Johan Sahlen and Claes Andreasson. The song was performed by the group
Pirates of the Sea
Pirates of the Sea is a musical project that in May 2008 represented Latvia in Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade, Serbia with their song " Wolves of the Sea". It consists of three members: Italian singer Roberto Meloni who is living in Latv ...
. The Latvian broadcaster
Latvijas Televīzija
Latvijas Televīzija (''Latvian Television'', LTV) is the state-owned public service television broadcaster in Latvia. LTV operates two channels, LTV1 in Latvian and LTV7 (previously called LTV2) in Latvian with selected programming in Russian ...
(LTV) organised the national final ''Eirodziesma 2008'' in order to select the Latvian entry for the 2008 contest in
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
, Serbia. Twenty songs were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. In the semi-finals on 2 and 9 February 2008, five entries were selected to advance from each show: three entries selected based on a public televote and two entries selected by an eight-member jury panel. Ten songs ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 1 March 2008 where two rounds of public voting selected "Wolves of the Sea" performed by Pirates of the Sea as the winner.
Latvia was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 22 May 2008. Performing during the show in position 10, "Wolves of the Sea" was announced among the 10 qualifying entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 24 May. It was later revealed that Latvia placed sixth out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 86 points. In the final, Latvia performed in position 14 and placed twelfth out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 83 points.
Background
Prior to the 2008 contest, Latvia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest eight times since its first entry in 2000.
Latvia won the contest once in
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
with the song "
I Wanna" performed by
Marie N
Marija Naumova-Bullīta (born and professionally knows as Marija Naumova 23 June 1973) is a Latvian singer of Russian descent. Under the stage name Marie N, she sings a broad range of music ranging from pop to musical theatre and jazz, and has ...
. Following the
introduction of semi-finals for the
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
, Latvia was able to qualify to compete in the final between 2005 and 2007 including with their
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
entry "Questa notte" performed by
Bonaparti.lv.
The Latvian national broadcaster,
Latvijas Televīzija
Latvijas Televīzija (''Latvian Television'', LTV) is the state-owned public service television broadcaster in Latvia. LTV operates two channels, LTV1 in Latvian and LTV7 (previously called LTV2) in Latvian with selected programming in Russian ...
(LTV), broadcasts the event within Latvia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. LTV confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest on 23 May 2007. Latvia has selected their entries for the Eurovision Song Contest through a national final. Since their debut in 2000, LTV had organised the selection show ''
Eirodziesma
Latvia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 22 times since making its debut at the contest in 2000, where the group Brainstorm finished third with the song " My Star". Latvia won the contest in 2002, with Marie N and the song " I W ...
''. On 2 October 2007, the broadcaster announced that they would organise ''Eirodziesma 2008'' in order to select the Latvian entry for the 2008 contest.
Before Eurovision
Eirodziesma 2008
''Eirodziesma 2008'' was the ninth edition of
Eirodziesma
Latvia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 22 times since making its debut at the contest in 2000, where the group Brainstorm finished third with the song " My Star". Latvia won the contest in 2002, with Marie N and the song " I W ...
, 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 1 March 2008. All shows in the competition were hosted by Uģis Joksts and Kristīne Virsnīte and broadcast on
LTV1 as well as online via the website ''apollo.lv''.
Format
The format of the competition consisted of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. The two semi-finals, held on 2 and 9 February 2008, each featured ten competing entries from which five advanced to the final from each show. The final, held on 1 March 2008, selected the Latvian entry for Belgrade from the remaining ten entries over two rounds of voting: the first round selected the top three songs and the second round (superfinal) selected the winner. Results during the semi-final shows were determined by a jury panel and votes from the public. 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 which entry would be the winner. Viewers were able to vote via telephone or SMS.
Competing entries
Artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 2 October 2007 and 19 November 2007.
88 entries were submitted at the conclusion of the submission period. A jury panel appointed by LTV evaluated the submitted songs and selected twenty entries for the competition. The jury panel consisted of
Sopho Khalvashi
Sopho Khalvashi ( ka, სოფო ხალვაში ; born 31 May 1986 in Batumi, Adjara, Georgia), also sometimes known as simply Sopho, is a Georgian musician of Laz heritage.
Biography
She claimed third prize at the commercial song ...
(
2007 Georgian Eurovision entrant),
4Fun (
2007 Lithuanian Eurovision entrant),
Christer Björkman
Christer Samuel Björkman (; born 25 August 1957) is a Swedish singer and television producer. He represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992 with the song "I morgon är en annan dag". From 2002 to 2021, he served as a producer of Me ...
(Head of Delegation for
Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest and supervisor of
Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen (; literally "the Melody Festival") is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song ...
), Adam Klein (British music manager),
Bonaparti.lv (
2007 Latvian Eurovision entrant) and Kaspars Zavileiskis (music expert and editor at
FHM
''FHM'' (For Him Magazine) is a British multinational men's lifestyle magazine that was published in several countries. Its master edition contained features such as the ''FHM'' 100 Sexiest Women in the World, which has featured models, actres ...
). The twenty competing artists and songs were announced during a press conference on 11 December 2007. Among the artists were Andris Ērglis and
Roberto Meloni
Roberto Meloni (born 20 February 1981 in Rome) is an Italian judoka. Height 1.79m, weight 90 kg
Achievements
External links
*
*
1981 births
Living people
Italian male judoka
Judoka at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Judoka at ...
(member of
Pirates of the Sea
Pirates of the Sea is a musical project that in May 2008 represented Latvia in Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade, Serbia with their song " Wolves of the Sea". It consists of three members: Italian singer Roberto Meloni who is living in Latv ...
) who both represented Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 as part of Bonaparti.lv. It was later revealed that "Wolves of the Sea" had originally been written in
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
for the
2007 edition of Melodifestivalen, titled "Här mellan himmel och jord" and to be performed by the group
Drängarna; however the song was subsequently translated to
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
for ''Eirodziesma'' after being rejected from the former competition.
Shows
= Semi-finals
=
The two semi-finals took place on 2 and 9 February 2008. The live portion of the show was held at the LTV studios in
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
where the artists awaited the results while their performances, which were filmed earlier at the Club Essential in Riga on 21 and 23 January 2008, were screened. In each semi-final ten acts competed and five entries qualified to the final. The competing entries first faced a public vote where the top three songs advanced; an additional two qualifiers were then selected from the remaining seven entries by the jury.
The jury panel that voted in the semi-finals consisted of Ance Krauze (singer and vocal teacher),
Intars Busulis
Intars Busulis (born 2 May 1978 in Talsi, Latvia) is a Latvian singer, trombonist and musician in a Musical Union ''Intars Busulis & Abonementa orķestris.'' Wider recognition came from participation in a band called "Caffe", in 2001''.'' Also, ...
(singer, trombonist and radio host), Māris Žigats (musician and DJ at
Radio SWH), Aivars Hermanis (composer, arranger and producer), Gatis Gaujenieks (producer), Daina Markova (musicologist and content editor at LTV), Ilze Vītoliņa (costume designer) and members of the LTV working group.
Final
The final took place at the Olympic Center in
Ventspils
Ventspils (; german: Windau, ; see other names) is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It ...
on 1 March 2008. The ten entries that qualified from the preceding two semi-finals competed and the winner was selected over two rounds of public televoting. In the first round, the top three songs advanced to the second round, the superfinal. In the superfinal, "Wolves of the Sea" performed by
Pirates of the Sea
Pirates of the Sea is a musical project that in May 2008 represented Latvia in Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade, Serbia with their song " Wolves of the Sea". It consists of three members: Italian singer Roberto Meloni who is living in Latv ...
was declared the winner. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers included
2007 Latvian Eurovision entrant Bonaparti.lv,
2008 Azerbaijani Eurovision entrant Elnur and
Samir
Samir (variantly spelled Sameer) is a male name found commonly in the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. In Arabic, Samir () means holy, jovial, loyal or charming. In Albanian, it translates literally as “so good” but the connotation is clo ...
,
2008 Czech Eurovision entrant Tereza Kerndlová
Tereza Kerndlová (born 6 October 1986 in Brno) is a Czech singer. She rose to fame as a member of the trio Black Milk since 2001. After the trio split in 2005, she started a solo career and released the album ''Orchidej''.
She represented th ...
,
2008 Lithuanian Eurovision entrant Jeronimas Milius
Jeronimas Milius (born 11 October 1984 in Vilnius, Lithuania) is a Lithuanian singer. Since 2003, he has been the leader of the heavy/power metal band '' Soul Stealer'' (formerly ''Soul Brothers'').
Career
Milius was elected to represent his co ...
and
2008 Maltese Eurovision entrant Morena
Morena is the headquarter city of Morena district, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is governed by a municipality corporation. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Chambal division. It is from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.
G ...
.
At Eurovision
It was announced in September 2007 that the competition's format would be expanded to two semi-finals in 2008. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "
Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top nine songs from each semi-final as determined by televoting progress to the final, and a tenth was determined by back-up juries. The
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...
(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 28 January 2008, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals. Latvia was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 22 May 2008. The running order for the semi-finals was decided through another draw on 17 March 2008 and Latvia was set to perform in position 10, following the entry from
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
and before the entry from
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
.
The two semi-finals and the final were broadcast in Latvia on
LTV1 with all shows featuring commentary by Kārlis Streips. The Latvian spokesperson, who announced the Latvian votes during the final, was Kristīne Virsnīte.
Semi-final
Pirates of the Sea took part in technical rehearsals on 14 and 17 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 21 and 22 May. The Latvian performance featured the members of Pirates of the Sea wearing pirate outfits and joined on stage by three backing vocalists. Several props were used for the performance which included antique weapons and swords, skull and cross bones flags, a telescope that created a small display effect showing what was seen on the top right side of the screen when used by one of the performers, and a ship steering wheel. The LED screens displayed large sharks swimming around. The backing vocalists that joined Pirates of the Sea were: Liene Candy, Oskars Zaļkalniņš and Zane Biķe-Slišāne.
At the end of the show, Latvia was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Latvia placed sixth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 86 points.
Final
Shortly after the second semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine the running order of the final. This draw was done in the order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Latvia was drawn to perform in position 14, following the entry from
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
and before the entry from
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
.
Pirates of the Sea once again took part in dress rehearsals on 23 and 24 May before the final. The group performed a repeat of their semi-final performance during the final on 24 May. At the conclusion of the voting, Latvia finished in twelfth place with 83 points.
Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Latvia and awarded by Latvia in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Lithuania in the semi-final and to Russia in the final of the contest.
Points awarded to Latvia
Points awarded by Latvia
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
Hitlisten, also known as Tracklisten, is a Danish top 40 record chart that is updated every Thursday midnight on the website hitlisten.nu. The weekly Danish singles chart Track Top-40 combines the 40 best-selling tracks from legal music downloads ...
. The song was subsequently covered by Scottish
folk metal
Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for exampl ...
band
Alestorm and included on their 2009 album ''
Black Sails at Midnight
''Black Sails at Midnight'' is the second studio album by Scottish heavy metal band Alestorm. As with their first album, all the drums tracks were recorded by session drummer Migo Wagner but touring drummer Ian Wilson added additional percussi ...
'', and in
Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
by South African singer
Willem Botha
Willem () is a Dutch and West FrisianRienk de Haan, ''Fryske Foarnammen'', Leeuwarden, 2002 (Friese Pers Boekerij), , p. 158. masculine given name. The name is Germanic, and can be seen as the Dutch equivalent of the name William in English, Gui ...
as "Hi Hi Ho", which has also been used as a
chant
A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes ...
by fans of the
South Africa national rugby union team
The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jerse ...
, the Springboks, during team matches.
References
{{Eurovision Song Contest 2008
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...