In a packed weekend full of Eurovision shows, Latvia hosted their one and only semi-final to shrink the pack from seventeen artists down to only ten.
Sixteen semi-finalists were announced on January 5th and included a number of former Eurovision artists such as Aminata, Marat Ogleznev, and Emil Balcer (both members of Musiqq). Then shortly after the announcement broadcaster LTV opened a wildcard competition to allow one extra artist into the competition, which was won by former Supernova participant Miks Galbamovskis.
The running order for the semi-final was decided on January 28th and would see fan favorite Citi Zēni openning the show, and indie group Inspo closing. The full running order was as follows:
- Citi Zēni – “Eat Your Salad”
- Miks Dukurs – “First Love”
- Linda Rušeniece – “Pay My Own Bills”
- Elīna Gluzunova – “Es Pabiju Tur” (I was there)
- RAUM – “Plans”
- Patriks Peterson – “Can’t Get You Outta My Head”
- Mēs Jūs Mīlam – “Rich Itch”
- KATŌ – “Promises”
- Miks Galvanovskis – “I’m Just A Sinner”
- Markus Riva – “If You’re Gonna Love Me”
- the COCO’NUTS – “In and Out of the Dark”
- Aminata – “I’m Letting You Go”
- Bermudu Divstūris – “Bad”
- Beatrise Heislere – “On the Way Home”
- Zelma – “How”
- BUJĀNS – “He, She, You & Me”
- Inspo – “A Happy Place”
The night was filled with a number of strong vocal performances across the semi-final and featured a variety of genres, staging concepts, and performance styles. Unfortunately, former Eurovision artist Aminata did perform remotely from home due to her positive COVID-19 test. If you missed the performances you watch them again on the LTV Supernova YouTube channel.
For those who have followed Supernova annually, the Riga Beaver sadly did not make an appearance during tonight’s show.
The qualifiers for the Supernova final
Tonight’s qualifiers were selected using a 50/50 voting mix of both jury and public televote. The jury was comprised of representatives from the Latvian music industry, the events and TV industry, and foreign jury members as well. It is important to note that LTV does reserve the right to advance one of the eliminated artists to the final should they choose to.
At the end of the night, the results were revealed, and the following acts qualified for the grand final on February 12th in no particular order:
- Citi Zēni
- Linda Rušeniece
- Elīna Gluzunova
- RAUM
- Mēs Jūs Mīlam
- Miks Galvanovskis
- BUJĀNS
- Aminata
- Bermudu Divstūris
- Inspo
These lucky ten artists will go head to head again next weekend to decide who will represent Latvia in the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest held in Turin, Italy. Latvia was last represented by Samanta Tīna and her song “The Moon is Rising”, which ended in last place during the semi-finals in Rotterdam.
What do #YOU think of tonight’s qualifiers in Latvia? Let us know on social media @ESCUnited, on our discord, or on our forum page!
