Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Supernova 2018 was the fourth edition of Supernova, the music competition that selects Latvia's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest.[3] The competition commenced on 3 February 2018 and concluded with a final on 24 February 2018.[4][5] All shows in the competition were broadcast on LTV1 as well as online via the streaming platform Replay.lv, the official Supernova website supernova.lsm.lv and at lsm.lv with commentary by Toms Grēviņš and Edgars Bāliņš.[6]

The format of the competition consisted of four shows: three semi-finals and a final. The four shows took place at Riga Film Studio in Riga and were hosted by 2016 Latvian Eurovision entrant Justs Sirmais and Dagmāra Legante. LTV broadcast two introductory shows on 25 January and 1 February 2018 that covered the background preparation processes and performer auditions that occurred prior to the competition. The three semi-finals, held on 3, 10 and 17 February 2018, each featured seven competing entries from which two advanced to the final from each show. LTV also reserved the right to advance a wildcard act to the final from the remaining non-qualifying entries in the semi-finals. The final, held on 24 February 2018, selected the Latvian entry for Lisbon from the remaining six entries.

Results during the all shows were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and votes from the public.[7] In the semi-finals, the jury vote was calculated by having each juror assign points from 1 to 7 based on individual ranking, with the first place receiving one point and last place receiving seven points. The public vote also assigned points from 1 to 7 based on the number of votes each entry received, with the first place receiving one point and last place receiving seven points. In the final, both the jury and public assigned points from 1 to 8, with the first place receiving one point and last place receiving eight points. Viewers were able to vote via telephone or via SMS. The online vote conducted through the official Supernova website allowed users to vote once per each accepted social network account: Draugiem.lv, Facebook and Twitter. Votes conducted through Spotify were based on unique listener counts, with each stream counting as one vote for each entry.[8]

The jury participated in each show by providing feedback to the competing artists and selecting entries to advance in the competition. The panel consisted of:

• Rūdolfs Budze–DJ Rudd – DJ and producer
• Jolanta Gulbe – jazz singer
• Jānis Lūsēns – composer

Artists and songwriters were able to submit their applications and entries to the broadcaster between 6 September 2017 and 15 October 2017.[3] 93 songs were submitted for the competition at the conclusion of the submission period. A jury panel appointed by LTV evaluated the submitted songs and shortlisted 63 entries for an online vote. The jury panel consisted of Ilze Jansone (Supernova producer), Toms Grēviņš (radio DJ and journalist), Rūdolfs Budze–DJ Rudd and Jolanta Gulbe.[9] The online vote ran between 18 October 2017 and 29 October 2017, enabling users to listen to the 63 entries while the performers remained anonymous and rate the songs by either selecting the "Like" or "Dislike" option for each entry.[10] However, the voting only provided consultation on which entries should be selected; the jury made the ultimate decisions. The performer auditions took place on 5 November 2017 at the Alfa Park in Riga and featured 33 entries from the initial 63 that had been shortlisted. The twenty-one selected performers and songs were determined on 9 November 2017 and all relevant parties were informed. The twenty-one competing artists and songs were announced on 6 December 2017.[7][11]

Three semi-finals took place on 3, 10 and 17 February 2018. In each semi-final seven entries competed and the top two songs qualified to the final via a 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and the Latvian public. One jury wildcard was also awarded to one of the remaining non-qualifying entries in the semi-finals, which also advanced to the final.[12] Due to internal technical errors in the online vote, "This Time" performed by Markus Riva, which originally did not qualify, was later allowed by the producers to also advance.[13]

Each show featured a guest juror in addition to the three regular jury members: 2017 Latvian Eurovision entrant as part of Triana Park Agnese Rakovska was a guest juror for semi-final 1; 2013 Latvian Eurovision entrant as part of PeR Ralfs Eilands was a guest juror for semi-final 2; and 2010 Latvian Eurovision entrant Aija Andrejeva was a guest juror for semi-final 3.

In addition to the competing entries, the shows also featured guest performances. Dons, 2010 Latvian Eurovision entrant Aija Andrejeva, 2015 Latvian Eurovision entrant Aminata, 2016 Latvian Eurovision entrant Justs Sirmais and Agnese Rakovska featured in semi-final 1; DJ Rudd, Māra Upmanis-Holstein and 2011 Latvian Eurovision entrants Musiqq featured in semi-final 2; and Aija Andrejeva and 2017 Latvian Eurovision entrants Triana Park featured in semi-final 3.

The final took place on 24 February 2018. Petri Mannonen was a guest juror for the final. The seven entries that qualified from the semi-final and the wildcard qualifier, "Just Fine" performed by Sudden Lights, competed. The song with the highest number of votes from the jury and the public, "Funny Girl" performed by Laura Rizzotto, was declared the winner.[15][16][17] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the show featured guest performances by 2000 Latvian Eurovision entrants Brainstorm, 2006 Latvian Eurovision entrants as part of Cosmos Instrumenti, 2013 Latvian Eurovision entrant as part of PeR Ralfs Eilands, 2009 Latvian Eurovision entrant Intars Busulis, 2016 Latvian Eurovision entrant Justs Sirmais and Dagmāra Legante.[18]

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

The following members comprised the Latvian jury:[23]

• Valters Pūce (jury chairperson) – composer, musician, producer, conductor, music educator
• Mārtiņš Makreckis (Makree) – music producer, songwriter
• Aminata Savadogo (Aminata) – singer, songwriter, music producer, model, represented Latvia in the 2015 Contest
• Annija Putniņa – singer, actress, head of musical theatre department in Riga Cathedral Choir School
• Agnese Cimuška – CEO at Music Export Latvia

Detailed voting results from Latvia (Semi-final 2)[21]

Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		V. Pūce	Makree	Aminata	A. Putniņa	A. Cimuška	Average Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Norway	3	6	9	4	10	6	5	7	4
02	Romania	12	4	5	12	9	8	3	15
03	Serbia	11	12	11	5	6	11		14
04	San Marino	15	11	14	17	15	17		17
05	Denmark	13	13	17	13	11	16		4	7
06	Russia	16	14	4	15	17	12		1	12
07	Moldova	7	7	7	7	2	5	6	3	8
08	Netherlands	1	3	2	6	12	3	8	10	1
09	Australia	4	2	3	2	3	1	12	9	2
10	Georgia	6	5	16	9	8	9	2	6	5
11	Poland	14	17	13	8	7	13		12
12	Malta	2	8	10	1	13	4	7	13
13	Hungary	9	15	8	11	16	14		8	3
14	Latvia
15	Sweden	17	1	1	10	1	2	10	5	6
16	Montenegro	8	9	15	16	14	15		16
17	Slovenia	5	16	12	3	4	7	4	11
18	Ukraine	10	10	6	14	5	10	1	2	10

Detailed voting results from Latvia (Final)[22]

Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		V. Pūce	Makree	Aminata	A. Putniņa	A. Cimuška	Average Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Ukraine	18	10	12	18	12	18		8	3
02	Spain	26	14	25	16	15	23		25
03	Slovenia	14	26	24	1	13	10	1	22
04	Lithuania	3	6	16	8	6	7	4	1	12
05	Austria	13	3	2	10	8	4	7	19
06	Estonia	1	8	8	12	5	3	8	2	10
07	Norway	5	16	13	5	21	11		9	2
08	Portugal	24	7	10	26	22	17		26
09	United Kingdom	6	25	26	2	26	9	2	18
10	Serbia	12	18	11	9	14	15		23
11	Germany	11	4	5	14	7	8	3	17
12	Albania	10	22	20	17	24	22		24
13	France	22	1	7	11	3	2	10	16
14	Czech Republic	23	17	17	25	2	13		7	4
15	Denmark	17	21	22	13	19	24		6	5
16	Australia	7	9	6	4	4	5	6	13
17	Finland	19	19	14	24	20	26		21
18	Bulgaria	8	15	4	19	25	14		20
19	Moldova	20	20	15	6	18	16		4	7
20	Sweden	4	2	1	3	1	1	12	11
21	Hungary	15	24	9	20	23	20		12
22	Israel	2	23	18	21	10	12		3	8
23	Netherlands	9	5	3	7	9	6	5	15
24	Ireland	21	11	21	15	17	21		14
25	Cyprus	16	12	19	22	11	19		10	1
26	Italy	25	13	23	23	16	25		5	6