A few weeks after it was announced that a petition had been created seeking Latvian withdrawal from Eurovision, the Latvian parliament voted down the proposal.
Parliament opposes withdrawal
Latvia’s future participation in the contest came under threat as as a campaign had beens started to force the public service broadcaster of Latvia, LTV, to permanently remove itself from the contest. A petition has been set up encouraging Latvian citizens to sign their name to voice their support for a Latvian withdrawal. At the time of writing the petition to remove Latvia has 11,300 signatures. This is more than the 10,000 required to force a debate in the Saeima (Latvia’s parliament).
The author of the petition, Kristaps Bogdanovičs, has stated his desire for the money used by LTV for Eurovision to be redirected to sport to foster better domestic sporting scenes. Bogdanovičs specifically referenced the fact that funding for Latvia’s participation in the world biathlon championships comes from donations. In addition to not funding Latvia’s participation, the petition seeks to end LTV’s Supernova; the music contest that has been used to select Latvia’s Eurovision participation since 2015 (excluding one internal selection in 2021).
Once the petition made it to Parliament, support for withdrawal was quite meak. Of the 100 members of the Saeima, only 32 members voted in favour of withdrawal. 24 members voted against the proposal, with 31 abstaining on the vote, with the remaining members not being present.
Latvia’s Eurovision Journey
Latvia made their Eurovision debut in 2000, finishing 3rd with “My Star” by Brainstorm. They have performed at every contest since and managed to win in 2002. Marie N sang “I Wanna,” scoring 176 points and bringing Eurovision to Riga in the process. Latvia also managed to finish in the top 10 two more times, in 2005 and 2015.
Latvia’s most recent entry on the Eurovision stage was Dons, who performed “Hollow”. The song qualified from the semi-final. This is the country’s first qualification since 2016. In the Grand Final Dons finished in 16th with 64 points. Of these points 26 were from the public vote, and 38 were from the national juries.
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News Source: Saeima
Photo Credit: Saeima / Wikimedia
Giwrgos Oiko