It’s the Eurovision down season, and don’t you for a second think we’re going to stop speculating, arguing, and pushing our heated opinions. Our latest series will look at the national finals of Eurovision, and discussing how we would reform the national finals of Eurovision. Today we’re having a look at Supernova.
In part sixteen of this series Georgia, Angus, and Euan discuss what changes they’d make to Latvia’s national final.
What is Supernova?
With the exception of 2021, where Samanta Tina was internally reselected following the cancellation of the 2020 contest, Latvia has always used a national final to select its Eurovision representative. Since 2015, this has been “Supernova”. In recent years, Supernova has usually been made up of two shows, a semi-final and a final. In recent years, around 15 artists have taken part in the semi-final with around 10 artists advancing to the final. The final results of Supernova consist of a combination of a jury vote and the televote, at a 50-50% split.
Do we like what the NF does so far, and do we think there’s a chance of it producing a winner?
Georgia
Sort of yes and no. In terms of music, I like what Supernova is doing. As TES’ resident Baltic music fan and a fan of indie music generally, I’ve found some of my favourite artists through Supernova (Sudden Lights and Vēstulēs come to mind). However, at the same time, in relation to the contest itself, I feel like there are usually only 2-3 songs (if that) within the lineup that truly have a chance at going on to Eurovision, meaning that the show doesn’t feel massively competitive. I think that Supernova has a good chance at producing my personal winner, but in terms of an actual winner, probably not.
Angus
Supernova is delightfully chaotic. You never quite know what you’re going to get, and some of my favourite national final songs and moments from recent years come from the Latvian national final. That being said, I don’t think that the average Supernova song would be all that competitive at Eurovision, and that’s not even mentioning the wide gulfs in musical quality between songs as well.
Euan
I love what Latvia is at Eurovision, and I love what Supernova brings to the National Final season each year. However, as a national final in itself, I hate it. There’s such a great possibility for Latvia to be even half decent at Eurovision that just isn’t being tapped into at all.
What changes would we make to the National Final?
Georgia
For me, I would either streamline the final by reducing the number of participants/eliminating the semi-final, or going internal. For me, I feel like a semi-final where the majority of participants advance to the final feels somewhat pointless. So, if I were in charge of Supernova, I would streamline the national final down to one night, with maybe seven participants, something in the vein of UMK’s current form.
Angus
While I think Georgia’s proposed changes would improve Latvia’s chances at the contest, I personally can’t get behind them. Latvia should actually expand Supernova in my opinion! Just like its neighbours Lithuania and Estonia do with their NFs, the Latvian national final should be a celebration of the country’s music scene and a selection process for Eurovision in equal measure. What exactly that should look like? That I will leave to LTV. The one-round semi-final does have to go (or be renamed) however. I just cannot support calling something a semi-final if there is just one of it.
Euan
Aside from giving Markus Riva a guaranteed slot in the final every year, there are several things that I think that LTV could do to improve the show. The main thing is really decreasing the bloat in the show itself. There’s too many songs making it to the final that don’t warrant a place there. A 15 song selection with 10 in the final feels a tad too lopsided. If they want 15 songs a single final with a Gold Final at the end may be a stronger shout. Personally I’d have two smaller semi finals of about 8 acts with 3 songs qualifying to a much smaller, and higher quality final. I also feel that there needs to be a better way to incorporate Latvia’s rich indie music scene. Currently Latvia is one of the countries operating on a system of just receiving submissions. I’d love to see LTV taking a more proactive approach and head hunting groups or acts that they think could work well in the contest and draft them into Supernova.
Do we think any reforms are likely to happen to this NF?
Georgia
Probably not. My biggest worry for Latvia is that Dons’ qualification will mean that they exclusively pick safe songs in English, hoping to keep a qualification streak going. Latvia, keep taking risks by sending someone like a Sudden Lights or a Citi Zēni! They may not always succeed in terms of results, but sending unique entries makes the contest more unique as a whole.
Angus
Who knows! On the one hand, it has been a while since major changes were made to Supernova and it does seem like LTV is fairly happy with both the fundamentals and most of the details of their national final. On the other hand, it has been a while since major changes were made. With them finally breaking their NQ streak, I could see Latvia making changes that would favour songs that they think would help them become a regular finalist. If that happens, I expect those changes to be mostly behind the scenes, like the selection process for entries, some changes to the composition to the jury, or other subtle-yet-impactful alterations to Supernova.
Euan
I think that with Dons qualifying it may result in no changes at all because the format has finally returned to its results from the early days of the contest. I’d like to be wrong, but I don’t see Supernova going in the right direction to see Latvia doing well.
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.
What do you think about our reforms? As always, let us know what you think by commenting down below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky for all the latest Eurovision news!
News Source: That Eurovision Site
Photo Credit: Lauris Vīksne / LTV
Tim J