Latvia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Heartbeat" written by Aminata Savadogo. The song was performed by Justs. Songwriter Aminata Savadogo represented Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Love Injected" where she placed sixth in the grand final of the competition. The Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) organised the national final Supernova 2016 in order to select the Latvian entry for the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. Twenty songs were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of four shows: two heats, one semi-final and a final. In the heats and the semi-final, four entries were selected to advance from each show: two entries selected based on a public televote and two entries selected by a four-member jury panel. Four songs ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 28 February 2016 where a public vote exclusively selected "Heartbeat" performed by Justs as the winner.

Latvia was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 12 May 2016. Performing as the opening entry for the show in position 1, "Heartbeat" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 14 May. It was later revealed that Latvia placed eighth out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 132 points. In the final, Latvia performed in position 20 and placed fifteenth out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 132 points.

Background

Prior to the 2016 contest, Latvia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixteen times since its first entry in 2000. Latvia won the contest once in 2002 with the song "I Wanna" performed by Marie N. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the , Latvia was able to qualify to compete in the final between 2005 and 2008. Between 2009 and 2014, the nation had failed to qualify to the final for six consecutive years. In the 2015 contest, Latvia managed to qualify to the final with the song "Love Injected" performed by Aminata, which placed 6th in the final, scoring 186 points - giving them their best placing since 2005, and highest score ever.

The Latvian national broadcaster, Latvijas Televīzija (LTV), broadcasts the event within Latvia and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. LTV confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest on 27 May 2015. Latvia has selected their entries for the Eurovision Song Contest through a national final. Since their debut in 2000 until 2012, LTV had organised the selection show Eirodziesma. In a response to the nation's failure to qualify to the final at Eurovision since 2008, between 2013 and 2014, the competition was rebranded and retooled as Dziesma. However, after failing to produce successful entries those two years, LTV developed the Supernova national final in order to select their 2015 entry. After producing an entry that managed to qualify the nation to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest, the broadcaster announced in early September 2015 that they would organise Supernova 2016 in order to select the Latvian entry for the 2016 contest.

Before Eurovision Supernova 2016 Supernova 2016 was the second edition of Supernova, the music competition that selects Latvia's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition commenced on 7 February 2016 and concluded with a final on 28 February 2016. All shows in the competition took place at the LTV Studio 6 in Riga, hosted by Ketija Šēnberga and Toms Grēviņš and broadcast on LTV1 as well as online via the streaming platform Replay.lv and the official Supernova website supernova.lsm.lv. The final was also streamed online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv. Alternative broadcasts of the final also occurred on LTV7 with Elza Volonte and Ainārs Ostvalds presenting the show in sign language as well as online at lsm.lv with commentary by the duo Transleiteris consisting of Edžus Ķaukulis and Lauris Mihailovs.

Format The format of the competition consisted of four shows: two heats, one semi-final and a final. LTV broadcast two introductory shows on 24 and 31 January 2016 that covered the background preparation processes and performer auditions that occurred prior to the competition. The competing entries were also announced during the second introductory show on 31 January. The two heats, held on 7 and 14 February 2016, each featured ten competing entries from which four advanced to the semi-final from each show. The semi-final, held on 21 February 2016, featured the eight qualifiers from the heats from which the top four proceeded to the final. The final, held on 28 February 2016, selected the Latvian entry for Stockholm from the remaining four entries.

Results during the heats and the semi-final shows were determined by a jury panel and votes from the public. In the heats and the semi-final, the songs first faced a public vote where the top two 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 up to five times or via SMS with a single SMS counting as five votes. 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.

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: Kaspars Roga – drummer for Brainstorm and director of music videos Ieva Kerēvica – singer and vocal teacher Intars Busulis – singer, trombonist, radio host and 2009 Latvian Eurovision entrant Guntars Račs – musician, songwriter, producer and music publisher

Competing entries Artists and songwriters were able to submit their applications and entries separately to the broadcaster between 7 September 2015 and 1 November 2015. 120 songs were submitted (an increase of 20% from the previous year) and 88 performers applied for the competition at the conclusion of the submission period. Local and international jury panels were appointed by LTV for the selection process. The international jury panel evaluated the submitted songs between 2 and 16 November 2015 but only provided consultation for the local jury, which conducted both the song and performers selection, on which entries should be selected. The international jury panel consisted of Adam Klein (British music manager), Vaidas Stackevičius (Lithuanian record label manager) and William Lee Adams (American journalist). The local jury panel consisted of Daumants Kalniņš (singer and musician), Rūdolfs Budze–DJ Rudd (DJ and producer) and two members of the jury panel during the live shows: Intars Busulis and Guntars Račs. The performer auditions took place on 17, 24 and 25 November 2015 at LTV Studio 6 and featured 31 shortlisted performers from the initial 88 that had applied. The twenty selected performers and songs were determined on 10 December 2015 and all relevant parties were informed. The twenty competing artists and songs were announced during the second introductory show that was broadcast on 31 January 2016.

Artist SongSongwriter(s) Catalepsia "Damnation"Erwin Franz, Juris Kreilis Crow Mother "Demons"Jānis Andžāns Dvines "Set It on Fire"Martins Makreckis, Anastasija Drozdoviča, Jekaterina Drozdoviča Edvards Grieze "New Day"Pāvels Fomkins ElectroFolk "Miracle Drums"Ainārs Majors, D. Majore Iluta Alsberga "On Hold"Jānis Stībelis, Iluta Alsberga Ivo Grīsniņš Grīslis "We Are the Light"Ingars Viļums Justs "Heartbeat"Aminata Savadogo Madara Grēgere "You and I"Madara Grēgere Markus Riva "I Can"Miķelis Ļaksa, Edgars Jass Marta Grigale "Choices"Marta Grigale Marta Ritova "Not From This World"Marta Cipe Mārtiņš Ruskis "Still Holding Stars"Mārtiņš Ruskis, Annija Veide Miks Dukurs "Paradise"Miks Dukurs, Edmunds Rasmanis MyRadiantU "We Will Be Stars"Janis Driksna Paula Dukure "Look in the Mirror"Paula Dukure Rūta Dūduma "Being a Friend"Jānis Ķirsis, Annija Zahovska, Ginta Krievkalna Sabīne Berezina "My Inspiration"Sabīne Berezina Samanta Tīna "The Love Is Forever"Samanta Poļakova, Vadim Petrov "We Live for Love"Tomass Kleins, Kerija Hauptmane

Shows Heats The two heats took place on 7 and 14 February 2016. In each heat ten acts competed and four entries qualified to the semi-final. The competing entries first faced a public vote where the top two songs advanced; an additional two qualifiers were then selected from the remaining eight entries by the jury.

+ Heat 17 February 2016 Artist Song Public Vote Result Internet Televote Total Place 1 Paula Dukure "Look in the Mirror" 40 124 164 10 2 ElectroFolk "Miracle Drums" 223 556 779 6 3 Rūta Dūduma "Being a Friend" 77 232 309 8 4 Ivo Grīsniņš Grīslis "We Are the Light" 649 1,206 1,855 3 Advanced 5 Sabīne Berezina "My Inspiration" 72 224 296 9 6 Edvards Grieze "New Day" 199 288 487 7 7 Marta Grigale "Choices" 582 898 1,480 4 Advanced 8 Catalepsia "Damnation" 831 1,505 2,336 2 Advanced 9 Samanta Tīna "We Live for Love" 443 1,003 1,446 5 10 Justs "Heartbeat" 2,465 2,715 5,180 1 Advanced

+ Heat 214 February 2016 Artist Song Public Vote Result Internet Televote Total Place 1 Madara Grēgere "You and I" 152 259 411 10 2 Crow Mother "Demons" 236 368 604 8 3 Samanta Tīna "The Love Is Forever" 571 1,029 1,600 3 Advanced 4 Markus Riva "I Can" 1,145 1,131 2,276 1 Advanced 5 MyRadiantU "We Will Be Stars" 1,092 888 1,980 2 Advanced 6 Mārtiņš Ruskis "Still Holding Stars" 223 798 1,021 6 7 Dvines "Set It on Fire" 674 720 1,394 5 8 Marta Ritova "Not From This World" 642 863 1,505 4 Advanced 9 Miks Dukurs "Paradise" 279 251 530 9 10 Iluta Alsberga "On Hold" 418 537 955 7

Semi-final The semi-final took place on 21 February 2016. DJ and producer Rūdolfs Budze–DJ Rudd was a guest juror for the semi-final, filling in for Guntars Račs. Four entries qualified to the final. Following her performance, Samanta Tīna withdrew her song "The Love Is Forever" from the competition. The remaining seven competing entries first faced a public vote where the top two songs advanced. An additional two qualifiers were selected from the remaining five entries by the jury.

+ Semi-final21 February 2016 Artist Song Public Vote Result Internet Televote Total Place 1 Justs "Heartbeat" 3,084 2,316 5,400 1 Advanced 2 Markus Riva "I Can" 1,212 1,697 2,909 3 3 Samanta Tīna "The Love Is Forever" — — — — Withdrew 4 Catalepsia "Damnation" 1,284 2,101 3,385 2 Advanced 5 Marta Grigale "Choices" 336 525 861 7 6 Ivo Grīsniņš Grīslis "We Are the Light" 518 711 1,229 6 7 MyRadiantU "We Will Be Stars" 1,311 1,580 2,891 4 Advanced 8 Marta Ritova "Not From This World" 944 1,538 2,482 5 Advanced

Final The final took place on 28 February 2016. The four entries that qualified from the semi-final competed. The song with the highest number of votes from the public, "Heartbeat" performed by Justs, was declared the winner. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers included electronic music project Bandmaster, 2009 Latvian Eurovision entrant Intars Busulis and 2015 Latvian Eurovision entrant Aminata.

+ Final28 February 2016 Artist Song Public Vote Internet Televote Total Place 1 Catalepsia "Damnation" 5,393 13,521 18,914 2 2 MyRadiantU "We Will Be Stars" 2,432 4,219 6,651 3 3 Justs "Heartbeat" 8,995 11,730 20,725 1 4 Marta Ritova "Not From This World" 1,869 3,172 5,041 4

Ratings

+Viewing figures by showShowAir dateViewersFinal28 February 2016160,400

Preparation On 1 May, Justs released the official music video for "Heartbeat", which was directed by Andzej Gavriss and produced by Julija Fricsone from Imagine Picture Video Production with support from the Riga Tourism Development Bureau LiveRiga.

Promotion