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Eurovision Song Contest 2003
Participating broadcaster	Latvijas Televīzija (LTV)
Country	Latvia
National selection
Selection process	Eirodziesma 2003
Selection date(s)	1 February 2003
Selected artist(s)	F.L.Y.
Selected song	"Hello from Mars"
Selected songwriter(s)	Mārtiņš Freimanis Lauris Reiniks
Finals performance
Final result	24th, 5 points
Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2002 • 2003 • 2004►

Latvia was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "Hello from Mars", written by Mārtiņš Freimanis and Lauris Reiniks, and performed by the group F.L.Y. The Latvian participating broadcaster, Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) organised the national final Eirodziesma 2003 in order to select its entry for the contest. In addition, LTV was also the host broadcaster and staged the event at the Skonto Hall in Riga, after winning the previous edition with the song "I Wanna" performed by Marie N.

Fifteen songs were selected to compete in the national final on 1 February 2003 where two rounds of public televoting selected "Hello from Mars" performed by F.L.Y. as the winner. As the host country, Latvia qualified to compete directly in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 21, it placed twenty-fourth out of the 26 participating countries with 5 points.

Background

Prior to the 2003 contest, Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Latvia three times since its first entry in 2000. It won the contest once in 2002 with the song "I Wanna" performed by Marie N. As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, LTV organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. Since its debut in 2000, the broadcaster had organised the selection show Eirodziesma, a selection procedure that was continued in order to select its entry for the 2003 contest.

Before Eurovision

Eirodziesma 2003

Eirodziesma 2003 was the fourth edition of Eirodziesma, the music competition organised by LTV to selects its entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition took place at the Olympic Center in Ventspils on 1 February 2003, hosted by Ilze Jaunalksne and Ģirts Līcis with Samija Šerifa hosting from the green room. The show was broadcast on LTV1, via radio on Latvijas Radio 1 as well as online via the broadcaster's official Eurovision Song Contest website eirovizija.lv.

Competing entries

Artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster between 3 October 2002 and 4 November 2002. Fifty-seven entries were submitted at the conclusion of the submission period; 49 of the songs were in English, six were in Latvian and two were in Russian. An international jury panel appointed by LTV evaluated the submitted songs and selected fifteen entries for the competition. The twenty competing artists and songs were announced during a press conference on 15 November 2002.

Final

The final took place on 1 February 2003. Fifteen acts competed and the winner was selected over two rounds of public televoting. In the first round, the top five songs advanced to the second round, the superfinal. In the superfinal, the voting results were revealed by Latvia's five regions alongside votes submitted via mobile phones and SMS, and the song with the highest number of votes, "Hello from Mars" performed by F.L.Y., was declared the winner. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers included Marie N –winner of Eurovision 2002–, Lior Narkis –who would represent Israel in Eurovision 2003–, and Olexandr Ponomariov –who would represent Ukraine in Eurovision 2003–.

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the bottom ten countries in the 2002 contest competed in the final. As the host country, Latvia automatically qualified to compete in the final on 24 May 2003. On 29 November 2002, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Latvia was set to perform in position 21, following the entry from Poland and before the entry from Belgium. Latvia finished in twenty-fourth place with 5 points.

The show was broadcast in Latvia on LTV1 featuring commentary by Kārlis Streips. LTV appointed Ģirts Līcis as its spokesperson to announce the Latvian votes during the final.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Latvia and awarded by Latvia in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Russia in the contest.

Points awarded to Latvia Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points  Estonia 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Latvia Score Country 12 points  Russia 10 points  Belgium 8 points  Poland 7 points  Norway 6 points  Sweden 5 points  Ukraine 4 points  Austria 3 points  Iceland 2 points  Germany 1 point  Ireland

References

1. "Latvia Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
2. ^ Medinika, Aija (30 September 2003). "Latvian National Final on February 28, 2004". Esctoday. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
3. "Eurovision Song Contest : The National Final : Latvia 2003 : ESC-History". ESC-History. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
4. Kļaviņa, Anda (1 February 2003). "Eirovīzija gaida skatītāju balsis". diena.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 29 May 2022.
5. "Aicina pieteikt dziesmas Eirovīzijas nacionālajai atlasei". delfi.lv (in Latvian). 3 October 2002. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
6. Bakker, Sietse (4 November 2002). "57 entries submitted for Eirodziesma 2003". Esctoday.
7. "Uz tiesībām Latviju pārstāvēt Eirovīzijas Dziesmu konkursā 2003 pretendē 57 dziesmas". eirovizija.lv (in Latvian). Archived from the original on 6 November 2002. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
8. Наталия ЗАЯЦ (5 February 2003). "Филипп Киркоров помогает Александру Пономареву подобрать песню для конкурса "Евровидение"". fakty.ua. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
9. Bakker, Sietse (15 November 2002). "LTV announced participants Eirodziesma 2003". Esctoday.
10. Trops, Jānis (3 February 2003). "Ventspili pāršalc Eirodziesmas aura". diena.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 27 May 2022.
11. "RULES OF THE 2003 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST" (PDF). European Broadcasting Union. European Broadcasting Union. 20 November 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 April 2003. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
12. Bakker, Sietse (28 November 2002). "Draw to be made public Friday 17:00 CET". ESCToday.com. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
13. "Final of Riga 2003". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
14. ^ "Results of the Final of Riga 2003". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.

• Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003
• 2003 in Latvia