Granthems + Eurovision 2012 = Awesomeness: The First Latvian Semi Final For ESC 2012

The Latvian entry for ESC 2012 will be selected using the tried and true National Final format (Eirodziesma) that LTV has used in previous years. LTV has selected 20 Songs (from 71 submitted songs) to compete for the ticket to Baku. The 20 Songs are divided into 2 Semi Finals of 10 Songs each. In each Semi Final, an "Expert" Jury and a Televote will each rank the 10 songs and the Top 3 songs chosen by Televoting and the two highest ranked non - qualifying Jury songs will advance to the Final. In the Final, the Winner will be selected through 2 Rounds of Voting. In the First Round, an "Expert" Jury and a Televote will select the top 3 Songs and in the Second Round, a Televote will select the Song that will fly the Latvian flag at ESC 2012.

The First Latvian Semi Final will take place on January 7th at the Juras Varti Theatre House in Ventspils, Latvia.

Semi Final 01 -
Number - Title (Translation) - Artist(s)
01 - Dancer - Atis Ievins
02 - Milestibas Nevar But Par Daudz (Love Cannot Be Too Much) - Nikolajs Puzikovs
03 - No Limits To Dream - Maia
04 - I Want You Back - Samanta Tina And Davids Kalandija
05 - Rollin' Up - Angelina And Alisa May
06 - Freakin' Out - Laura Bicane And Romans Sladzis
07 - Celebration - Paula Dukure
08 - We Can Change The World - Andris Abelite
09 - My World - Ruta Duduma
10 - Disco Superfly - PeR

Songs To Download

Initial Impressions -
My first favorites were "No Limits To Dream", "Freakin' Out", and "Celebration". I also found "Rollin' Up", "My World" and "Disco Superfly" to be extremely enjoyable. My Least favorites were "We Can" and "Dancer"

The First Latvian Semi Final saw the return of a few former Eirodziesma participants. Paula Dukure took part in the 2008 Latvian Semi Finals as part of the group "Pent-In-Dreams" and came equal 4th in the 2011 Latvian Final as part of the group "D-Family" (who were my personal favorite. Andris Abelite represented Latvia at ESC 2007 as part of the group "Bonaparti.lv" as well as coming 4th in the 2002 Latvian Final and 5th in the 2003 Latvian Final. Ruta Duduma was a backing singer for Latvia at ESC 2011. The band PeR came equal 9th at the 2009 Latvian Final and 10th at the 2010 Latvian Final.

After Listening to the 10 Songs I am impressed at the number of strong songs that Latvia has put forth this year, especially after the last couple years of mediocre at best Eirodziesmas. I think that the songs with the best chances of getting through to the Final (but not necessarily my personal favorites) are "No Limits To Dream", "I Want You Back", "Freakin' Out", "Celebration" and "Disco Superfly".

My Contest -
To Select my Five Finalists, I followed the same format that will be used for the actual contest. I awarded points twice. First, I awarded each song a number of "Televotes" after I listened to all 10 songs at least 5 Times. Then, I Listened to all the songs another 10 times and then I listened to the 7 Songs that I didn't place in my top 3 in my First vote an additional 5 Times, before assigning rankings to the songs. The Top 3 Songs from my "Televoting" Round and the highest 2 Placing Songs from my "Jury" Round advanced to my final.

Semi Final 01 -
Number - Title - Televotes - Televote Place - Jury Place - Qualified?
01 - Dancer - 14 586 Votes - 9th - 9th - Not Qualified
02 - Milestibas - 18 921 Votes - 8th - 7th - Not Qualified
03 - No Limits - 38 529 Votes - 2nd - 2nd - Televote Qualified
04 - I Want You - 23 753 Votes - 7th - 5th - Not Qualified
05 - Rollin' Up - 29 417 Votes - 5th - 6th - Not Qualified
06 - Freakin' Out - 33 027 Votes - 4th - 3rd - Jury Qualified
07 - Celebration - 41 891 Votes - 1st - 4th - Televote Qualified
08 - We Can Change - 09 349 Votes - 10th - 10th - Not Qualified
09 - My World - 26 502 Votes - 6th - 1st - Jury Qualified
10 - Disco - 35 218 Votes - 3rd - 8th - Televote Qualified

So my Five Finalists Are -
03 - No Limits To Dream - Maia