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

The Second Latvian Semi Final will take place on January 14th at the Juras Varti Theatre Hourse In Ventspils, Latvia. 10 Songs will compete for 5 Spots in the Final. In this 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.

Songs -
Number - Title - Artist(s)
01 - Sweet For Me - Miks Dukurs And NBC
02 - Better World - Valters Gleske And Liba Ece
03 - Get It Started - The 4
04 - Beautiful Song - Anmary
05 - Wanna Be With You - Paul Swan
06 - She's A Queen - Roberts Petersons
07 - For Father - Samanta Tina
08 - You Are A Star - Elizabete Zagorska
09 - Music Thief - Mad Show Boys
10 - Stars Are My Family - Trianas Parks

Songs To Download

The Second Semi Final also had a few Eirodziesma Alum competing. Miks Dukurs took part in the 2008 and 2009 Latvian Semi Finals and came equal 4th in the 2011 Latvian Final in the group "D - Family" (my personal favorites". Liba Ece was a backing singer for Latvia at ESC 2011. Elizabete Zagorska came 10th at the 2008 Latvian Final. One of the memebers of the group "Mad Show Boys" is Aldis Zaluksnis who took part in the 2011 Latvian Semi Finals as a memeber of the group "Crazy Dolls". Trianas Parks came 4th at the 2008 Latvian Final, equal 4th in the 2009 and the 2010 Latvian Finals and took part in the 2011 Latvian Semi Finals.

My inital favorites were "Get It Started', "You Are A Star" and "Stars Are My Family". Once again, i was exteremly impressed by the number of strong songs in this Semi Final. I think the songs with the best chances of advancing (although not necassarily my personal favorites) are "Stars Are My Family", "You Are A Star", "Get It Started", "Sweet For Me" and "Better World".

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 02 -
Number - Title - Televotes - Televote Place - Jury Place - Qualified
01 -Sweet For Me - 23 185 Votes - 5th - 4th - Jury Qualified
02 - Better World - 05 298 Votes - 10th - 10th - Not Qualified
03 - Get It Started - 31 763 Votes - 3rd - 8th - Televote Qualified
04 - Beautiful Song - 19 013 Votes - 6th - 1st - Jury Qualified
05 - Wanna Be With You - 12 577 Votes - 9th - 7th - Not Qualified
06 - She's A Queen - 14 916 Votes - 8th - 6th - Not Qualified
07 - For Father -16 194 Votes - 7th - 5th - Not Qualified
08 - You Are A Star - 35 761 Votes - 2nd - 3rd - Televote Qualified
09 - Music Thief - 27 934 Votes - 4th - 9th - Not Qualified
10 - Stars Are My Family - 39 571 Votes - 1st - 2nd - Televote Qualified

So my Five Finalists are -
01 - Sweet For Me - Miks Dukurs And NBC