Latvia
The basics Full country name Republic of Latvia Capital Riga Facts First participation 2000 (BrainStorm) Victories 2002 (Marie N) Hosts Riga 2003
Latvia made its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm in 2000. Brainstorm's 'My Sta'r finished third in a field of 24, one of the strongest showings for a country's first participation in the competition. The country won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2002 and hosted the competition the following year in the capital Riga.
After Latvia's strong debut in the Eurovision Song Contest the country went on to achieve its third top five placing in 2005 however it wasn't all plain sailing as the home team placed 24th in 2003 despite being tipped as one of the ones to watch on the night.
Between 2009 and 2014 Latvia failed to qualify for the Grand Final, even finishing last in three semi-finals on three occasions. However that all changed in 2015 when the national selection was overhauled and Supernova was launched. Aminata won the first edition of Supernova and took Latvia to the Grand Final for the first time since 2008, where she finished in 6th place with Love Injected. In 2016 Justs repeated Aminata's success and qualified for the Grand Final in Stockholm with Heartbeat.
