Latvia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

The participation of Latvia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest first began at the inaugural Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2003 which took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. Latvijas Televīzija (LTV), a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), were responsible for the selection process of their participation. Latvia used a national selection format, broadcasting shows entitled "Bērnu Eirovīzija" and later "Balss Pavēlnieks", for their participation at the contests. The first representative to participate for the nation at the 2003 contest was Dzintars Čīča with the song "Tu esi vasarā", which finished in ninth place out of sixteen participating entries, achieving a score of thirty-seven points. Latvia were originally absent from the competition from 2006 to 2009. Latvia briefly returned in 2010 and 2011 however again withdrew from competing after the contest held in Yerevan, and have yet to make their return to the contest.

Latvia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Participating broadcaster	Latvijas Televīzija (LTV)
Participation summary
Appearances	5
First appearance	2003
Last appearance	2011
Highest placement	9th: 2003
Participation history 2003 2004 2005 2006 – 2009 2010 2011 2012 – 2023
External links
Latvia's page at JuniorEurovision.tv
For the most recent participation see Latvia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2011

History

Latvia are one of the sixteen countries to have made their debut at the inaugural Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003, which took place on 15 November 2003 at the Forum in Copenhagen, Denmark.^[1] Latvia's best placing was in 2003, when Dzintars Čīča placed 9th with "Tu esi vasarā". The country's worst placing came in 2004 when Mārtiņš Tālbergs and C-Stones Juniors placed 17th and last with "Balts vai melns". Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) withdrew Latvia from the contest after 2005, and would not return until the 2010 contest, their first participation in 5 years.^[2]

The broadcaster selected Šarlote Lēnmane to represent Latvia at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Minsk with the song "Viva La Dance". Šarlote won 10th place with 51 points.

After initially withdrawing from the 2011 contest, LTV reversed their decision in September 2011 and sent an entry to the 2011 contest in Yerevan, Armenia. On 27 June 2012, LTV announced Latvia's withdrawal from the competition, and the country has never returned since.^[3] LTV later confirmed their non-participation in 2013,^[4] 2014^[5] and 2015.^[6]

On 19 November 2015, it was announced that the Baltic countries, including Latvia, were interested in taking part in the 2016 contest.^[7] However, on 23 May 2016, the LTV confirmed it would not return to the contest in 2016.^[8]

Participation overview

Table key

◁	Last place

Year	Artist	Song	Language	Place	Points
2003	Dzintars Čīča	"Tu esi vasarā"	Latvian	9	37
2004	Mārtiņš Tālbergs and C-Stones Juniors	"Balts vai melns"	Latvian	17 ◁	3
2005	Kids4Rock	"Es esmu maza, jauka meitene"	Latvian	11	50
2010	Šarlote and the Sea Stones	"Viva la Dance (Dejo tā)"	Latvian	10	51
2011	Amanda Bašmakova	"Moondog"	Latvian	13 ◁	31

Commentators and spokespersons

The contests are broadcast online worldwide through the official Junior Eurovision Song Contest website junioreurovision.tv and YouTube. In 2015, the online broadcasts featured commentary in English by junioreurovision.tv editor Luke Fisher and 2011 Bulgarian Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant Ivan Ivanov.^[9] The Latvian broadcaster, LTV, sent their own commentators to the contest in order to provide commentary in the Latvian language. Spokespersons were also chosen by the national broadcaster in order to announce the awarding points from Latvia. The table below list the details of each commentator and spokesperson since 2003.

Year(s)	Channel	Commentator	Spokesperson
2003	LTV1	Kārlis Streips^[10]^[11]	Dāvids Dauriņš
2004			Sabīne Berezina
2005		Kārlis Streips and Valters Frīdenbergs	Kristiāna Stirāne
2006–2009	No broadcast		Did not participate
2010	LTV1	Valters Frīdenbergs	Ralfs Eilands
2011		Markus Riva	Šarlote Lēnmane
2012–2023	No broadcast		Did not participate

See also

• Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest – Senior version of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
• Latvia in the Eurovision Choir of the Year – A competition organised by the EBU for amateur choirs.
• Latvia in the Eurovision Young Dancers – A competition organised by the EBU for younger dancers aged between 16 and 21.
• Latvia in the Eurovision Young Musicians – A competition organised by the EBU for musicians aged 18 years and younger.

References

1. García, Belén (7 September 2015). "#BestOfJESC – Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003". esc-plus.com. ESC+Plus. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
2. Bakker, Sietse (2010-07-28). "Talents from 14 nations to gather at Junior Eurovision 2011". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
3. Siim, Jarmo (2011-09-09). "Latvia becomes 14th country to join Junior 2011". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
4. Al Kaziri, Ghassan (28 May 2013). . Archived from the original on 12 June 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
5. Granger, Anthony (17 July 2014). "JESC'14: Czech Republic, Austria & Latvia Will Not Take Part". Eurovoix.com. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
6. Granger, Anthony (16 March 2015). "Latvia no return to Junior Eurovision in 2015". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
7. Granger, Anthony (19 November 2015). "JESC'15: The Baltic States Are Interested In Participating In Junior Eurovision". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
8. Granger, Anthony (23 May 2016). "Latvia: Will not return to Junior Eurovision in 2016". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
9. Fisher, Luke James (21 November 2015). "Tonight: Junior Eurovision ng Contest 2015!". Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Bulgaria 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
10. "Tuvojas "mazā" Eirovīzija". diena.lv. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
11. "Šodien Lillehammerē notiek otrais Eirovīzijas bērnu dziesmu konkursa fināls". delfi.tv. 20 November 2004. Retrieved 29 July 2018.