Of the 15 member states that performed in the first semi-final of Eurovision on 7 May, these ten will join 2023 Eurovision winner Sweden and the ‘Big Five’ of Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and France to compete for victory in the Eurovision final on 11 May.
Poland, Iceland, Moldova, Azerbaijan and Australia will not continue their participation in this year’s Eurovision.
Voting in the semi-finals started after the last song was played, and voting was possible from the countries represented by the participants, as well as the already guaranteed finalists.
During the semi-finals, the audience could also appreciate the performances of the three confirmed finalists – the song “Dizzy” by the British singer Olly Alexander, the song “Always On The Run” by the German representative Isaak and the song “Unforgettable” by the Swedish duo Markus and Martinus.
Lithuania is represented at the Eurovision Song Contest this year by singer Silvestrs Belts (Sylvester Belt) with the song “Luktelk”, while Ukraine – hip-hop artist Alyona Alyona and singer Jery Heil with the song “Teresa & Maria”.
Participants of the first semi-final of Eurovision:
Cyprus | Silia Kapsis – Liar
Serbia | Teya Dora – Ramonda
Lithuania | Silvester Belt – Luktelk
Before the first semi-final, the “Eurovision Knockout” game premiered on the LTV youth platform “16+”. In this erudition competition, two showbiz sharks met – Edgars Bāliņš and Rihards Gromuls.
Day two of the semi-finals
The second semi-final is expected on May 9. The representative of Latvia, Dons, will take the ninth place on the Eurovision stage.
As a warm-up for the second semi-final, on 21.10 in the special edition of the Eurovision program “Gudrrs, even gudrāks”, people who know a lot about Eurovision, because they have been involved with it, will stand at the participants’ desks: Arvīds Babris – LTV director, Kashers or Kaspars Blums-Blūmanis – costume designer, as also musicians: Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis from the band “Sudden Lights”, Marija Naumova, Aminata Savadogo, Justs Sirmais, Līga Robežniece, Agnese Rakovska, Roberto Meloni, Katrīna Dimanta, Markus Riva, Dagnis Roziņš from the group “Citi zēni” and Lauris Reiniks.
Immediately after the match – at 22.00 – the second semi-final of Eurovision, in which representatives of Latvia, as well as Malta, Albania, Greece, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Austria, Denmark, Armenia, San Marino, Georgia, Belgium, Estonia, Israel, Norway and the Netherlands will participate.
Spectators are invited to prepare for active sympathy and voting. This year, for the first time in Latvia, you will be able to vote for the participants of the second semi-final and for the finalists, not only by calling and sending text messages, but also in the Eurovision Song Contest app (Eurovision Song Contest app) and at www.esc.vote.
Voting for the semi-finals will begin after the last song has been played.
As usual, you will not be able to vote for Latvia’s performance in Latvia.
Final day
On the evening of the Eurovision final, May 11, at 9:10 p.m., Jānis Pētersons from the group “Citi zēni”, as well as musician Kaspars Ansons and members of the group “Vēstulēs”, will invite you to the screens for a fun, yet informative discussion “Iešūpo Eurovision!” discuss how Don is doing in the competition this year and what to expect in the finals. There will also be an opportunity to look behind the scenes of the competition and listen to the representatives of the Latvian delegation.
On the other hand, at 22.00 it will finally be time to sympathize with the events of the Eurovision Song Contest final! The official Eurovision slogan “United in Music” reflects the power of music to bring together people from all over the world. Diversity will be one of the main features of this year’s competition, celebrating diversity not only in music, but also in emotion! It is already known that musicians from the Big Six countries will participate in the final: France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom and Sweden.
In the grand final, the voting will start shortly before the first song.
The live broadcast of the Eurovision final will be commented by Toms Grēviņš and Lauris Reiniks.
This is the third time the Eurovision Song Contest has been held in Malmö – previously in 1992 and 2013 – and the seventh time the contest has been held in Sweden. In 1975, 2000 and 2016, Eurovision was held in the capital Stockholm, and in 1985 – in Gothenburg.
“United By Music” has been chosen as the slogan of the international Eurovision Song Contest 2024, and it will remain so for all subsequent years of the contest. “Eurovision Light” will serve as the theme of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest.
All three live broadcasts of the contest will be hosted by Hollywood actress Malina Akerman and Eurovision veteran comedian Petra Mede from the Malmö Arena.
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CONTEXT:
The 2024 Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Malmö, Sweden. 37 countries have confirmed their participation in it. Don will represent Latvia in Eurovision with the song “Hollow”. He will enter the Eurovision stage in the second semi-final with the 9th round number.
31 countries will compete in two semi-finals. In the first semi-final – on May 7 – Cyprus, Serbia, Lithuania, Ireland, Ukraine, Poland, Croatia, Iceland, Slovenia, Finland, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Australia, Portugal and Luxembourg will show their performances to the world.
Malta, Albania, Greece, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Austria, Denmark, Armenia, Latvia, San Marino, Georgia, Belgium, Estonia, Israel, Norway and the Netherlands will perform in the second semi-final – on May 9.
From each semi-final, 10 countries will advance to the Eurovision final, bringing the 20 countries to join 2023 Eurovision winner Sweden and the ‘big five’ of Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and France.
The final, where 26 countries will compete for places, will take place on May 11.
Artūrs Šingirejs or Don is one of the most awarded Latvian artists of the last decade.
The ballad “Hollow” was created together with the Irish songwriter and producer Liam Geddes (Liam Geddes) and American songwriter Kate Northrop (Kate Northrowp), and was originally published in Latvian under the title “Kingdom of Broken Spears”. The Latvian version was recognized as the most valuable song of “Music Banks 2023”.
