LTV,  the Latvian national broadctaster, has announced today that it is yet to make a decision on its 2021 Eurovision participation.

LTV will determine if it will invite its 2020 Eurovision hopeful, Samanta Tina, to represent Latvia at the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest when the COVID-19 crisis is over.

The 2020 Eurovision Song Contest was cancelled due to the coronavirus global pandemic. Hereafter the EBU announced that the 2020 Eurovision entries would not be eligible to compete at Eurovision 2021, but broadcasters had a Carte Blanche to invite their 2020 hopefuls to competition next year or select a new representative.

So far 11 countries have confirmed their 2020 Eurovision hopefuls for ESC 2021. The Latvian broadcaster is yet to decide on Samanta Tina‘s Eurovision fate.

Ms. Rita Ruduša (LTV Program Director) says:

The decision to participate in next year’s Eurovision has to be taken carefully, taking into account a number of factors, including the consequences of Covid-19. That is why we have decided to postpone a focused discussion on this topic until the acute situation is over.

Samanta Tina was crowned the winner of Supernova 2020 and was set to represent Latvia at the 65th Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam with her entry Still Breathing.

Latvia in Eurovision

Latvia debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2000 with Brainstorm and won the contest 2 years later in 2002 in Tallinn with Marie N.

In 2019, Carousel won  the golden ticket to Tel Aviv with their entry That night. Despite a great performance, the Baltic nation failed to qualify to the Grand Final for the third consecutive year.

Latvia has enjoyed mixed fortunes in the competition in its 20 year history, having only made it to the top 10 of the leaderboard four times: 2000 (3rd), 2002 (1st), 2005 (5th) and 2015 (6th).