LTV, the Latvian national broadcaster has informed esctoday.com that the dates for the forthcoming 2014 Latvian national selection ( semifinals and final) have been changed.
Latvian Television has decided to alter the dates for the semi finals and the final of Dziesma 2014, the national selection for Eurovision Song Contest 2014. It was previously announced that the semi-finals would take place on January 18 and 19, while the final date was set to February 1. After the alterations the semi-finals are moved to February 1 and 2, respectively the final is going to be on February 22.
The change of the dates will the Latvian audience an opportunity to enjoy and receive a better broadcast of their Eurovision national selection, hence giving the broadcaster the chance more time to prepare and organize a better show, which will require great technical work. Latvia is geared up for many changes next year. On the 1st of January 2014 Latvians will have a brand new currency the Euro, which is followed by the grand event in our capital, Riga – “Riga 2014”. In addition to that there are also the broadcasts of Winter Olympic games from Sochi, where Latvian athletes are taking an active part in- comments Sergejs Nesterovs, the board member of Latvia Television as well as program development manager.
Nesterovs adds, that “the broadcasting of such an important and large event as national selection for Eurovision Song Contest requires particular preparations. It is essential to have at least a little bit of time after a production of an event broadcast to prepare for the next one to provide the best possible technical quality and broadcast.”
The rules and regulations remain unaltered. The deadline for submitting the songs for Dziesma 2014 is November 20. The slogan is the same as for Dziesma 2013 – Stand up, Europe! This year LTV is expecting the songs from the Latvian authors only. 24 songs out of submitted ones, will proceed to the semi finals. Those songs will be announced in a press conference on December 2. More information about the contest can be found here
The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 is scheduled to be held in the capital of Denmark – Copenhagen. The semi-finals are scheduled to be held for may 6 and 8, whilst the the final is scheduled to be held on May 10. Latvian Television is going to provide the live broadcast of Latvian national selection events as well as Eurovision Song Contest, which also will be available to watch here
Latvian Television is organising the national selection in a close cooperation with Ventspils Town.
Stay tuned to esctoday.com for the latest information on Latvia and the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest.
