The final night of competition in the “New Wave” festival 2007 is taking place now in Jurmala, Latvia. Andris Erglis who represented Latvia in the last Eurovision Song Contest as a member of the group Bonaparti.lv enters the final night of competition in 3rd place right behind Natalia Gordienko. Mihai Traistariu, and Polina Smolvova are also competing for the “New Wave” prize; they competed along with Natalia (one half of Arsenium) in the 2006 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.
More properly called the International Competition of Young Singers of Popular Music, the "New Wave" festival held each year in Latvia was created by composers Igor Krotoy and Raimonds Pauls to showcase talent in the Russian pop music scene though the contest has since grown to include singers from around the world. The two composers are counted as the festival's patrons along with Alla Pugacheva who represented Russia in the 1997 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. The contest attracts many Eurovision Song Contest personalities including fixtures like Russian composer Phillip Kirkorov; Dima Bilan performed as a guest last night and signed autographs later on the beach in Jurmala.
Andris Erglis who participated in Bonaparti.lv is doing well in the contest on home soil. He placed 2nd after the first night of competition (singing a song from his repertoire), but only tied for 4th position in the second night of competition when singers are asked to sing a "classic" pop song from their own country. Scores are awarded by a professional jury and added together after each night of competition which means Erglis enters the final in third place.
Polina Smolova who failed to lead Belarus out of the Eurovision semi-final in 2006 scored an impressive 4th place with the jury (sharing the position with Marina from Poland) after the first night of competition, but she did not score as well with the jury on the second night and dropped to a 15th ranking. She will enter the final splitting the 9th and 10th position with Rin'Go from Kazakhstan. Recent Eurovision Song Contest favourite Mihai Traistariu was ranked last after the first night of competition, but he scored the highest marks and placed 1st on the second night leaving him to enter the final in 14th place. Natalia Gordienko from Moldova failed to reach the Eurovision Song Contest final in 2006 (where she competed against Mihai Traistariu and Polina Smolova as half of the duo Arsenium) placed 2nd during both nights of competition; she will make a strong entry into the final in 2nd place.
Some past participants who have done well in the "New Wave" festival before moving on the Eurovision Song Contest include: Cosmos (Latvia, 1st place 2004), Tina Karol (Ukraine, 2nd place 2005), and Sopho (Georgia, 3rd place 2006).
The rankings for all singers going into the final night of "New Wave" competition follow:
- "Barcelona" duet (Ukraine)
- Natalia Gordienko (Moldova)
- Andris Erglis (Latvia)
- Francisca (Germany)
- Martakis Kostas (Greece) (tied with Francisca)
- Marina (Poland)
- Natalia Vinokurova (Russia)
- Masha Novikova (Russia) (tied with Natalia)
- Rin'Go (Kazakhstan)
- Polina Smolova (Belarus) (tied with Rin'Go)
- Chioma (USA)
- Anastasia Kochetkova (Russia)
- Vasiliy Lazarovich (Ukraine)
- Mihai Traistariu (Romania)
- Eleonora (Gerogia)
- Samer Issa (Czechia)
- Allesandro (Italy) (tied with Samer)
- Kate (Czechia)
(Bold names indicate former Eurovision Song Contest particpants)
The singers and competing songs can be found here on the "New Wave" festival website.
