The first semi-final of Latvia’s ‘Supernova’ takes place this weekend, and amongst those hoping to win the Latvian ticket to Tel Aviv is Liga Ridere. Liga is one of many graduates from Latvia’s X-Faktor competing this year, and she will competing with her song ‘Busu Tepat’. She took some time out of her busy preparations to talk to us about her participation.

What made you decide to enter Supernova this year? Has it always been an ambition of yours or did it just feel right with this song?

Since my childhood, I have always watched the Eurovision Song Contest to find new catchy songs. I’m a beginner in the music industry and when Supernova was suggested to me by my manager, I decided to go for it. I made it through with this song, ‘Busu Tepat’ which is a story about my life.

Can you tell us a little about your song? It would be great to know the meaning in the lyrics and how the inspiration for it came about.

‘My song ‘Busu Tepat’ translates into English as ‘I Will Be Here’ and is about the relationship between a man and a woman. I am telling the story about how everyone has a past which influences their decisions and actions in the present and into the future. The woman believes in the future of the couple and promises to wait for her partner, who is still looking for his own personal path in life. This song is a promise to my husband – I started writing the lyrics at the beginning of last year and they are mostly about my own life and my own feelings. The text of the song is set to music that a freind write for me to use’

The song is in the Latvian language, which we don’t often get to hear at Eurovision, in fact only once (with Fomins & Kleins in 2004) have we had a Latvian entry in the native language. How important is it to you to be performaing in Latvian?

‘I believe that the energy in the song speaks in a language that anyone can understand. But also I have a second option, and if I am to make it through to the final of Supernova, I will sing the song in English, so I am very happy to show off my native language, but it is good to have both options.’

The audition stages of Supernova doesn’t give too much away about the potential staging for each song. Do you have any exciting plans for how you will present the song in the live shows?

‘The song is very intimate, so I plan to be alone on the stage as I tell my promise to my husband. The feeling of the performance will be very similar to the music video.’

Supernova 2019 is a bit of an X-faktor reunion. You first came to fame in the first series of that show, and a number of the artists competing this year were in the same season. Adriana, Edgars Kreilis and Aivo competed, while Markus Riva hosted the show. Does it help to be surrounded by familiar faces?, have you all kept in touch?, and am I right in thinking that it will be the very same stage for this competition?

‘This X-faktor reunion shows that the artists all continue to have the desire to sing and develop their careers in music. We have all remained friends, and of course having familiar faces and places helps me to feel more at home on the stage. X-faktor gave me a real education and so my participation in Supernova doesn’t seem quite as crazy as it felt back then when I was first starting out. I didn’t expect to be in the live shows, let alone to finish second in the overall competition. Back then I was taking the first steps to realising my childhood dream, which was to sing. Before then I was a full-time mom to my two little boys.’

And in the show you were mentored by Intars Busulis. Do you remember his advice and will you be putting it into action in the live shows, particularly with him being on the panel this year?

‘The best advice he gave me was to continue singing and meeting the right people on my way to making music. To believe in yourself and to trust your inner feeling. I am doing it all, from heart to heart.’

What would it mean to you to win this competition and to represent Latvia at Eurovision? and what is more important to you, having a big hit at home in Latvia, or having that chance to perform in front of a big international audience (of course you can have both of these things!)?

‘Representing Latvia would be such a great honour. A great opportunity to show myself to the international audience, which is my greatest dream. Will this be my time?… Let’s see. At the moment I am trying to conquer a place in Latvian music, but as I mentioned, if I do make it to the final, I will perform in English’

Can you tell us more about your life before x-faktor?

Well, in real life I am a veterinarian. Before my career as a singer I worked as a self-employed farm animal veterinarian. I am a girl from the country who likes to sing not only on the farm, but also on the stage. In childhood summers when I was grazing the cows, I sat on the water barrel and sang there because it had good acoustics. I first performed on the stage at the age of 17, but it wasn’t until x-faktor, when I was age 30, that I really felt like a true singer. ‘

Liga, thank you so much for your time, and we would like to wish you the very best of luck in Saturday’s semi-final.

What do you think of Busu Tepat?, would you like to see Liga qualify for the final?, you can vote in our poll for Saturday’s show below!: