The 26 shortlisted acts for Latvia’s selection process were announced yesterday and we shared our in-depth analysis of all of the artists and their songs yesterday evening. If you missed, it, you can catch up right here. https://escbubble.com/2020/01/in-depth-look-at-the-supernova-participants/
Continuing with our analysis (or indeed our ‘Deep Dive’ as Aivo Oskis might say) into the process, today we are looking at how the entry will be chosen, as we are already aware of some changes to the jury, and a much shorter timescale than we have seen in previous years.
So what are the changes we might expect to see?
Changes to the format: In recent years we have come to enjoy multiple shows in each Supernova season. Last year saw the competition move from 4 shows (2 heats, semifinal and final) to 3 shows (2 semifinals and a final); and this year we will have just a single show format to choose the Latvian entry for Rotterdam. The final will take place in Riga on 8th February.
Changes to the jury: Over all seasons of Supernova an expert panel of jurors have helped to choose the entry. The last three years, this jury has been headed up by DJ Rudd, but he recently announced his departure from the show. But he didn’t stop there in his Facebook post… oh no, he went much further to say that this would be good news (or even an automatic victory) for Markus Riva. DJ Rudd has always been critical of Markus’s entries into the competition and despite his strong results in televoting this has contributed to him being yet to win overall. Markus is of course back this year with his song ‘Impossible’, but has he listened to DJ Rudd’s advice to come back with something a little different this time around?
But as yet no details have been released by LTV to confirm who will replace DJ Rudd in the jury, or indeed what the role or voting power of such a jury would be this year, but it certainly seems that changes are afoot.
Changes to the shortlisting and voting: Earlier this week, the auditions of the 26 shortlisted participants were published, and already youtubers are compiling their ‘top 26’s, and the streams and likes are starting to flow. But will this count for anything? For last year’s competition, the public were asked to vote on the audition clips and this was used to whittle the field down to the 16 semifinalists. The short answer is that we just don’t know – we know that the panel will decide on the final eight songs, but the actual criteria they use has not been announced. Despite this we have seen artists calling for fans to stream their videos and ‘like’ them, as presumably it can only look good to the jury if certain songs are performing well. One would assume that the auditions have been published for a reason, and that may be to gain some feedback from the public.
We expect more details about the process to follow in the coming days, and we will of course share these updates as soon as they emerge. Our team will be on the ground in Riga for the final, as we are every year, and will continue to bring you the best Supernova coverage that we can!
What do you think of the Supernova shortlist, who is your favourite to win, and how do you think the show might unfold?, feel free to use the comments section to let us know!
