Latvia, as the host nation, was represented by F.L.Y. with the song "Hello from Mars" at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 24 May 2003 in Riga, Latvia.
Eirodziesma 2003 was the fourth edition of Eirodziesma, the music competition that selects Latvia's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Competing entries[]
Artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster until 4 November 2002. 57 songs were submitted at the conclusion of the submission period, and a ten-member international jury panel evaluated the submitted entries and selected 15 entries to compete in the national final.[1] The fifteen competing artists and songs were announced on 15 November 2002.[2] The song "Lead Me to Your Heart" was due to be performed by Madara Celma and Normunds Rutulis, however Celma was replaced by Ieva Kerēvica shortly before the final due to her having to perform more than one song in the contest.[3]
The final took place on 1 February 2003 at the Olympic Centre in Ventspils, hosted by Ilze Jaunalksne and Ģirts Līcis. The winner was selected over two rounds of public televoting. In the first round, the top five entries were selected to proceed to the second round. In the second round, "Hello from Mars" performed by F.L.Y. was declared the winner.[4]
On the night of the final F.L.Y. performed 21st in the running order, following Poland and preceding the Belgium. At the close of voting "Hello from Mars" had received 5 points, placing Latvia 24th of the 26 entries.[5] It's the worst place in the final for this country..As Latvia failed to reach the top 11 in the final, the country was forced to compete in the semi-final of the 2004 Contest.
Latvia
