Eirodziesma 2011 was the twelfth edition of Eirodziesma, the music competition that selects Latvia's entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition commenced on 5 February 2011 and concluded with a final on 26 February 2011.
Format
The format of the competition consisted of four shows: two semi-finals, a Second Chance round and a final. The four shows took place at the Jūras vārti Theatre in Ventspils and were hosted by Uģis Joksts, Valters Frīdenbergs and Jolanta Strikaite. The two semi-finals, held on 5 February and 12 February 2011, each featured ten competing entries from which five were selected to advance to the final from each show. The Second Chance round, held on 19 February 2011, featured the ten non-qualifiers from the semi-finals from which two were selected to advance to the final. The final, held on 26 February 2011, selected the final winner from the twelve qualifiers from the semi-finals and the Second Chance round. Results during the semi-final and Second Chance shows were determined by a jury and votes from the public. In the semi-finals, the songs first faced a public vote where the top three entries qualified. The jury then selected an additional two qualifiers from the remaining entries to proceed in the competition. In the Second Chance round, the songs first faced a public vote where one entry qualified. The jury then selected an additional qualifier from the remaining entries to proceed in the competition. The winning song in the final was selected over two rounds of voting: the first round results selected the top three songs via the 50/50 combination of jury and public voting and the second round decided the winner from those three songs, public vote only.
Competing entries
Artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster until 7 December 2010. 71 songs were submitted at the conclusion of the submission period, and a jury panel evaluated the submitted entries and selected 20 entries to compete in the national final. The twenty competing artists and songs were announced on 14 December 2010.
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final took place on 5 February 2011. Five entries qualified to the final and the remaining five qualified to the Second Chance round. The ten competing entries first faced a public televote where the top three entries qualified. A jury then selected an additional two qualifiers from the remaining entries to proceed in the competition.
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final took place on 12 February 2011. Five entries qualified to the final and the remaining five qualified to the Second Chance round. The ten competing entries first faced a public televote where the top three entries qualified. A jury then selected an additional two qualifiers from the remaining entries to proceed in the competition.
Second Chance
The Second Chance round took place on 19 February 2011. Two entries qualified to the final. The ten competing entries that failed to qualify from the two semi-finals first faced a public televote where one entry qualified. A jury then selected an additional qualifier from the remaining entries to proceed in the competition.
Final
The final took place on 26 February 2011. Triānas parks had been forced to withdraw from the final due to illness of their lead singer. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, a 50/50 combination of votes from a jury of music professionals and the Latvian public determined the top three entries to proceed to the superfinal: "You Are" performed by Pieneņu vīns, "Angel in Disguise" performed by Musiqq and "Banjo Laura" performed by Lauris Reiniks. In the superfinal, the winner, "Angel in Disguise" performed by Musiqq was selected by the public and jury vote. The jury that voted in the both rounds of the final consisted of Boriss Rezņiks, Sandra Veinberga, Jānis Šipkēvics, Iveta Lepeško, Aigars Dinsbergs, Juris Sējāns and Aivars Hermanis.
At Eurovision
Latvia competed in the second half of the second semi-final of the contest, on 12 May. However it was eliminated at the semi final stage ending at 17th place with 25 points.
Split results
In the Semi-final 2 Latvia came 17th with 25 points: the public awarded Latvia 15th place with 43 points and the jury awarded 19th place with 11 points.
