Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Latvia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Latvia was represented by Intars Busulis with the song Probka, which had the Latvian title Sastrēgums. The songwriters were Kārlis Lācis, Jānis Elsbergs and Sergejs Timofejevs.
Selection process
Latvia used the national final Eirodziesma 2009 to choose its entry. Twenty songs competed in a semi-final and a final held in Ventspils on February 27 and 28, 2009. The top ten from the semi-final moved on to the final, where the winner was chosen by a mix of jury and public voting. The winning song was Sastrēgums by Intars Busulis. It was later translated into Russian for Eurovision as Probka. The official music video was released on March 24.
Eurovision performance and result
Latvia performed in the second semi-final on May 14, 2009, in the third position. Busulis performed with a keyboardist, two guitarists and two backing singers. The staging showed city silhouettes and road signs on the LED screens. Latvia finished 19th (last) in the semi-final with 7 points and did not qualify for the final. Latvia’s voting featured giving 12 points to Estonia in the semi-final and 12 points to Norway in the final.
Background
Since debuting in 2000, Latvia had participated nine times before 2009 and had won once in 2002 with I Wanna by Marie N. Latvia had reached the final from 2005 to 2008, including with Wolves of the Sea in 2008. In 2008 there were talks of boycotting Latvia’s participation due to budgets cuts, but Latvia still took part in 2009 after the EBU lowered the participation fee and sponsorships were found.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 05:24 (CET).