Meet Latvia’s Eurovision 2021 act Samanta Tīna who will sing The Moon Is Rising
Everything you need to know about the entry Latvia has chosen for this year's song contest.
It was the year 2000 that Latvia entered Eurovision for the first time and they would be pleased that they chose to as they finished third in their debut year and then two years later they went on and won the whole thing - way to make an entrance.
But time has passed and since then they have not made quite the same impact, so they will likely be wanting to rectify that in Eurovision 2021 and they have a great singing star lined up to help them do it.
Samanta Tīna is the person trying to bring back the glory days of the early '00s at the competition and, before it was cancelled due to coronavirus, she was set to represent her country in the 2020 contest.
Here's everything you need to know about the star.
Who is representing Latvia at the Eurovision 2021?
Name: Samanta Tina
Age: 32
Instagram: @samantatina
Twitter: @samanta_singer
Tīna has long fancied a crack at Eurovision glory - having applied to be the Latvian entry on five previous occasions, in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2019.
She has also previously been a contestant on the Lithuanian version of The Voice and has released a slew of singles since 2012.
Tīna was due to sing the song Still Breathing, which she co-wrote with Aminata Savadogo but now has a new track ready to go in 2021.
What is Latvia's Eurovision 2021 song called?
The Moon is Rising! The track is a replacement for the song, Stil Breathing, that Samanta was set to sing in 2020 and she, along with her whole country, will be hoping it will do enough to see them finish in one of the higher positions.
The track was written by Samanta herself alongside Aminata Savadogo and Oskars Uhaņs.
Listen to the song ahead of the big night below!
Where did Latvia come in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest?
Latvia failed to make the finals in the last competition and even if they had, it would have been hard to beat the eventual winner which was The Netherlands and Duncan Laurence - he got a whopping 492 points!
Will they have a better run in 2021 and could they be one to watch? Time will tell.
When is Eurovision 2021?
The Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final will take place on Saturday 22nd May 2021 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
BBC One will be broadcasting live coverage of the event, while Graham Norton commentates.
Ken Bruce will be providing commentary on BBC Radio 2.
The semi-finals will be held on Tuesday 18th and Thursday 20th May, and will be broadcast on BBC Four.
Why was Eurovision 2020 cancelled?
The Eurovision Song Contest was unable to take place in Rotterdam (or anywhere, Liverpool or Rome) in 2020 and that was, of course, down to the global pandemic that brought almost the entire globe to a standstill.
Instead, the Shine a Light show aired on the same day on BBC One, as did Eurovision Come Together, and while we appreciated the Eurovision fun in place of the main show, we could not be happier that the show will air as normal in 2021.
Buy the DVD and watch Eurovision 2018 here and Eurovision 2019 here and relive the last two contests!
The Eurovision Song contest 2021 will air on the BBC this May. Check out the full list of Eurovision winners here. If you're looking for something to watch tonight, check out our TV Guide.
Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
