Latvia

The first country to present its entry in the Second Semi Final on May 16 will be the Baltic nation of Latvia, who dipped their toes into the Eurovision pool in Stockholm during the 2000 Contest.  There, Latvia finished a strong third with Brainstorm's My Star, followed by a wobbly 18th place in Copenhagen in 2001, and ultimately taking the trophy home in 2002, held in neighboring Estonian capital Talinn.  The winning entry that year was performed by Marie N with her song I Wanna (but not before a jab from BBC's Terry Wogan commenting "If you wanna win, don't forget to put on your hat."):

As hosts of the 2003 Contest in Riga, Latvia received the worst score on home turf in Eurovision history, finishing in a dismal 24th place (out of 26) with just five points, barely getting ahead of Malta and the United Kingdom (the latter receiving its first nul point and its first time in last place).  Since then Latvia has bobbed up and (mostly) down on the scoreboard, placing in the Top Five in 2005's Contest in Kiev and then falling to the bottom half of the scoreboard since.  Latvia has not made it through the Semi Final stage in the last four years and is hoping its entry Here We Go by PeR will fare better in Malmo.  This song is an interesting (and confusing) choice for a country trying get back into the Final of the Contest...it sounds like a high school talent show trying to fit too much into a three-minute performance and falling flat.  But don't take my word for it...watch and determine for yourselves: