Latvian broadcaster LTV have announced they will wait until after the Covid-19 outbreak passes to make a decision on their Eurovision 2021 participation.

The broadcaster has confirmed that the decision needs to be “taken carefully, taking into account many factors”. Latvia was set to take part in the 2020 contest, until it was cancelled last week. Both of Latvia’s Baltic neighbours, Estonia and Lithuania, have confirmed they will be taking part in next year’s contest.

A return for Samanta Tīna?

LTV’s program director, Rita Ruduša, has explained today that a decision has not yet been made about whether Samanta Tīna will return next year.

As well as no decision being made about Latvia’s artist selection for next year’s contest, they also have no plans yet as to whether they will be taking part in the contest, and the decision won’t be made until after the Covid-19 outbreak passes.

The decision to participate in next year’s Eurovision has to be taken carefully, taking many factors into account, including the consequences of Covid-19. This is why we have decide to postpone a focused discussion on this topic until the acute situation is over. – Rita Ruduša, LTV program director (translated from Latvian)

Samanta Tīna was set to represent Latvia in the 2020 contest with her song, “Still Breathing”. She won the Latvian selection, Supernova, in February. It is currently not known, if Latvia was to take part next year, what selection process they would use.

Since joining the contest in 2000, Latvia have never missed an edition of the contest. 11 countries have currently confirmed that their 2020 artists will return next year. Most recently, Austria announced yesterday that Vincent Bueno has been invited back to compete in the 2021 contest.

Would you like to see LTV take part in Eurovision 2021? Do you think Samanta should return next year?

Let us know in the comments below and on social media @ESCXTRA.