Entries for Latvia‘s national final Supernova 2020 closed yesterday and now broadcaster LTV has revealed that 126 entries were received. That’s the highest number ever of Supernova entries.

The total is a huge increase on 2019, where 83 applications were received. In 2018, the 93 submissions were made.

Broadcaster LTV has shared some information about the songs submitted for the upcoming season, including that more than half of the entries were submitted on the last day.

Supernova producer Ilze Jansone revealed that several artists had submitted two songs. She also noted that they have seen more diversity this year, with a lot of young female performers and more songs in Latvian.

And it’s not just pop songs. LTV has received entries covering a variety of musical genres, including traditional pop, schlager, metal and even joke songs.

Two songs with the same name have even been submitted. Not only that, the name is said to be that same as one of a popular entry from Supernova 2019. More “Cherry Absinthe”, anyone?

Next the broadcaster will check all the applications to ensure entries comply with the Supernova 2020 rules.

After speculation surrounding the future of Supernova, the national final was only confirmed last month when LTV opened entries for 2020.

The 2020 rules allowed for foreign participants to take part as a producer or member of a band. However, the lead singer of the song has to be Latvian.

The grand final of Supernova has been confirmed for 8 February 2020, but the broadcaster has not revealed if Supernova will also involve semi-finals as well.

Last month, Jansone said, “At the moment we still can’t officially reveal how the finalists will be selected, but we know for sure that the final of the competition will be live on February 8.”

Supernova and Latvia at Eurovision

LTV has held Supernova for the previous five years so far, but the show has has brought Latvia mixed fortunes.

The first Supernova winner Aminata broke Latvia’s six-year non-qualifications streak and delivered a sixth-place grand final result with “Love Injected”. She returned the following year as the songwriter behind Justs’ “Heartbeat”, which placed 15th.

Since then, the subsequent Supernova winners haven’t managed to take Latvia to the Eurovision grand final. In 2017, electro-rock band Triana Park placed last in their semi-final with “Line”, while Laura Rizzotto and Carousel delivered pleasant but non-qualifying performances.

What do you think? Who would you like to see in Supernova 2020? What kind of act should Latvia send to Rotterdam? Have your say below!

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