Latvian Supernova jury lineup announced
Latvian public broadcaster LSM has revealed the jury for the country's national Eurovision song selection contest "Supernova," in keeping with the tradition of disclosing the panel after the Eurovision Song Contest. The lineup comprised musician and songwriter Kārlis Kazāks, director of Latvian Radio 5 – Pieci.lv; LaIPA executive director Liena Edvardsa; music industry experts and artist managers Linda Āboliņa, Guna Zučika and Edgars Bāliņš; singer, composer and conductor Laura Jēkabsone; and international music industry experts Peter Åstedt from Sweden, Marlon Burton from the United Kingdom, Toomas Olljum and Reelika Lelle from Estonia, and Vaidas Stackevičius and Rimvydas Cerniauskas from Lithuania.
Latvia's Eurovision 2026 jury
Separately, LSM released the members of the Latvian jury that voted at the 2026 contest. The panel consisted of Ieva Rozentāle, head of LSM's Culture Department and chair of the European Broadcasting Union's Television Music Expert Group; Linda Āboliņa; musicians and songwriters Krists Indrišonoks (Chris Noah) and Juris Kaukulis; singer Paula Saija; designer and set designer Artūrs Analts; and musician Kārlis Matīss Zitmanis.
Atvara on representing Latvia in Vienna
Latvia's 2026 representative Atvara, who performed in the second semi-final, described the experience as once-in-a-lifetime and said it had reshaped how she views the contest. In an interview with Latvian Television's Morning Panorama, she acknowledged the workload and exhaustion were intense, but said she would participate again if asked.
Production takeaways from Eurovision 2026
Agnese Štrause-Kubliņa, head of LSM's Entertainment and Documentary Content Department, said the 2026 contest produced lessons for future editions, noting that close-up film cameras were used at Eurovision for the first time. She described the scale of lighting, cameras and backstage crew required to operate as a single mechanism as remarkable.
Backdrop: Vienna hosts amid boycott dispute
Eurovision 2026 was staged at Vienna's Wiener Stadthalle, with the Grand Final held on May 16 and hosted by Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski. The contest proceeded after the European Broadcasting Union approved Israel's participation, prompting withdrawals by Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and the Netherlands, with Iceland later also reported to have joined the boycott. Austrian broadcaster ORF, led by director general Roland Weissmann, affirmed the show would continue, and EBU delegates backed new rules aimed at limiting disproportionate government or third-party song promotion, with 65 percent voting in favour of the changes.
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