Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000

To select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2000, LTV hosted a national final, entitled Eirodziesma 2000, on 26 February 2000 at the LTV studios in Zaķusala, Riga. National final was hosted by Dita Torstere and broadcast on LTV1.[7][8][9] Prior to the event, LTV opened a submissions window for interested artists and composers to submit their songs for consideration, by the close of which, 67 songs were submitted and 14 performers applied for the contest; twelve competing entries were then selected for the competition.[10][11][12] Two songs were later disqualified prior to the competition.[13] Ten remaining entries competed with the winning song determined by the combination of votes from a jury panel and public televoting.[14][15] At the close of voting, "My Star" performed by Brainstorm received the most votes and was selected as the Latvian entry.[16][17] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Feliks Kigelis, Linga, Liga Robezniece and Quentin Elias performed as special guests.[7]

The same voting system in use since 1975 was again implemented for 2000 contest, with each country providing 1–8, 10 and 12 points to the ten highest-ranking songs as determined by a selected jury or the viewing public through televoting, with countries not allowed to vote for themselves.[28][20] Latvia had intended to use televoting, however, due to a technical failure of the telephone system caused by an unexpectedly large number of votes being cast, the votes of jury panel were instead used to determine nation's points.[29] The Latvian spokesperson, who announced the Latvian votes during the final, was Lauris Reiniks.[29] Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Latvia and awarded by Latvia in the grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Denmark in the contest.[30]

Points awarded to Latvia[30] Score Country 12 points  Belgium  Estonia  Finland  Norway 10 points  Iceland  Sweden 8 points  Austria  Denmark  Ireland 7 points  Germany  Spain   Switzerland  United Kingdom 6 points 5 points 4 points  Israel  Netherlands 3 points  France  Macedonia 2 points 1 point  Cyprus  Russia

Points awarded by Latvia[30] Score Country 12 points  Denmark 10 points  Estonia 8 points  Germany 7 points  Iceland 6 points  Norway 5 points  Austria 4 points  Malta 3 points  United Kingdom 2 points   Switzerland 1 point  Ireland

After the contest, the Latvian jury votes in the final faced scrutiny in Russian media. Latvian jury didn't award Russia any points; this led to some suggesting that the Latvian jury votes might have been politically influenced.[29][31][32] Prime Minister of Latvia Andris Berzins later denied accusations of politicization of the Latvian jury, saying that "this case cannot be politicized".[33]

• Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84583-163-9.