Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002
Latvia participated in and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 with the song "I Wanna" written by Marija Naumova and Marats Samauskis. The song was performed by Marie N, which is the artistic name of singer Marija Naumova. The Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) organised the national final Eirodziesma 2002 in order to select the Latvian entry for the 2002 contest in Tallinn, Estonia. Fifteen songs were selected to compete in the national final on 2 March 2002 where a public televote exclusively selected "I Wonna" performed by Marija Naumova as the winner. The song was later retitled as "I Wanna" for the Eurovision Song Contest. Latvia competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 25 May 2002. Performing during the show in position 23, Latvia placed first out of the 24 participating countries, winning the contest with 176 points. This was Latvia's first win in the Eurovision Song Contest. Background Prior to the 2002 contest, Latvia had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest two times since its first entry in 2000 with the song "My Star" performed by Brainstorm which placed 3rd. In the 2001 contest, Latvia placed 18th with the song "Too Much" performed by Arnis