Latvia will be represented at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest by the duo Musiqq, comprised of Marats Oglesnevs and Emils Balceris, with the song “Angel In Disguise”, written by Marats Oglesnevs. It’s Latvia’s twelfth ESC entry and it will be performed in the 2^nd semi-final on 12^th May at starting position #17.

If you missed the broadcast today at 15:00 CEST, you can listen to the interview here:

[audio:https://www.escradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Musiqq-Latvia-interviewed-by-Matthias-Petermann.mp3|titles=Musiqq (Latvia) – interviewed by Matthias Petermann]

Read more and check out their official video and preview video…

Latvia will be represented at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest by the duo Musiqq, comprised of Marats Oglesnevs and Emils Balceris, with the song “Angel In Disguise”, written by Marats Oglesnevs. It’s Latvia’s twelfth ESC entry and it will be performed in the 2^nd semi-final on 12^th May at starting position #17.

If you missed the broadcast today at 15:00 CEST, you can listen to the interview here:

[audio:https://www.escradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Musiqq-Latvia-interviewed-by-Matthias-Petermann1.mp3|titles=Musiqq (Latvia) – interviewed by Matthias Petermann]

Check out the official video:

…and the preview video:

BIOGRAPHY

Musiqq is an R’n’B/Soul/Hip-Hop duet which consists of Marats Ogleznevs, who is the music author and the producer of the group, and Emils Balceris – the lead vocalist

Marats began his career in music as a member of the band Device, in the framework of which 3 albums were released, cooperation with popular musicians was established and concerts all around Latvia were organized. However, the group ended their existence after 10 years of cooperation. Marats was the music author and the lyricist of the group. Whereas Emils was a laureate of many local and international competitions of young performers. And his successful participation in the TV3 show Koru Kari (Clash of the Choirs), where Emils represented the Red Liepaja Choir, earned him an instant recognition. At the moment, Emils is a student in Form 12 of Liepaja district Grobina Secondary School.

Cooperation of both artists began in 2009 through media mediation – Marats noticed Emils while he was performing a song on the LTV broadcast programme Sems. After the broadcast, Marats offered him to collaborate. As a result, four songs were recorded during their first meeting and they decided to launch a project – Musiqq.

In June 2009, radio stations started playing the first radio single of the group – Climate Control. By the end of the same year, their song Abrakadabra became a national hit record and was nominated for the Latvian Music Records Award in the nomination – The Best Song. Moreover, the song reached Top 10 of the music download catalogue Doremi.lv and made it to the final of the Latvian radio song competition Music Bank where it received Grand Prix and was announced as the most valuable song of 2009. Besides, Abrakadabra was nominated for the Latvian Music Records Award in the nomination – The Best Song of the Year.

Subsequently, the band signed an agreement with the leading music records company in Latvia – Mikrofona ieraksti Ltd. Later on, in March 2009 the duet released their debut album This Is Just Music with a number of highly successful singles. Along with Abrakadabra, their songs Birthday and 10 Out of 10 became national hit records. Undoubtedly, these songs topped all radio station charts and the album was nominated for the Latvian Music Records Award in the nomination – The Best Pop Music Album. Furthermore, the group entered the final of the annual song competition Music Bank 2010 with two songs at once – Birthday and 10 Out Of 10. Additionally, the song Abrakadabra was nominated as one of the 5 most popular songs in Latvia in 2010. Pursuing this further, among 10 most demanded songs of 2010 of the music download catalogue Doremi.lv, Musiqq was awarded for 3 of their songs.

In 2011, the band submitted their song Angel in Disguise for the national final of the Latvian Eurovision Contest. In an intense competition with Lauris Reiniks, the song won and the group received the honour to represent Latvia in the Final of the International Eurovision Song Contest in Dusseldorf, Germany. The group admits that at the moment the greatest challenge they are facing is to combine Emil’s graduation from school with their many concerts and business trips.

For more info on Musiqq please visit their official website at http://www.musiqqofficial.com/