Armenian pop singer Sona Shahgeldyan has won this year’s New Wave (Jaunais vilnis) competition, which began July 27 in Dzintari Concert Hall in Jūrmala, Latvia.

The contest, which is oriented toward Russian and other Eastern European music, was started in 2002 by popular Latvian composer Raimonds Pauls and Russian composer Igor Krutoy.

Two Latvian acts, girl group Lady’s Sweet and beatbox boy group PeR, placed eighth and ninth, respectively, out of the 17 finalists.

During the first day of the contest, according to the New Wave website, singers have to perform a world hit. On the second day, they perform a hit song from their own country. And on the third and final day, they perform an original song.

Ukraine’s Tatiana Shirko was the leader after the first day of competition, while Estonia’s Uku Suviste scored highest on the second day. Shahgeldyan had the best result on the third day and, when points for all three days were tallied, she came out on top—just one point ahead of Shirko.

First prize in the New Wave competition includes a monetary award of EUR 50,000.

This year contest co-founder Pauls caused a bit of a stir when in March he told Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze he would no longer participate in the competition. But earlier this month he reversed his decision, telling television station LNT that if he and jazz singer Laima Vaikule would not be on the jury, then Latvian performers would have a hard time in the contest.

And just days before the competition, Pauls in an interview with Latvian State Television expounded on his thoughts about the New Wave contest, relations with Russia and Latvia’s future.

The Rīga Latvian Society and its landmark building at Merķeļa iela 13 have played an important role in fostering Latvian national identity. A recently released book, Rīgas Latviešu biedrība un latviešu nacionālā kustība no 1868. līdz 1905. gadam, examines the society’s early history.

Written by historian Kristine Wohlfart, the book is based on the author’s doctoral dissertation. The work was originally published in Germany as Der Rigaer Letten Verein und die lettische Nationalbewegung von 1868 bis 1905 by the Herder-Institut in Marburg.

Wohlfart, who studied philology at the University of Latvia, used the archives of the Rīga Latvian Society in her research. Her analysis, according to press releases announcing the book’s publication, shows that the formation of Latvian identity was not spontaneous, but the result of a concerted effort by activists who wanted to see the development of a modern, politically autonomous nation.

The society was formed in 1868. Its first building was erected in 1869, according to the society’s website, but was destroyed by fire in 1908. The current building was completed in 1909. The society’s activities were suspended in 1940 after the Soviet occupation, but the organization was re-established during the National Awakening period of the late 1980s.

The translation of Wohlfart’s book into Latvian was prepared with support from the Goethe Institute and the German Foreign Ministry.

Rīgas Latviešu biedrība un latviešu nacionālā kustība no 1868. līdz 1905. gadam was published by the University of Latvia.