Lithuania

And this is what we know about the following order

Tonight, during the winners’ press conference, every artist had to draw a ballot for the final. Will they perform in the 1st or in the 2nd half? Last week, the Big 5 already had their draw. However, there is one exception. The organizing country, in this case Italy, had already drawn for the 9th place on an earlier stage. As you notice, most of the countries drew a place in the first half. That means, next Thursday there will be a lot of places available in the 2nd half. 1st half: Armenia France Germany Italy (9th place) Norway Portugal Spain Switzerland The Netherlands Ukraine 2nd half: Iceland Lithuania Moldova United Kingdom

Our predictions for the first semifinal

Tomorrow, the moment is there. We will have the first semifinal for the Eurovision Song Contest. What does the team of Eurovision Universe think? You will read it here. In fact, we are convinced of a final place for these countries: Albania, after all the fuzz around the act. Song and act are strong, Rona will qualify! Latvia: A song about veggies and (….). Cheerful, colourful and with a very modern topic. Lithuania: The act might not be what Monika wished for, but the song will stand out. Switzerland: The swiss song is in the style of Duncan Laurence and Gjon’s Tears, but less strong. It’s gonna be hard for Switzerland, but it is possible. Ukraine, because…. it’s Ukraine. The country is the hot favourite to even win the final. The Netherlands, S10 manages to tell the people where she sings about. Even in Dutch! Portugal: You can’t explain “Saudade” in any other language. MARO explains it by music. Not a sure qualifier, but we think it will. Greece; there is no such a song in Eurovision this year. It is unique and the act is strong. Norway, because every year needs an act like this. People vote for yellow masked wolves. Armenia: The song is strong, the singing is strong, the act is strong….. it has written final all over! But of course, we wish all the artists good luck. Tomorrow, by this time, we will know more….

Day 5: A sun that doesn’t move, a Greek tavern and COVID19

Today we saw the second rehearsals for the first 14 countries from the first semifinal. For the first time the press was allowed to see the rehearsals on large TV screens in the press center. It is now certain that the kinetic sun does not rotate. During the first rehearsals it turned out that the time between performances was too short to move the center part of the sun. As a result, several countries had to adjust their graphics, because they were not or only partially visible ALBANIA: The outfit had been changed and Ronela Hajati also had her own blond hair again, instead of the pink hair she had during the first rehearsal. It was a dynamic performance, in which there was almost constant dancing, together with her four dancers and a dancer. After the first rehearsal, there were some comments about an allegedly offensive dance move by Ronela with her dancer, but she kept it in anyway. LATVIA: The six were wearing the familiar colorful suits and the decor was also very colorful. Various types of vegetables were displayed on the LED screen. In the middle of the song there was a moment for the saxophonist. The performance ended with the singer making a split. LITHUANIA: Monika Liu stood alone on the big stage in Turin and mainly sang her song into the camera. She moved elegantly and attracted all the attention. The song doesn’t really need anything more. SWITZERLAND: Dressed all in black, Marius Bear was on stage and a broken heart was visible on his face and on the floor. So emotions abound. SLOVENIA: As said before, it was a big disco ball that mainly caught the attention of the Slovenian act. The boys wore 1970s-style velvet suits and the drummer appeared to be drumming above the disco ball. Compared to the previous rehearsal, there was little change. UKRAINE: There was a lot to see on stage, besides the colorful costumes there was a lot of visual spectacle. It was traditional, ethnic with a modern twist, just like last year’s contribution. Because of the war in Ukraine, this performance has something emotional and that is subtly reflected in the visual spectacle. BULGARIA: The performance started with a split screen, showing the drummer on one side and another member of the group. A small rock concert with all the trimmings, including a lot of fire(work). THE NETHERLANDS: There were few noticeable changes from the first rehearsal of S10. In the Netherlands, there was some fuss about the singer’s bare belly, but it is still naked for a while. A lot has been taken out of the lighting of S10. MOLDOVA: After the intimate moment of the Netherlands, a party erupted on stage with the contribution of Zdob şi Zdub, who are participating for the third time. They used the entire stage for their folklore song: Hey ho, let’s go…, but no train on stage. Lots of color, matching the contribution. CROATIA: During rehearsals today, Mia had problems with her in-ears. No surprises at Mia’s performance. The postcards were also shown to the press today. A drone searches for the location where the artist of the country in question can be seen and we see the visual artist in the area. DENMARK: The beginning was just like in the national final, Siggy starts alone at the piano, with her quieter part of the song and then the rock show starts. Last year we went back to the eighties with Denmark, now it seems back to the nineties. In case you don’t remember the name of the band, REDDI appeared on the LED screen. AUSTRIA: Of course there is a Halo on stage. Lots of fireworks and strong staging. The vocal part of the duo was, as we can see now, quite disappointing. GREECE: For those who don’t understand the act of Greece: Amanda seems to be in a Greek tavern; hence the chairs around her. But some of the seats have fallen over. That fits with the lyrics of the song. Amanda could count on a big round of applause from the audience. PORTUGAL: A delegation member from Portugal tested positive for corona, so the entire delegation had to go back to the hotel and be tested. Fortunately none of the ladies tested positive and they were able to rehearse for their performance, but later than planned. After all the rehearsals had been completed, Portugal was allowed to go on stage after Greece. During this rehearsal it was clear that it was one of the background singers who tested positive for corona. The ladies were lined up in a circle and brought this atmospheric contribution in a good way.

1st Rehearsal Lithuania

All of Lithuania has turned yellow in recent days, from companies to statues. Naturally, the ladies and gentlemen of the Roop were also dressed in yellow during the first rehearsal. The act and stage did not differ much from the performance during the National final. The Roop looks confident and dynamic. In Cooperation with Eurovision Artists Photocredits: EBU

Road to Rotterdam: Latvia

Samanta Tīna had already taken part in the Latvian preselections five times, and she tried once in Lithuania. In 2020, her persistence finally seemed to be rewarded. We all know how that turned out. Anyone who sees the video of “I’m still breathing” will be amazed: with background singers with splash screens, Samanta seemed to know what was going to happen in the near future.Unlike many other countries, Latvia did not have a national final for 2021 and gave Samanta Tīna carte blanche to submit a song. That will be “The moon is rising”.

Road to Rotterdam: Lithuania

The Roop is a three-man band from the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. They had previously participated in the Lithuanian preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest. Last year they won “Pabandom iš naujo!“. Their song “On fire” was one of the songs to beat in the international final, but unfortunately the party was canceled due to the cancellation of the contest itself. This year’s Lithuanian preselection was a sham: no one expected a winner other than The Roop. It is likely that more than only the three band members will be on stage in Rotterdam. We will wait and see if the yellow remains or not… photo: instagram

The Roop

© EBU/Thomas Hanses About Quick Facts MembersVaidotas ValiukevičiusRobertas BaranauskasMantas Banišauskas Established2014 Nationality🇱🇹 Lituanian National SelectionPabandom iš naujo 2021Pabandom iš naujo 2020Eurovizios Atrankas 2018 In Eurovision2021 Rotterdam2020 Rotterdam (cancelled) SongDiscoteque (2021)On fire (2020) Biography The Roop is a Lithuanian band from Vilnius, existing of three musicians. The band started in 2014. All band members had their musical careers before, and Vaidotas was a wellknown tv-show host in Lithuania. In november 2014, their debut single “Be mine” was released. A year later, their first album “To whom it may concern was released”, first as a download, a few months later as a CD. A second album followed in 2017, called “Ghosts”. In 2018, The Roop took part in Eurovizios Atrankas, the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. They became 3rd and released an EP with their entry “Yes, I do” on it. Two years later they won Pabandom iš naujo, the 2020 national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. They were chosen to represent Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “On fire”. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen, due to the cancellation of the contest. The Roop had been offered a place in the final of the 2021 Lithuanian national final, which they easily won with the song “Discoteque”. The group managed to organize a hype around the colour yellow in their country. They became 8th in the Eurovision Song Contest. The song “Disqoteque” was awarded the M.A.M.A. Award for best song and best video of 2021. The follow up for their Eurovision song was the song “Ohmygodable”. In 2022, the group received a prize for best video for that song. Their latest hit is “Love is all we got”. Entries Discoteque Country🇱🇹 Lithuania Year2021 LanguageEnglish Lyrics & MusicVaidotas ValiukevičiusRobertas BaranauskasMantas BanišauskasLaisvūnas ČernovasKalle LindrothIlkka Wirtanen BackingsAlgirdas Ciūnys DancersMarijanas StaniulėnasMiglė Praniauskaitė Results Semi Points: 203Position: 4Running order: 1 Results Finals Points: 220Position: 8Running order: 18 https://youtu.be/JNweec5olYw On fire Country Lithuania Year2020 LanguageEnglish LyricsVaidotas ValiukevičiusMusicVaidotas ValiukevičiusRobertas BaranauskasMantas Banišauskas Backings– Results Semi Points:Position:Running order: Results Finals Points:Position:Running order: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxPm-Wz8qpY

Norway, Lithuania and Israel continue

Three countries continue their national selection: Norway, Lithuania and Israel. You can choose one to watch…. or watch all of them! The first one is Norway on 19:50 CET. You can watch the 3rd semifinal here. Again, duels will decide which song will enter the final. The contestants tonight are: Alexandru Kristin Husøy Sie Gubba Thomas Løseth & Erika Norwich Lithuania starts at 20:00 CET and you can watch it here and here. The contestants are: The Backs, “Fully” Bernardas, “Dad, don’t be mad at me” Justina Žukauskaitė, “Breathe in” Rokas Povilius, “Vilnius calling” KaYra, “Alligator” Lukas Bartaška, “Where is that change?” Evgenya Redko, “What about us” Ruslanas Kirilkinas, “Soldier’s heart” Nombeko Augustė, “Reikia man” Vitalijus Špokaitis, “Nemušk savęs” Aistė Pilvelytė, “Everlastingly” The roop, “On fire” We saw Justina Žukauskaitė and Lukas Bartaška before in 2019, Ruslanas Kirilkinas in 2010 and 2016, and The Roop in 2018. Oh and let’s definitely not forget Aistė Pilvelytė. It’s her 11th attempt to represent Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest!! 3rd and last for tonight is Israel. The show is a little bit more complicated. It starts at 20:15 CET and you can watch it here. In this round every contestant will perform with the Idan Raichel Project. And yes, they can be familiar to you as they performed in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest as an interval act. Thursday, we saw the first round, but that one is not finished yet. So far, it looks like Ohad Shragai, who composed last year’s entry “Home” for Kobi Marimi, is out of the race. But Dorel Saadon still has to perform in the 1st round: if he gets less than 58% of the votes, he is out and Ohad is saved.For the 2nd show, the contestants are: Eden Zohar Sivan Ella-Lee Lahav Gaya Shaki Moran Aharoni Raviv Kaner The person with the lowest percentage, has to leave the show.

Sasha Son

About Quick Facts NameDmitrij Šavrov Born18 September 1983 Nationality🇱🇹 Lithuanian National Selection“Eurovizijos” dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka 2017“Eurovizijos” dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka 2011“Eurovizijos” dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka 2010Lietuvos Dainų Daina 2009“Eurovizijos” dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka 2008 In Eurovision2009 Moscow SongLove (2009) Biography Sasha Song (real name Dmitrijus Šavrovas, born September 18, 1983, in Vilnius) is a prominent Lithuanian singer and songwriter. Sasha Song’s musical journey began at the tender age of 10 when he gained national fame in Lithuania with the song “Mamai,” composed by Ovidijus Vyšniauskas and Gintaras Zdebskis. His early success was marked by winning the “Bravo” award and releasing his debut album “Svajonių Laivas.” At 15, Sasha moved to Great Britain with his father. Although his father left after a year, he remained in the UK for nine years, studying music in a London college. In 2005, he returned to Lithuania with his musical partner, Hywel Sam, and won the Grand Prix at the Palanga 2005 international contest. In 2008, he re-emerged on the Lithuanian music scene under the stage name Sasha Son. He participated in the reality show Muzikos akademija, finishing in third place, and collaborated with producer Egidijus Dragūnas. Later, he modified his stage name to Sasha Song. His international success continued as he secured second place in both the Malta Euro Song contest and the Laagna Laul pop song competition in Tallinn. Sasha Song’s persistence in the Eurovision national selections paid off in 2009 when he won with the song “Pasiklydęs žmogus.” This victory granted him the opportunity to represent Lithuania at Eurovision in Moscow. The song, released in English (“Love”) and Russian (“Odinoky Geroj”), saw him reach the Grand Final and finish 23rd in the final, marking one of Lithuania’s best results in Eurovision history. Following Eurovision, Sasha collaborated with producer Martynas Tyla and performed as George Michael in the Tamabi goes… concert series. He also performed with the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra and the gospel choir Sounds in G. In 2010, Sasha joined Evelina Anusauskaitė and the Šiauliai choir in the TV3 project Chorų karai, securing sixth place. In 2011, he and beauty contest laureate Viktorija Sutkutė participated in the LNK musical project Žvaigždžių duetai 5, but were eliminated before the semifinals. In the same year, he participated in the Lithuanian finals for the Eurovision Song Contest with two songs; “The slogan of our nation” reached a 7th place, “Best friends” along with Donny Montel was 4th. In the same year, he opened for Seal on one of his concerts. In Vilnius, Sasha opened Sasha Song’s Jazz Club, a restaurant. In May 2012 Sasha released the song “Himnas herojams” for the Olympic Games. He also took part at the festival Slavianskij bazar and reached a 9th place. Also, his song “Ir tai irgi praeis” reached the #1 spot in the Lithuanian charts. Sasha Song wrote a song for Monika Linkytė for the national Eurovision selection in 2013. The song was called “Baby boy”. Unfortunately it did not make it to the final. His own new song was called “Naujas Gyvenimas”. He teamed up with Echoes for the song “Sex & City Life”. Again, the #1 spot was reached. In February 2014 Sasha released a new single, Siela, Zodziai ir Muzika”, which became a hit. The singer moved to Sint Petersburg. There he recorded his new single “Outside” and, for the Lithuanian market, “Kūnas, alkis ir kvapas” . He teamed up with Lina Žilinskaite for the song “Kvėpuot lengvai”. In October, the song “Niekada, niekada” reached the top-10. As a duet with Evelina Sašenko the song “Aš lauksiu” won the competition Dainų daina in May 2015. It was three months later that his song “Tu mano mintyse” reached the #1 spot in the Lithuanian charts. “Žodis Myliu” entered the charts at no. 2 in February 2016, followed in May by “Lyja”. Besides, he teamed up with the Dutch producer Jumé for the song “I just wanna see you move”. There was also a jubilee show, “Dima Šavrovas po 20metų”. Many Lithuanian stars joined in to support Sasha. The show should have taken place in September, but was postponed due to voice problems for Sasha. In December, the show could take place. In November 2016, he released a new album: “XX”. In 2017, he did a new attempt to go to the Eurovision Song Contest; this time with the song “Never felt like this before”. The song reached the wildcard round but not the final. In February of that year, he also tributed for the late George Michael. In 2018, he teamed up with Emeth Paul for the Christmas song “Kalėdos”. Sasha Song teamed up with Vidas Bareikis for the project “Plikių daina”. The song and video were released in February 2019. In January 2020 Sasha was one of the judges at Pabandom iš naujo, the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest. In January 2022 he released a new song, “Bad Boy”. In December of the same year, the song “Ten aukštai” came out. In July 2023, his album “Genai” was released. It was followed in December by the single “Šią Naktį Per Kalėdas”. Besides, Sasha Song is also a vocal teacher who offers lessons. Entries Love Country🇱🇹 Lithuania Year2009 LanguageEnglishRussian LyricsSasha SonViktorija MatulevicienėDina Grigonytė MusicSasha Son Backings– Results Semi Points: 66Position: 9Running order: 14 Results Finals Points: 23Position: 23Running order: 1 https://youtu.be/ukSmGIp_xVk?si=y929vgHb_gFgZKhS

InCulto

© Ane Charlotte Spilde, Wikimedia Commons About Quick Facts MembersJurgis DidžiulisAurelijus MorlencasLaurynas LapėJonas NarbutasJievaras JasinskisŠarūnas Kirdeikis Active2003-2011 Nationality🇱🇹 Lithuanian National Selection“Eurovizijos” dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka 2010“Eurovizijos” dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka 2006 In Eurovision2010 Oslo SongEastern European Funk (2010) Biography Formed in 2003, InCulto was a Lithuanian band known for blending unconventional electronic music with diverse musical influences, striving to merge organic and synthetic sounds and juxtaposing aggression with serenity. Their musical journey began ambitiously with the release of “PostSovPop” in 2004, marking their initial steps into the music industry with a mix of electronic and lively beats. That same year, the radio single “Jei labai nori” was released in collaboration with Linas Karalius, followed by the playful track “Suk, suk ratelį.” Their creative momentum continued into 2005 with the energetic “Boogaloo.” In 2006, InCulto made their first attempt to enter the Eurovision Song Contest with “Welcome to Lithuania,” securing a commendable second place in the national selection. The band’s experimentation and collaborative spirit were further showcased in 2007 with the release of “Marijos Žemės Superhitai” and two notable singles, “Reikia bandyt” featuring Erica Jennings and “Pasiilgau namų” alongside Andrius Rimiškis. In 2010, a pivotal year, they launched the “Eastern European Funk EP” and the album “Closer Than You Think”, capturing attention both locally and internationally. Their song “Eastern European Funk” won unanimous support during the national selection, earning them the honor to represent Lithuania at the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. Although they did not progress to the Grand Final, this experience was a significant highlight of their career. That year, the band also released “Keep on Dancing,” “Close to Midnight,” and “If Not Me,”. However, despite their success, InCulto announced in early 2011 that they would discontinue their activities. Entries Eastern European Funk Country🇱🇹 Lithuania Year2010 LanguageEnglish LyricsJurgis DidžiulisAurelijus MorlencasLaurynas LapėJonas NarbutasJievaras JasinskisŠarūnas Kirdeikis MusicJurgis DidžiulisAurelijus MorlencasLaurynas LapėJonas NarbutasJievaras JasinskisŠarūnas Kirdeikis Backings– Results Semi Points: 44Position: 12Running order: 1 Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/XeOn-GG_eHo?si=Z5noEZ8X2UgeD_HX