Saturday 13th January will see the first crop of artists hoping to represent Lithuania at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest. Although their best result still continues to be their sixth place score in 2006, with ‘We Are the Winners’ by LT United, Lithuania did well last year when Monika Linkytė placed 11th with her song ‘Stay’. They will be hoping to do even better in Malmö this year.
While Pabandom iš naujo! (Let’s Try Again!) has been used since 2020, Lithuania have revamped their national final format this year. As well as a name change to Eurovizija.LT, there are some changes to the show’s format. A combination of jury and televote will still determine who progresses to the final but the televised jury will no longer comment on the songs. Furthermore, although in the event of a tie the jury score will still take precedence over the televote, the format of the Grand Final has been altered. The top 3 finalists will now progress to a Super Final, where the overall winner will be decided exclusively by televote.
Tonight, eight artists will compete to be one of the two artists progressing to the final. Read on to learn more about them!
Živilė Gedvilaitė – Save Me
Živilė Gedvilaitė is a music teacher and singer who has attempted to represent Lithuania at Eurovision on a number of occasions, with her most recent effort being ‘Lioness’ in 2022, which placed 10th in PiN. Can she be more successful with her 2024 effort ‘Save Me’? You’ll have to wait to find out but in the meantime you can listen to the song below:
Antoine Wend – Say No More
Born and raised in France, Antoine Wend discovered a love for music when he was studying architecture in Paris, where he began singing and playing in piano bars in the evening. He subsequently went on to audition for the Lithuanian edition of The X Factor alongside Mindaugas Pundzius in 2021, with the pair forming the duo Mando and eventually winning the entire competition.
Antoine will be performing his song ‘Say No More’ which he explained in an interview with ESC United is about his best friend Simona:
It is a message for her to remind and communicate that I will always be there for her, to help her, to only listen to her if that’s what she needs. A message that I might not have always been right and aware, but that even through these human states of mind, she can still count on me. It’s a message of opening yourself to communication and letting yourself be vulnerable. I think this is a great message of kindness and openness for all of us.
Antoine Wend Interview: ESC United
You can listen to ‘Say No More’ below:
Marius Petrauskas – Kol laiko yra
Marius Petrauskas was brought in to replace Kotryna Juodzevičiūtė, after she was forced to withdraw from the national final for personal reasons. However, this will not be the first time the 2011 winner of Lithuanian Talents has attempted to represent his country at Eurovision, having previously competed in the 2017 and 2018 national finals. Having been given another chance, can Marius be successful with his Lithuanian entry ‘Kol laiko yra’ (‘While There Is Time’)? You can listen to the track below:
Silvester Belt – Luktelk
Another artist singing in Lithuanian is Silvester Belt, who made his mark on the Lithuanian music scene at just 19-years-old, when he won the TV talent show Superhit. He has also competed in the 2018 edition of Lithuania’s X Factor. Heavily inspired by his idol Troye Sivan, Silvester will be hoping to get to the final with his song ‘Luktelk’ (‘Hang On’). You can listen to the song below:
Aistay – You
Aistė Tomkeviciute, who performs under the stage name Aistay (pronounced I stay), got her first big break when she competed in The Voice of Lithuania in 2014. She has previously attempted to represent Lithuania at Eurovision with her song ‘Dangus man tu’ (‘You Are the Sky For Me’) in 2020, although that accolade ultimately went to The Roop, with their song ‘On Fire’.
Back and this time singing in English, Aistay will be hoping for success with her song ‘You’. You can listen to it below:
VB Gang – Kaboom!!!
VB Gang is a project led by Vidas Bareikis who, in addition to being a musician, is a prominent theatre director. He is credited with having founded the ‘No Theatre’ theatre movement in Lithuania back in 2009. Joined by Gabija Lokytė on vocals, as well as a guitarist, drummer and two dancers, the group have already generated a buzz among Eurofans, with their entry ‘Kaboom!!!’ having racked up 91,000 views on YouTube in the past 12 days. Featuring Korean lyrics which translate into English as ‘Noddles, chicken, yes!’ it’s certainly something viewers are unlikely to forget. You can listen to ‘Kaboom!!!’ below:
Luka – Move On
Making her first attempt to represent Lithuania at Eurovision is up and coming singer Luka. While little is known about her, we do know that she will be joined by two dancers to perform her entry ‘Move On’ which features a prominent drumbeat and punchy chorus. You can listen to this below:
Clockwork Creep – Empty
Closing the first heat is rock band Clockwork Creep, who last attempted to represent Lithuania in 2022 with their song ‘Grow’, although they ultimately lost to Monika Liu, who will also perform as tonight’s interval act. Clockwork Creep are back with their yet-to-be-released song ‘Empty’ so while you will have to wait until tonight to hear it, you can still listen to ‘Grow’ to remind yourself of the band’s sound.
You can watch Eurovizija.LT tonight from 20:00 CET through broadcaster LRT’s livestream. Which two artists are you hoping to see progress to the final? Be sure to let us know in the comments and don’t forget to follow our socials.
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