Photo credit: Nerijus ir Gintare
His song ‘Luktelk’ (‘Wait’) has already brought him national recognition in Lithuania and now Silvester Belt has the potential to achieve global fame at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest. Read on to learn more about the artist, his career so far and his journey to Eurovision.
Who is Silvester Belt?
26-year-old Silvestras Beltė, who uses Silvester Belt as his stage name, was born in Kaunas, Lithuania. He graduated from the University of Westminster in London with a degree in Commercial Music Performance.
In 2017, when he was just 19, Silvester took part in the TV talent show AÅ¡ – superhitas (‘I Am a Superhit’) which he ended up winning. Following this, he moved to Vilnius and released his debut single ‘Noise’ which you can listen to below:
While Silvester acknowledges that ‘Noise’ is very different to his current music, he continues to speak highly of his early work, telling ESC United:
I’m really glad that I had those experiences, no university or school can give you experiences like that, it taught me so much and it has shaped me over the years to the point where I am actually proud of my work.
Silvester Belt on ‘Noise’, ESC United
Having clearly developed a taste for reality TV, he spent time working backstage on the Lithuanian show 2 Barai (‘The Bar’) which is similar to Big Brother in that contestants live together and try to avoid being eliminated for money. However, they also work in a bar. In 2018, he entered the Lithuanian edition of The X Factor and was eliminated in the fourth week.
The Journey to Eurovision
Eurovizija.LT was the national final format to select Lithuania’s Eurovision entry. It consisted of five heats which saw 40 acts compete to be the final 10 in the final. Silvester performed in the first heat, which was held on 13th January. He placed first with the jury and second with televoters, tying with VB Gang to go through to the final.
Speaking of his song ‘Luktelk’ with ESC Bubble, Silvester said:
To me personally, this song is about being stuck in this kinda Matrix loop. When we get stuck in our everyday tasks that repeat everyday- we can’t tell anymore whether we are in a dream, or in another dimension. It’s about generally not being happy, and only existing on the surface and it isn’t working anymore. The bridge part of the song ends on the lines ‘I don’t wanna dance anymore, but I got to dance’, and then it goes to this dance break on the performance, which is ironic. At the end of the day, we will wake up tomorrow and will still have to dance won’t we?
Silvester Belt on ‘Luktelk’, ESC Bubble
In the weeks that followed his initial performance, ‘Luktelk’ became a huge success in Lithuania, reaching number 1 in Lithuania’s singles chart and topping the Spotify Viral 50 where it remained until the final. He also appeared as a guest performer at Natalija Bunkė‘s concert at the Zalgiris Arena in his hometown of Kaunas where tens of thousands of fans sang along to his song. You can watch footage from this performance below:
The final of Eurovizija.LT was held on Saturday 17th February. In a change to previous years, the top 3 with jurors and televoters would progress to a super final which would determine the winner with 100% televote. ‘Luktelk’s popularity with the public clearly hadn’t diminished, with him receiving 16,688 votes – more than super final competitors Shower and The Roop combined!
How Will Silvester Fare in Malmö?
‘Luktelk’ is clearly popular with the public which could bode well for how he will do in a televote-only semi. Since his Eurovizija.LT win, Lithuania’s odds of winning have also risen. Lithuania’s best result was in 2006, where ‘We are the Winners’ by LT United placed 6th so Lithuania will certainly be hoping to beat this record in 2024.
Lithuania perform in the first half of the first semi-final on Tuesday 7th May which features Ukraine who are also strong contenders this year. However, with a number of songs still yet to be announced anything could change and only time will tell.
We’ll certainly be wishing Silvester the best of luck for this May!
You can follow Silvester on Instagram: @silvesterbelt
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