Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021
Lithuania will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. The Lithuanian broadcaster, Lietuvos radijas ir televizija (LRT) used the national selection Pabandom iš naujo! 2021 to select their representative.
| Eurovision Song Contest 2021 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Lithuania | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Pabandom iš Naujo! 2021 | |||
| Selection date(s) | Heats: 16 January 2021 23 January 2021 Semi-final: 30 January 2021 Final: 6 February 2021 | |||
| Selected entrant | The Roop | |||
| Selected song | "Discoteque" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) | Vaidotas Valiukevičius Robertas Baranauskas Mantas Banišauskas Laisvūnas Černovas Kalle Lindroth Ilkka Wirtanen | |||
| Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Background
Prior to 2021, Lithuania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty times since its first entry in 1994. Their best placing was achieved in 2006, with "We Are the Winners", performed by LT United, finishing in sixth place in the final. Following the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Lithuania has managed to qualify to the final nine times.[1]
Lithuania was represented in 2019 by the song "Run with the Lions", performed by Jurijus Veklenko, finishing in 11th place in the second semi-final with 93 points.
Before Eurovision
Pabandom iš naujo! 2021
Pabandom iš Naujo! 2021 (Let's try again! 2021) was the national final format developed by LRT in order to select Lithuania's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. The competition involved a four-week-long process that commenced on 16 January 2021 and concluded with a winning song and artist on 6 February 2021. The four shows took place at the LRT studios in Vilnius and were hosted by Ieva Stasiulevičiūtė and Vytautas Rumšas with Vaidas Baumila hosting segments from the green room.[2] The shows were broadcast on LRT televizija, LRT Lituanica and LRT Radijas as well as online via the broadcaster's website lrt.lt.
Format
For the 2021 competition, two heats consisting of ten entries each were held on 16 and 23 January where half of the entries from each heat were eliminated, while the remaining ten entries advanced to the competition's semi-final. In the semi-final, half of the entries were eliminated and the top five proceeded to the final. In the final, the winner was selected from the remaining five entries and an additional entry from The Roop (who were due to represent Lithuania in 2020 before the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe) that proceeded directly to the final.
The results of each of the four shows were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and public televoting. The ranking developed by both streams of voting was converted to points from 1-8, 10 and 12 and assigned based on the number of competing songs in the respective show. During the first three shows, the jury votes were determined by a five-member panel. In the final, a seven-member panel voted. The public could cast their votes through telephone and SMS voting, which were monitored by independent observers from auditor Grand Thornton Baltic. Ties in all shows were decided in favour of the entry that was awarded the most points by the jury.[2]
Competing entries
On 31 March 2020, LRT opened two separate submission forms: one for artists and another for songwriters to submit their songs. The submission deadline for both applications concluded on 14 December 2020. Artists that applied to compete with a song were required to indicate which song they wanted to compete with on their application.[3][4] On 3 January 2020, LRT announced the 22 artists selected for the competition. Among the artists are previous Lithuanian Eurovision contestant Evelina Sašenko, who represented Lithuania in 2011, Sunday Afternoon (Vilija Matačiūnaitė), who represented the nation in 2014, and The Roop, who were to represent the nation in 2020 before the contest was cancelled.[5] On 4 January 2021, the final changes to the list of 22 competing acts were made with the withdrawal of singers Evelina Sašenko and Gintarė Korsakaitė.[6][7]
| Artist | Song | Composer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Aistė Brokenleg | "Home" | Linas Karolis Krasauskas, Aistė Motiejūnaitė |
| Aldegunda | "Sit Down" | Gailė Asačiovaitė-Main |
| Be U | "Love Yourself" | Ąžuolas Paulauskas |
| Black Spikes ft. Indrė Launikonytė | "Don't Tell Me" | Dovilė Virbalaitė, Rimantas Budriūnas, Agnieška Vrubliauskienė, Simona Karinauskaitė, Indrė Launikonytė |
| Cosmic Bride | "Solitary Star" | Natalia Chareckaja, Davide Fortugno |
| Donata Virbilaitė | "The Way I Am" | Ylva Persson, Linda Persson |
| Evita Cololo | "Be paslapčių" | Evita Cololo, Elizabeta Eliševa Povilaitė, Vitalijus Puzyriovas |
| Gabrielė Goštautaitė | "Freedom" | Gabrielė Goštautaitė, Tomas Kondrackis |
| Gabrielius Vagelis | "My Guy" | Gabrielius Vagelis, Bjørn Holmesland |
| Gebrasy | "Where'd You Wanna Go?" | Audrius Petrauskas, Faustas Venckus |
| Martyna Jezepčikaitė | "Thank You Very Much"[8] | Andreas Stone Johansson, Julia Kautz, Morten Thorhauge, Selin Üstün |
| Milita Daikerytė | "Shadows" | Audrius Petrauskas, Faustas Venckus |
| Norbertas | "Man In Need" | Faustas Venckus, Dennis Steenbergen |
| Rapolas | "Degam" | Rapolas Kęstutis Meškauskas |
| Sunday Afternoon | "Open" | Vilija Matačiūnaitė |
| The Roop | "Discoteque" | Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Robertas Baranauskas, Mantas Banišauskas, Laisvūnas Černovas, Kalle Lindroth, Ilkka Wirtanen |
| Thomukas1 | "Wish" | Thomas Tumosa, Simonas Kazlauskas, Pijus Brazys |
| Titas & Benas | "No" | Audrius Petrauskas, Faustas Venckus |
| Twosome | "I Love My Bear" | Justinas Stanislovaitis, Paulius Šinkūnas |
| UnoBand | "Eisiu" | Paulius Jasiūnas |
| Voldemars Petersons | "Never Fall for You Again" | Voldemars Petersons |
Heat 1 (16 January 2021)
The first heat of the competition aired on 16 January 2021 and featured ten of the competing artists. The show was filmed on 12 January 2021. The members of the jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer), Jievaras Jasinskis (composer and musician), Vytautas Bikus (composer), Ieva Narkutė (singer) and Aistė Smilgevičiūtė (singer). Half of the entries advanced to the semi-final, while the remaining half were eliminated.[9]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Public | Total | Place | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Points | Televote | Points | |||||
| 1 | Black Spikes ft. Indrė Launikonytė | "Don't Tell Me" | 24 | 4 | 805 | 8 | 12 | 6 |
| 2 | Thomukas1 | "Wish" | 8 | 2 | 108 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| 3 | Be U | "Love Yourself" | 30 | 6 | 780 | 7 | 13 | 5 |
| 4 | Titas & Benas | "No" | 41 | 8 | 994 | 10 | 18 | 2 |
| 5 | Martyna Jezepčikaitė | "Thank You Very Much" | 27 | 5 | 2063 | 12 | 17 | 3 |
| 6 | Donata Virbilaitė | "The Way I Am" | 36 | 7 | 353 | 3 | 10 | 7 |
| 7 | Twosome | "I Love My Bear" | 8 | 2 | 213 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| 8 | Milita Daikerytė | "Shadows" | 49 | 10 | 448 | 5 | 15 | 4 |
| 9 | Aldegunda | "Sit Down" | 15 | 3 | 357 | 4 | 7 | 8 |
| 10 | Voldemars Petersons | "Never Fall for You Again" | 52 | 12 | 498 | 6 | 18 | 1 |
Heat 2 (23 January 2021)
The second heat of the competition aired on 23 January 2021 and featured ten of the competing artists. The show was filmed on 19 January 2021. The members of the jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer), Ieva Narkutė (singer), Vytautas Bikus (composer), Gerūta Griniūtė (cultural presenter and event host) and Stanislavas Stavickis-Stano (singer-songwriter). Half of the entries advanced to the semi-final, while the remaining half were eliminated.[10]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Public | Total | Place | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Points | Televote | Points | |||||
| 1 | UnoBand | "Eisiu" | 7 | 1 | 169 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| 2 | Cosmic Bride | "Solitary Star" | 26 | 6 | 93 | 1 | 7 | 9 |
| 3 | Rapolas | "Degam" | 19 | 3 | 333 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| 4 | Sunday Afternoon | "Open" | 24 | 5 | 249 | 4 | 9 | 6 |
| 5 | Aistė Brokenleg | "Home" | 27 | 7 | 131 | 2 | 9 | 5 |
| 6 | Norbertas | "Man In Need" | 21 | 4 | 587 | 10 | 14 | 4 |
| 7 | Gabrielė Goštautaitė | "Freedom" | 18 | 2 | 340 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| 8 | Gebrasy | "Where'd You Wanna Go?" | 55 | 12 | 868 | 12 | 24 | 1 |
| 9 | Evita Cololo | "Be paslapčių" | 46 | 8 | 443 | 8 | 16 | 3 |
| 10 | Gabrielius Vagelis | "My Guy" | 47 | 10 | 423 | 7 | 17 | 2 |
Semi-final (30 January 2021)
The semi-final of the competition aired on 30 January 2021 and featured the ten entries that qualified from the two heats. The show was filmed on 26 January 2021. The members of the jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer), Aistė Smilgevičiūtė (singer), Jievaras Jasinskis (composer and musician), Gerūta Griniūtė (cultural presenter and event host) and Stanislavas Stavickis-Stano (singer-songwriter). The top five entries advanced to the final, while the bottom five were eliminated.[11]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Public | Total | Place | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Points | Televote | Points | |||||
| 1 | Be U | "Love Yourself" | 14 | 1 | 858 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 2 | Aistė Brokenleg | "Home" | 16 | 4 | 208 | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| 3 | Gabrielius Vagelis | "My Guy" | 24 | 6 | 688 | 4 | 10 | 7 |
| 4 | Martyna Jezepčikaitė | "Thank You Very Much" | 20 | 5 | 1816 | 10 | 15 | 2 |
| 5 | Norbertas | "Man In Need" | 15 | 2 | 832 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| 6 | Evita Cololo | "Be paslapčių" | 45 | 10 | 350 | 2 | 12 | 3 |
| 7 | Titas & Benas | "No" | 16 | 4 | 943 | 8 | 12 | 5 |
| 8 | Voldemars Petersons | "Never Fall for You Again" | 38 | 7 | 819 | 5 | 12 | 4 |
| 9 | Milita Daikerytė | "Shadows" | 42 | 8 | 592 | 3 | 11 | 6 |
| 10 | Gebrasy | "Where'd You Wanna Go?" | 60 | 12 | 2237 | 12 | 24 | 1 |
Final (6 February 2021)
The final of the competition took place on 6 February 2021 and featured the remaining five entries that qualified from the semi-final and the pre-qualified entry: "Discoteque" performed by The Roop. The members of the jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer), Aistė Smilgevičiūtė (singer), Jievaras Jasinskis (composer and musician), Gerūta Griniūtė (cultural presenter and event host), Stanislavas Stavickis-Stano (singer-songwriter), Vytautas Bikus (composer) and Ieva Narkutė (singer).[12] "Discoteque" performed by The Roop was selected as the winner after gaining the most points from both the jury vote and the public vote.[13]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Public | Total | Place | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Points | Televote | Points | |||||
| 1 | Titas & Benas | "No" | 44 | 6 | 1094 | 6 | 12 | 6 |
| 2 | Martyna Jezepčikaitė | "Thank You Very Much" | 40 | 5 | 2453 | 8 | 13 | 4 |
| 3 | Gebrasy | "Where'd You Wanna Go?" | 70 | 10 | 6413 | 10 | 20 | 2 |
| 4 | Voldemars Petersons | "Never Fall for You Again" | 51 | 8 | 1224 | 7 | 15 | 3 |
| 5 | Evita Cololo | "Be paslapčių" | 47 | 7 | 427 | 5 | 12 | 5 |
| 6 | The Roop | "Discoteque" | 84 | 12 | 74512 | 12 | 24 | 1 |
At Eurovision
According to contest rules, all participating countries with the exception of the host country and the "Big 5" are required to qualify for the final as one of the top ten countries from one of two semi-finals. In allocating countries to semi-finals, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split the countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.
The semi-final allocation draw that was scheduled to be used in 2020 will be used in 2021. Lithuania was placed into the first semi-final, which will be held on 18 May 2021, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[14]
References
- "Lithuania Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
- "Lithuania has kicked off their selection show". Eurovision.tv. 16 January 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
- "2021 M. DAINŲ KONKURSO „PABANDOM IŠ NAUJO! NACIONALINĖS EUROVIZIJOS ATRANKOS" TAISYKLĖS" (PDF). lrt.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 7 February 2021.
- Jiandani, Sanjay (31 March 2020). "Lithuania: LRT confirms participation in Eurovision 2021: national final confirmed". ESCToday.
- "Paaiškėjo 2021-ųjų nacionalinės „Eurovizijos" atrankos „Pabandom iš naujo" dalyviai". Lietuvos radijas ir televizija (in Lithuanian). 23 December 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
- "Lituânia: Gintarė Korsakaitė está fora do 'Pabandom iš Naujo! 2021'". ESC PORTUGAL | A Eurovisão em Português. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
- Zilnys, Ramūnas (4 January 2021). "Dainininkė Evelina Sašenko traukiasi iš „Eurovizijos" atrankos". Lietuvos radijas ir televizija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 6 February 2021.
- Originally titled "F**k You Very Much". Due to Eurovision rules, the clean version was used
- Granger, Anthony (12 January 2021). "Lithuania: Filming For Heat One of Pabandom iš Naujo! 2021 Has Taken Place". Eurovoix. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
- Zizys, Lukas (20 January 2021). "The Roop to perform Discoteque in Pabandom Iš Naujo! 2021 Heat 2". wiwibloggs. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
- "Vietą „Eurovizijos" atrankos finale iškovojo 5 pusfinalio dalyviai, vakaro favoritu vėl tapo Gebrasy". Lietuvos radijas ir televizija (in Lithuanian). 30 January 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
- "Nacionalinės „Eurovizijos" atrankos finalas – kas pasirodys Roterdame?". lrt.lt. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
- "The Roop wins in Lithuania". Eurovision.tv. 6 February 2021.
- Groot, Evert (17 November 2020). "2020 Semi-Final line-up to stay for 2021". eurovision.tv. Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
| Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest | |||||||||||||
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