After several weeks seeing the artists singing covers, this evening Eurovizijos went through to a new stage and the eight remaining acts performed for the very first time eight out of the sixteen songs competing for the Lithuanian ticket to Copenhagen.
Eurovizijos, the show which will see the selection of the Lithuanian representative and song for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest has officially started a new stage of the selection process. At this evening’s show, the eight contenders were performing for the very first time some of the potential entries, one of which will eventually be chosen to represent the Baltic country at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in May.
The songs:
1. Mia – Take A Look At Me Now
This song is quite explosive and
its chorus is immensely catchy. Her vocals had a bizarre sound effect, however, her
voice was very pleasant and she did a great job especially during the
chorus when her voice rose with emotion and passion. She wore a black dress with white stripes. The stage was lit in dark blue with white flashes and on the screens one could see blue and purple images that moved quite fast to the rhythm of the song. She was accompanied by three female backup singers who were to her left and she moved around the stage quite well.
2. Vilija Matačiūnaitė – Attention
Attention is an electro pop song, very classy,
which starts immediately with the extremely catchy chorus. Right off the
bat, the listener is attacked by the hook of the song and the intense
chord progression that will last for the entirety of the song. She wore a black t-shirt over another pink and jeans with a pink belt to
match her t-shirt. Beside her was a male dancer dressed in black and both of them performed a very well coordinated choreography that really fit the style
of the song. The stage was quite dark and the images on screens were
gray and white. Vilija does
not have an excessively powerful voice, but this song definitely fits the
breathy quality to her voice. She proved that as well as being a great singer she is a great dancer. Certainly is worthy of merit being able to sing and dance like that at the same time.
3. Martynas Kavaliauskas – It’s Not Too Late
We continued with an excellent
ballad. It had such a haunting introduction that pulls you into its
state of sadness and the subtle gloominess that loomed around the verses
was overwhelming. The percussion added a sense of emptiness and, when
it moved into the chorus, strings were added to the mix and his voice
took on a higher tone that gave the song a stronger emotional pull. The
song got even better during the bridge and continued into the last
chorus when he performed with much more passion. He was dressed very stylish all in black with some shiny ornaments on his shirt. The stage was illuminated in yellow and sometimes it seemed like it was made of gold. During his performance he was at the center stage and he was accompanied by the orchestra and three female backing singers that were located on the right side of the stage.
4. Ieva Zasimauskaitė – One
After a commercial break, next on stage was Ieva Zasimauskaitė with this ballad which is
somewhat typical but it was quite lovely. Her voice took on a deep
quality, setting a light-hearted atmosphere, and there was a romantic
feel on the staging that really brought a spark to the song. She was up on a platform on the center stage which limited her movement as she could not get down from there. She wore a lengthy light blue dress and the stage lighting was also blue as well as the screens.
5. Vaidas Baumila – Dying
This song started as a lovely piano ballad and it
continued with an elegant string arrangement. His voice was sublime. He
was capable of effortlessly reaching astonishing vocal heights or opting
instead for a hushed murmur to convey an emotion. Definitely, his
strength is that you never know where he is going next. He wore a white shirt and black trousers and the stage lighting was also dominated by black and white colours. The three female backing singers played an important role in the performance and Vaidas remained at center stage during most of the performance.
6. Monika Linkytė – Breakaway
From the opening jaunty bass guitar to her strong
vocals, this song brought such an awesome rock sound to the show. The
lyrics are touching and powerful and she has a lovely voice that put it
to good use on this song which became memorable thanks to the emotional
nuance and the melodic sophistication that she had into her voice. She seemed very comfortable on stage and she was wearing a red jacket and a silver short skirt. In the screens we could see images in red and white colours that matched her outfit.
7. Justinas Lapatinskas – Last Date
This was a sweet upbeat song with an uplifting
melody, but it was not overly powerful and there is a soft feel to it.
The song became a lot more upbeat during the chorus when Justinas sang with
more energy. He wore a bright orange suit that stood out on the stage where the screens and the stage was predominantly dark blue. He moved very well on stage but sometimes seemed a bit lost and apathetic. Probably the weakest entry of the evening.
8. VIG Roses (Giedrė Girnytė and Akvilė Matukaitė) – In The Rain
This ballad was pretty and understated but
their voices did all the work and it was full with emotion. The lyrics
are moving and it had some lovely harmonies. Their powerful voices blend
great and it sounded fantastic. They were dressed alike in long white dresses and on the background screens we could see images in purple and dark blue colours. They began to sing in the back of the stage and moved to the center where they stayed throughout the whole performance. What may be missing is a little more interaction between both of them as they did not looked at each other at all.
The show:
It started at 20:00 CET and it was broadcast from LRT studios in Vilnius. Our hosts, Arūnas Valinskas and Simona Nainė, welcomed us, explained briefly what we would see on tonight’s show and opened the televoting.
Then, the members of the jury panel were introduced. They were Vytenis Pauliukaitis, Edmundas Seilius, Jurga Šeduikytė and Ramūnas Zilnys.
The stage was diamond-shaped with a catwalk which certainly reminded of the logo that has been chosen for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. It was not too big, but it looked really nice with a lot of screens in the background, some of them rectangular-shaped and one in the middle that also looked like a diamond.
The eight competing candidates performed one of the potential entries each. Before each performance we saw a video of how the artists had been rehearsing their songs throughout the week and right after their performances they heard the jury’s opinion.
Occasionally, we were able to see how the provisional results of the televoting was going on.
The results:
After the eight songs were performed, according to the deliberation of the jury members, an international jury (made of a German composer, a Russian producer and a Swedish singer) and the audience, this was the final result:
1. Vilija Matačiūnaitė
2. Mia
3. Ieva Zasimauskaitė
4. Vaidas Baumila
5. Monika Linkytė
6. VIG Roses
7. Martynas Kavaliauskas
8. Justinas Lapatinskas
Justinas Lapatinskas was eliminated from the competition and the remaining seven hopefuls will proceed to the next selection show to be held next Saturday where they will perform the other half of the candidate songs.
Lithuania at the Eurovision Song Contest:
After its debut twenty years ago, in 1994, Lithuania have participated a total of fourteen times but, aside from a much surprising 6th place in 2006, the country is not usually at the top positions. Last year, Andrius Pojavis qualified to the final and finished 22nd in Malmö with the song Something.
