Tonight the semi final of Pabandom iš Naujo! 2021 was broadcast on Lithuanian Television (LRT) with five acts going through to the final. They will join The Roop who have been given a pass to the final, due to the cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.
After the final, we will know who will represent Lithuania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. Normally the Lithuanian heats can last as long as ten weeks. This year though, the contest has been stripped to a bare minimum, with 20 acts competing in two preliminary heats.
Five acts proceeded to the semi final from both heats, and from these ten, the best five are now heading to the Grand Final. They will compete against The Roop and their song Discoteque.
The Show and Judges
For the third week in a row, the show was hosted by Ieva Stasiulevičiūtė and Vytautas Rumšas Jr, with Vaidas Baumila, again in charge of the Green Room. At regular intervals throughout the show, Vaidas would chat to the judges and get their opinions of the songs.
Tonight the judges were LRT pop chief editor Ramunas Zilnys , singer Aistė Smilgevičiūtė , musicologist events Head Geruta Griniūtė , singer, composer Stanislav Stavickis-Stano and composer, arranger, Jievaras Jasinskis .
The Songs
Be U – Love Yourself
This week the band decided to express how excited they were to have made the semi finals. As a result the performance was tighter though the song still needs some improvements. This is a band to watch for in the future.
Aistė Brokenleg – Home
Aistė herself acknowledged that she may be a little different, which surely is the understatement of the evening. She was certainly emotional on stage, but in general no one is expecting this to win. If you’re thing is a little offbeat though, this is the song for you. The keyboards made soem nice bell like sounds towards the end of the song.
Gabrielius Vagelis – My Guy
Gabrielius has been getting a lot of criticism, and rightly so, about his stage gear of late, so decided to dress a bit more soberly tonight. This allowed the song to be judged without distractions, which might help it make the final. This is really good, a great vocal and the backing singers mix in perfectly.
Martyna Jezepčikaitė – Thank You Very Much
Martyna added two dancers to her performance tonight, having felt she made mistakes in her earlier performance. The dancers gave the performance more life, and Martyna said that if she didn’t make the final, her goal is to improve every time she performs on stage.
Norbertas – Man In Need
In his heat, Norbertas was criticised for being a little stiff, so tonight’s performance had him move around more, choosing to wear clothes that didn’t hinder his movements. Ad a result there was a little more excitement on stage. Another name to keep an eye out for.
Evita Cololo – Be paslapčių
Evita had hoped to perform tonight with more confidence, but admitted her hands were shaking due to nerves. This is the only song in the semi finals sung in Lithuanian. Evita graciously acknowledged that The Roop really deserved to win the contest. There was nothing wrong with this performance either, but it’s not quite Eurovision material.
Titas And Benas – No
Taking note of the lack of enthusiasm during their last performance, the cousins stepped it up a bit this week. The desk and chairs were replaced by boxes and the vocals were much stronger. This should help them advance to the final.
Voldemars Petersons – Never Fall For You Again
Voldemars changed the choreography up a notch for this weeks performance adding some light dance moves. The intention was to convey the great mood of the song, and the delight Voldemars had by making the semi finals.
Milita Daikerytė – Shadows
Milita also added two dancers to her performance of Shadows, co-written by the next act Gebrasy, who also wrote No, for Titas and Benas. Milita felt that having the dancers encouraged her to do better. This is another gem, that has a really catchy chorus, which gets into your head after a few listens – Melodifestivalen good, and a perfect Eurovision entry.
Gebrasy – Where’d You Wanna Go?
In the heats, this was the only song to receive top marks from the jury and the public, so that should be a good omen to reach the final. The song would make a good Eurovision entry, and like all the other acts this evening, Gebrasy hopes to make it to the final. He might even do it with three songs, what an accomplishment.
The Results
The judges accumulated scores were added together, with the points awarded in typical Eurovision style 12-10-8 and so on down to 1 point. The publics scores were converted in the same manner.
| Jury | Public | Total | Position | |
| Be U | 1 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Aistė Brokenleg | 4 | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| Gabrielius Vagelis | 6 | 4 | 10 | 7 |
| Martyna Jezepčikaitė | 5 | 10 | 15 | 2 |
| Norbertas | 2 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| Evita Cololo | 10 | 2 | 12 | 3 |
| Titas And Benas | 4 | 8 | 12 | 5 |
| Voldemars Petersons | 7 | 5 | 12 | 4 |
| Milita Daikerytė | 8 | 3 | 11 | 6 |
| Gebrasy | 12 | 12 | 24 | 1 |
Lithuania In The Eurovision Song Contest
We Are The Winners may have become Lithuania’s adopted Eurovision anthem, but after twenty years in the contest, Lithuania have still not won, nor even have they made the Top 5.
This is particularly concerning, considering the long National Final heats they have, and the large number of songs that have competed in them. What are they doing wrong?
Lithuania certainly have sent a wide array of genres to the contest, from the power pop of Donny Montell, and I’ve Been Waiting For This Night in 2016, to jazz influenced Love Or Leave by 4Fun in 2007, tender ballads like When We’re Old by Ieva Zasimauskaitė in 2018 to well, Eastern European Funk.
In total, they did not qualify to the finals on 7 occasions, finished 20th or lower on 6 other occasions. They have finished in the Top 10 twice.
Let’s hope their luck changes soon, and they can at last declare, We Are The Winners.
