Tonight in Lithuania, the six acts, who will perform in next week’s final, were chosen. The final will be held at the Švyturys Arena in Klaipėda, a city on the Baltic coast.
Eight acts started out tonight, but two felt the awfulness of getting so close, but just missing out on the final. Not to rub it in, but what a horrible feeling.
The Songs
Sasha Song – Never Felt Like This Before
In a nod to his song Love, Sasha set his hand on fire tonight with higher rising flames. Eight years on, the blaze was more effective, but the judges were concerned that if they send Sasha again, Europe may think that they don’t have many performers. The staging was well complimented, and the judges were curious what other effects were in Sasha’s bag of tricks. There is nothing more Sasha can do, the singing is flawless, the song has a nice summer type of a feel to it – it is now in the hands of the public. One negative side is, that Sasha is introducing too much into the verses, the song needs sung without additional riffs and runs, as it’s making the song too busy.
Ieva Zasimauskaitė – You Saved Me
So Ieva came armed with no special effects, other than the special effect of her golden voice. The song and staging also reminded the judges of summer evenings, sitting on their porches with glow worms, glowing as they do. Ieva seems to be in trouble this week, which is a testament to the quality of the other songs on display tonight. Ieva was described as a black swan learning to soar. The song has a bit of a gospel feel and tonight was the third different version. If it fails to qualify to the final, it will be very sadly missed. Ieva needs to get a CD out into the market. She is Lithuania’s hidden secret and one day must be chosen to represent her country at Eurovision.
Paula – Let U Go
This is one lady with a very bright future. Let’s just say that she is Lithuania’s equivalent of Madonna. The judges, again remarked about Paula’s age, although conceded that the song is modern, contemporary and energetic. Like Ieva though, Paula seems to be struggling to get to the final. Perhaps the public will save her. Tonight, four dancers were added to give the song 100% visual appeal, in their sparkly black shorts. The predominantly black background became awash with colour in the last verse, as the song title was splashed on the wall. Check the song out, it stands up there with the current hits of Justin Bieber and Arianna Grande.
Aistė Pilvelytė – I’m Like a Wolf
Growl. The wolf is back again and hungry for more. There is nothing wrong with this song and performance whatsoever. In fact it is totally addictive, but the issue is you want to see Aistė getting ever more crazy week after week. The biggest change week to week, is where the painted markings will be. Does Aistė keep them on all week or does Aminata sit with her up in her room all day, with a paint brush. The heavy breathing and a capella ending is extra to the recorded version. Will the audience learn to not clap until the song is finished. Maybe if they clap early at the final, Aistė can leap out from the stage and savage the culprits. Great stuff.
Kotryna Juodzevičiūtė – Love Shadow
This is another song that gets better and better with each listen. The harmonies here are its selling point, but Kotryna is another great singer. This is a grower of a song, the chorus being a highlight. The verse plods along, but with the adjustment tonight, was more cohesive, This could surprise next week and take the prize. The performance is also visually appealing. The judges were very enthused about it tonight. Another star in the making.
Fusedmarc – Rain of Revolution
This song has come from out of nowhere and the judges love it. First there is nothing wrong with the song. It’s a catchy aggressive number and the guitar player is a highlight, though he wasn’t on tonight. The issue is Viktorija’s voice is not the strongest, in fact it’s probably the weakest of all tonight’s performers, and while she seems to be a bit of a wild child, she’s rather restrained. But not to be too negative, if this song wins, it’s a respectable entry for Lithuania, so lets see what the band offer at the final. The backing singers were having a ball. These backing singers are the greatest.
Gabrielius Vagelis – Feel Myself Free
The judges liked that Gabrielius has cut his hair, but Samson didn’t have a good result when it happened to him. Hard work has put this song deservedly as a contender. However as Lithuania has had such a long competition, they are bound to be aware of the high number of ballads already being sent to Eurovision. The judges did acknowledge that and the lack of success previous Lithuanian ballads have had at Eurovision. This is a fine effort though, the international jury loved it last week, so if scores are repeated tonight, Gabrielius should make the final.
Greta Zazza – Like I Love You
Finally, probably a record that would have taken off with or without Eurovision. Greta’s voice isn’t the best, but the dance song is quite difficult to sing, and it’s not like her voice is awful. Mixed reaction came from the judges, about the addition of dancers, but this song is made for that. This will make a good entry for Eurovision. Greta is a treat on the eyes, the song belongs in 2017 and like Paula, there is a hint of Madonna here too. Phew. Vote away, who knows what’s going to happen.
The Show
Tonight the Lithuanian commission was made up of Ramunas Zilnys, Dalia Ibelhauptaite, Darius Uzkuraitis and Paul Meškėla. Our hostesses, Gabrielė Martirosianaitė and Ieva Stasiulevičiūtė, tonight were visions in bright white, with added furry trims. The international judges were William Wells, Denis Ingoldsby and Sacha Baptsite.
The Results
| Lithuanian Jury | International Jury | Jury Total | Jury Converted Total | Public | Total | Place | ||
| Sasha Song | 6 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 8 | OUT | |
| Ieva Zasimauskaitė | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 8 | OUT | |
| Paula | 4 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 5 | |
| Aistė Pilvelytė | 10 | 4 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 2 | |
| Kotryna Juodzevičiūtė | 8 | 8 | 16 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 3 | |
| Fusedmarc | 12 | 7 | 19 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 1 | |
| Gabrielius Vagelis | 5 | 12 | 17 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 4 | |
| Greta Zazza | 7 | 8 | 15 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 6 |
Lithuania In The Eurovision Song Contest
After three good qualifying years in a row. Lithuania was on a roll by 2014. In the finals, Mia and Vaidas Baumila competed against Vilija Matačiūnaitė, with the Vilija penned song Attention. In the end Vilija won the right to take her song to Copenhagen, but fell just short by placing 11th in her semi, thus Lithuania were out of the finals again. Vilija did win the worst dressed award though.
The following year Vaidas was back competing with the song This Time, again up against Mia. As the finals drew near Monika Linkytė teamed up with Vaidus, and took the country themed song to Vienna. Here Lithuania opened their semi and was able to qualify for the finals. In the end the song placed 18th, being awarded 30 points.
Donny Montell returned after a hard fought competition in 2016 with I’ve Been Waiting For This Night. The ninth place, was Lithuania’s second best showing in 17 appearances.
