Lithuania’s first representative went to Eurovision 30 years ago, in 1994. On this occasion, we look back at our three decades in Europe’s biggest festival of love, peace, and music.
1994 – Ovidijus Vyšniauskas, Lopšinė Mylimai (Lullaby for My Love)
Lithuania’s first representative at Eurovision was singer Ovidijus Vyšniauskas, who sang the soulful ballad in Lithuanian Lopšinė Mylimai. Unfortunately, Lithuania scored exactly zero points that time and ended up dead last.
“When we went to Lithuania’s first Eurovision, it wasn’t easy. We had hardly any money to participate then, but that’s understandable – after all, we had only just regained our independence. It’s true that we received a lot of attention in the competition because of that. I remember during a press conference we were asked if they played jazz here and if we knew what it was,” Vilija Grigonytė, coordinator of the first Eurovision delegation, recalls.
1999 – Aistė Smilgevičiūtė, Strazdas (Mockingbird)
After an unsuccessful start, it took five years for Lithuania to return to Eurovision. The year 1998 was the last time that Eurovision performers were accompanied by a live orchestra, so when Aistė Smilgevičiūtė entered the contest in 1999 with her Samogitian song Strazdas, it had changed a lot. However, the Lithuanian team had some experience this time.
Although Smilgevičiūtė came 20th in the final, out of 25, even today many Lithuanians hold Strazdas to be one of our best Eurovision performances, one that was “ahead of its time”.
“Maybe it was unlucky that Aistė’s was the first performance that day, but she did her best and even more,” said Grigonytė.
2001 – Skamp, You Got Style
That was the year that Lithuania sang in English for the first time at Eurovision. In Copenhagen, Skamp’s You Got Style broke the Eurovision curse and pushed Lithuania closer to the top ten. The band finished 13th in the final. This secured Lithuania a spot in Eurovision the following year.
2002 – Aivaras, Happy You
Aivaras’ performance in Tallinn, Estonia, remains one of the most talked-about Lithuanian entries, not least because of the beret that has entered the national fashion history. It was not a success – Aivaras finished 23rd with only 12 points.
2004 – Linas and Simona, What’s Happened to Your Love
The 2004 Eurovision in Istanbul saw the introduction of a semi-final, giving all willing countries a chance to perform for Europe. That year, Lithuania sent the duo of Linas and Simona, who finished 16th in the semi-final but did not qualify for the final.
2005 – Laura and the Lovers, Little by Little
Laura and the Lovers represented Lithuania at the competition in Kyiv, Ukraine. Laura Čepukaitė, Donatas Paulauskas, Martynas Lukoševičius and Audrius Piragis did not win over European hearts either – after scoring 17 points in the semi-final, Lithuania ended in the 25th spot.
2006 – LT United, We Are The Winners
The singer Andrius Mamontovas, then at the top of his fame, put together the band LT United – often referred to as Lithuania’s national team – specifically for Eurovision. Marijonas Mikutavičius, Viktoras Diawara-Vee, Saulius Urbonavičius-Samas, Arnoldas Lukošius and Eimantas Belickas, all well-known performers in their own right, joined in for a cheeky song with a straightforward message: “We are the winners of Eurovision”.
The stunt paid off – Lithuania ranked 6th that year, an achievement for the country that has not been topped until now.
2007 – Julija and 4Fun, Love or Leave
After the success of the previous year, Lithuania advanced straight to the final in 2007, where Julija and 4Fun finished 21st.
Although 17 years have passed since then, a smile crosses the face of the band’s lead singer Julija Ritčik when she recalls her Eurovision performance: “It was a very fun adventure, something that happens maybe once in a lifetime. Although we have taken part in various festivals in Lithuania and abroad, Eurovision is a unique event full of magic. It was an adventure in every sense.”
2008 – Jeronimas Milius, Nomads in the Night
For the first time, the Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade features not one, but two semi-finals. Jeronimas Milius did not advance beyond it, finishing in 16th place.
However, more than a decade after his appearance at the contest, he admitted to LRT RADIO that he had found himself at the European music fiesta by chance, having jokingly agreed to take part in the contest if a songwriter friend would write a song for him. “About six months later, he wrote me an e-mail saying that he was already in the middle of writing a song. The whole joke turned into something serious – as a man of my word, I was going to keep my promise,” the singer said, adding that he had a great time in Serbia.
2009 – Sasha Son, Love
At the age of 10, Dima Šavrov had his first taste of fame with the song Mamai (For Mum), but since 2008 he has been performing under the alias Sasha Son. He represented Lithuania at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow. His Eurovision song Love had both a Lithuanian version Pasiklydęs žmogus (Lost Man) and a Russian version Odinoky Geroj (Lonely Hero). Sasha Son performed a combination of the English and Russian versions. He passed the semi-final barrier and performed in the final, finishing 23rd.
2010 – InCulto, Eastern European Funk
InCulto, performing in Oslo, wanted to show the hip ironic side of Lithuania to Europe by performing the moody Eastern European Funk. Unfortunately, Europe didn’t get the joke and we didn’t make it to the final this time - in the semi-final, Lithuania came in 12th.
2011 – Evelina Sašenko, C’est Ma Vie
Evelina’s French-language song C’est Ma Vie, which she performed in Germany, came in 19th in the final. Back home, she called Eurovision an adventure and was delighted with her result.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun. I am very grateful to Lithuania for giving me the opportunity to be here. I am happy with the performance and I think the results are good. We made it to the final, although we didn’t expect it, and we didn’t come last in the final. We are happy about that,” the singer said.
2012 – Donatas Montvydas, Love Is Blind
The title of the song was rendered quite literal in Donatas Montvydas’ performance, during which he appeared on stage with a blindfold. At one point, he takes it off and surprises the audience with an acrobatic trick and an energetic dance. He came 3rd in the semi-finals and qualified for the final, where he finished 14th.
2013 – Andrius Pojavis, Something
Andrius Pojavis, who represented Lithuania at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden, made it to the final, where he finished in 22nd place with 17 points.
In an interview with LRT.lt, Pojavis recalled that his decision to take part in the contest in 2013 was impulsive: “I had just released an album and wanted to present it to a wider audience. The [national Eurovision] selection then seemed a good way to do it. It just so happened that I won.”
He tried his luck again this year, this time with a song he wrote specifically for Eurovision, but with less success.
2014 – Vilija Matačiūnaitė, Attention
At the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, Denmark, Vilija Matačiūnaitė was just one step away from the final, finishing in 11th place.
2015 – Vaidas Baumila and Monika Linkytė, This Time
After a break of many years, Lithuania was again represented at the Eurovision Song Contest by a duo. This was a result of experimenting with a new selection procedure in the national competition – picking a song and a performer separately.
Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila ended up performing the song This Time by Vytautas Bikaus and Monika Liubinaitė. In Vienna, they were also joined on stage by backing vocalists Rūta Loop, Justė Kraujelytė, Dainotas Varnas, and Jurijus Veklenko (who later participated in the competition as a soloist).
One of the highlights of the performance was a kiss between Monika and Vaidas – and same-sex pecks between the backing vocalists.
The Lithuanian duo came 18th in the Eurovision final, but after the show, Vaidas and Monika were full of optimism and said they had done everything they could.
2016 – Donny Montell, I’ve Been Waiting For This Night
Donny was waiting for four years for this night, his second go in Eurovision where he performed, as Donatas Montvydas, back in 2012.
In Stockholm, Donny Montell’s most memorable moments were his spectacular flip on stage and his hairstyle, nicknamed the llama. Overall, the performance was a success, landing Lithuania in the 9th spot.
2017 – Fusedmarc, Rain of Revolution
The duo of Viktorija Ivanovskaia and Denis Zujev, better known to many as Fusedmarc, did not make it to the final, but in the semi-final, their song finished in 17th place with 42 points.
2018 – Ieva Zasimauskaitė, When We’re Old
Iieva Zasimauskaitė and her song dedicated to her then husband attracted a lot of media and fan attention at the competition held in Lisbon, Portugal. After finishing 9th in the semi-final and qualifying for the final, she finished 12th.
“If I had to do it again, I would definitely do it again. The experience, the people I met. I am so happy that I had the opportunity to be there,” Ieva said after returning from the competition. “I saw how united Lithuania was, how supportive everybody was and how they were looking forward to good results together. It was the best time of my life.”
2019 – Jurijus Veklenko, Run with the Lions
The singer appeared in the second semi-final of Eurovision, but did not get a ticket to the final. As it later turned out, the Italian broadcaster RAI made a mistake in tallying the televote and Jurijus should have qualified.
However, he did not hold too many grudges and said that it happened the way it did and the news about the Italian scores did not change anything.
2020 – The Roop, On Fire
Twenty-twenty was the year when Lithuania would have won Eurovision, with On Fire by The Roop. Since the competition was cancelled due to Covid-19, we will never be proven wrong.
2021 – The Roop, Discoteque
The 65th Eurovision Song Contest was a great celebration for Lithuania as the Yellow Wave swept through the country after the quarantine, and the group that caused it, The Roop, came in 8th place. This is one of Lithuania’s highest achievements at Eurovision, with only LT United finishing higher.
However, this contest was different from the ones before the pandemic: masks had to be worn in the arena, all members of the Eurovision delegations were subjected to regular Covid-19 tests, and many of the usual parties and entertainment were cancelled due to security concerns.
“The contest is just a good platform to showcase our music and present Lithuania. Now the door has just opened, we hope that we will be able to enter through it,” the band’s vocalist Vaidotas Valiukevičius told LRT.lt after Eurovision.
2022 – Monika Liu, Sentimentai
Monika Liu took her song to Turin, Italy, and came in 14th in the contest. Notably, hers was the first Eurovision performance in Lithuanian since the 1990s.
“I fell ill at Eurovision. I would definitely go back, maybe as a member of the delegation,” said the performer, who brought back a lot of sentiments from the competition.
Throughout the competition, she was a passionate supporter of Ukraine, which won Eurovision that year.
A couple of years after her Eurovision adventure, Monika’s sentiments remain strong. “I remember Turin and all the adventures I had there. I have very good emotions, not a single bad one – it was one of the most beautiful adventures I had in my life,” she assured.
2023 – Monika Linkytė, Stay
Although Ukraine won the previous competition, war prevented it from hosting 2023 Eurovision which was held in Liverpool, UK. Monika Linkytė, who had shared the Eurovision stage with Vaidas Baumila in 2015, represented Lithuania with her song Stay that featured folk song motifs.
Monika said that the idea of going to Eurovision with a song full of Lithuanian traditional motifs came to her while she was studying in London. When she was researching the sutartinės in her final thesis, she saw a great interest from both her teachers and friends.
“I think I see a transformation happening in the Lithuanian music industry, I feel that we are allowing ourselves to be unique, which is very important,” said Monika Linkytė, who came 11th in the final.
