Lithuania: LRT unveils the Pabandom iš naujo 2021 participants

Lithuania: LRT unveils the Pabandom iš naujo 2021 participants
Thursday, 24 December 2020

  • The Lithuanian national broadcaster, LRT,  has unveiled the Pabandom iš naujo 2021 participants that will compete for the right to represent Lithuania at Eurovision 2021. 

    LRT has opted for one more year to select the nation's Eurovision hopeful through the national selection format of Pabandom iš naujo . Following the submission period which close on December 14, a working group led by Gytis Oganauskas along with Vytautas Bikus, shortlisted 23 acts from the submissions.

     

    The working group was formed also by :

    • Audrius Giržadas, Chief Producer of the LRT Television Program Department
    • Ramūnas Zilnys, Editor-in-Chief of LRT Popular Music
    • Darius Užkuraitis, Senior Editor of the LRT Music Editorial Board
    • Giedrius Masalskis, Head of the LRT Radio Programs Department
    • Rūta Putnikienė, Head of LRT Communication and Marketing Department
    • Justina Sokolovskė, LRT Communication and Marketing Department Project Manager
    • Povilas Varvuolis, television director.

     

    The Potential Eurovision 2021 acts

    The acts that were decided to participate in the upcoming national selection are: 

    • Aistė Brokenleg
    • Aldegunda
    • Be U Group
    • Black Spikes with Indre Launikonyte
    • Donata Virbilaitė
    • Evelina Sašenko
    • Evita Cololo
    • Gabrielė Goštautaitė
    • Gabrielius Vagelis
    • Gebrasy (Audrius Petrauskas)
    • Gintarė Korsakaitė
    • Martyna Jezepčikaitė
    • Milita Daikerytė
    • Cosmic Bride (Natalja Chareckaja)
    • Norbertas/Norbė
    • Rapolas Meškauskas
    • The Roop
    • Thomas Tumosa
    • Titas ir Benas
    • Twosome
    • Sunday Afternoon (Vilija Matačiūnaitė)
    • UnoBand
    • Voldemaras Petersonas

     

    Former ESC hopefuls make their comeback

    The line up includes a few former ESC participants. The first name that stands out among the participants is that of The Roop the country's ESC 2020 hopefuls which ambition again to win the national final and fly the flag in Rotterdam next May. Also we see on the list of contestants, Evelina Sašenkowho represented the country in 2011 with her song “C’est ma vie”,  finishing 19th in the final. In addition, Vilija Matačiūnaitė the ESC 2014 representative with the entry Attention”, ( semi final non qualifier) is making one more attempt to return on the Eurovision stage. 

     

    Pabandom iš naujo 2021

    Pabandom Iš Naujo 2021 will consist of four shows, two qualfying rouds , one semi final and a grand final show. In all shows the result will be determined by a combination of public voting ( 50%) and jury voting (50%) that will be delivered by a five membered jury. 

    The national selection will kick of on January 16 with the first qualifying round and conclude on February 6 with the grand final show. This is how the Lithuanian national selection will unfold in whole: 

    • 1st Qualifying round : January 16
    • 2nd qualifying round: January 23 
    • Semi final : January 30 
    • Final : February 6

     

    Lithuania in Eurovision 

    Lithuania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest  20 times since its debut in 1994, when Ovidijus Vyšniauskas finished last, receiving zero points. Lithuania withdrew from the contest, without returning until 1999. LT United’s 6th place in 2006 with the song “We Are the Winners” is Lithuania’s best result in the contest. The country reached the top ten for a second time in 2016, when Donny Montell finished 9th with “I’ve Been Waiting for This Night”.

    In 2018 the country was represented by  Ieva Zasimaskaite with her emotional ballad song When We’re Old, which finished 12th in the grand final. In 2019 national final winner,  Jurij Veklenko defended the Lithuanian colors in Tel Aviv with the song Run With The Lions, but failed to qualify to the final left in the 11th place of the second semi final.

    This year The Roop won the national final with their song “On fire” but never made it to the Eurovision stage since the Eurovision 2020 was cancelled  due to the coronavirus pandemic.

     

    News Source/Image : LRT