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Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

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Eurovision Song Contest 2015
Country Lithuania
National selection
Selection process"Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka
Selection date(s)Elimination shows:
3 January 2015 – 7 February 2015
Semi-final:
14 February 2015
Final:
21 February 2015
Selected entrantMonika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila
Selected song"This Time"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (7th, 67 points)
Final result18th, 30 points
Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2014 2015 2016►

Lithuania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "This Time" written by Vytautas Bikus and Monika Liubinaitė. The song was performed by Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila. The Lithuanian broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) organised the national final "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka (Eurovision Song Contest national selection) in order to select the Lithuanian entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. The national final took place over eight weeks and involved 12 artists and 12 songs competing in two different competitive streams. The results of each show were determined by the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public vote, and "This Time" performed by Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila eventually emerged as the winner following the final.

Lithuania was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 21 May 2015. Performing as the opening entry for the show in position 1, "This Time" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 23 May. It was later revealed that Lithuania placed seventh out of the 17 participating countries in the semi-final with 67 points. In the final, Lithuania performed in position 7 and placed 18th out of the 27 participating countries, scoring 30 points.

Background

[edit]

Prior to the 2015 contest, Lithuania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 15 times since its first entry in 1994.[1] The nation’s best placing in the contest was sixth, which it achieved in 2006 with the song "We Are the Winners" performed by LT United. Following the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Lithuania, to this point, has managed to qualify to the final six times. In the 2014 contest, "Attention" performed by Vilija failed to qualify to the final.

For the 2015 contest, the Lithuanian national broadcaster, Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT), broadcast the event within Lithuania and organised the selection process for the nation's entry. Other than the internal selection of their debut entry in 1994, Lithuania has selected their entry consistently through a national final procedure. LRT confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest on 4 June 2014 and announced the organization of "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka, which would be the national final to select Lithuania's entry for Vienna.[2][3]

Before Eurovision

[edit]

"Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka

[edit]

"Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka (Eurovision Song Contest national selection) was the national final format developed by LRT in order to select Lithuania's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. The competition involved an eight-week-long process that commenced on 3 January 2015 and concluded with a winning song on 14 February 2015 and a winning artist on 21 February 2015.[3] The eight shows took place at the LRT studios in Vilnius and were hosted by Simona Nainė and Arūnas Valinskas.[4] The shows were broadcast on LRT televizija, LRT Lituanica and LRT Radijas as well as online via the broadcaster's website lrt.lt.[5]

Format

[edit]

The 2015 competition consisted of eight shows and involved artists competing independently from songs, potentially being paired with any of the selected songs. Rule changes included the ability for artists to indicate a preference to perform a particular song on their application. Should the artist and their song reach the final, the artist and the composers were to agree to allow the other finalists to perform the song.[6] In the first six shows, the 12 competing artists performed covers that related to the theme of that particular show and the potential Eurovision songs. The voting results from the first show were combined with those of the second show and the first artist was eliminated. During each of the third to sixth shows, one artist was eliminated and the remaining three artists advanced in the competition. Starting from the third show, the 12 potential Eurovision songs competed online on a weekly basis and a total of nine songs were eliminated following the sixth show, leaving three songs remaining. The seventh show was the competition's semi-final where only the winning song was selected from the remaining three songs, while the eighth show was the final where the winning artist-song combination was selected from the remaining three artists. Monetary prizes were also awarded to both the winning artist and songwriters. The Lithuanian Copyright Protection Association (LATGA) sponsored 15,000 LTL, awarded to the songwriters in order to encourage further development of the song in an aim to achieve international success, while the Music Association Annual Awards (MAMA) sponsored 5,000 LTL , awarded to the artist in order to assist in their preparation for the Eurovision Song Contest.[7]

The results of each of the eight shows were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and public voting. The ranking developed by both streams of voting was converted to points from 1-8, 10 and 12 and assigned based on the number of competing songs in the respective show. During the first seven shows, the jury votes consisted of a Lithuanian jury panel consisting of four members and an international jury panel consisting of three members. In the final, a two-member Lithuanian panel and the three-member international panel voted. The public could vote through telephone and SMS voting. Ties in the elimination shows and the semi-final were decided in favour of the entry that received the most votes from the public, while in the final, a tie would be decided in favour of the entry that was awarded the most points by the jury.[6]

Competing artists and songs

[edit]

On 31 October 2014, LRT opened two separate submission forms: one for artists and another for songwriters to submit their songs. The submission deadline for both applications concluded on 15 December 2014.[8] On 18 December 2014, LRT announced the 12 artists selected for the competition.[9][10] The 12 potential Eurovision songs selected from 168 submissions received were announced for listening and voting on 13 January 2015.[11] The song "Skęstu" was originally entered in Lithuanian, however, the song was also translated and performed in English during the fourth elimination show.

Artist and song progress in the shows

[edit]
Artists
[edit]
Artist Shows
1 + 2
Show 3 Show 4 Show 5 Show 6 Show 7 Show 8
(Final)
Monika Linkytė 5th 1st 5th 3rd 1st No elimination 1st
Vaidas Baumila 1st 5th 6th 2nd 3rd
Mia 4th 7th 1st 1st 2nd 2nd
Edgaras Lubys 3rd 2nd 3rd 4th 4th Eliminated (Show 6)
Jurgis Brūzga 9th 9th 4th 5th 5th Eliminated (Show 6)
Liepa Mondeikaitė 7th 3rd 2nd 6th Eliminated (Show 5)
Neringa Šiaudikytė 11th 8th 7th 7th Eliminated (Show 5)
Tadas Juodsnukis 2nd 4th 8th Eliminated (Show 4)
Milita Daikerytė 8th 6th Withdrew (Show 4)
Reda Striškaitė 6th 10th Eliminated (Show 3)
Wilma La 10th 11th Eliminated (Show 3)
Rollikai 12th Eliminated (Show 2)
Songs
[edit]
Song Songwriter(s) Place Result
"This Time" Vytautas Bikus, Monika Liubinaitė 1st Winner (Show 7)
"The Right Way" Tina Almqvist Hilli, Daniel Persson 2nd Eliminated (Show 7)
"Dangerous (S.O.S.)" Camilla Gottschalck, Christina Schilling, Henrik Szabo, Daniel Nilsson, Amir Aly 3rd Eliminated (Show 7)
"Not Perfect" Edgaras Lubys 4th Eliminated (Show 6)
"Feel My Love" José Juan Santana Rodríguez 5th–9th Eliminated (Show 6)
"No More Tears" Patrik Öhlund, Madelene Hamberg 5th–9th Eliminated (Show 6)
"Flying" Leon Somov, Linas Strockis, Monika Linkytė 5th–9th Eliminated (Show 6)
"Skęstu"
"Sound of Colours" Daði Georgsson, Íris Hólm, Jonas Gladnikoff, Camilla Gottschalck, Christina Schilling 5th–9th Eliminated (Show 6)
"Take My Love" Brandon Stone 5th–9th Eliminated (Show 6)
"Es tut mir nicht leid" Natalja Chareckaja 10th–11th Eliminated (Show 4)
"Factory Hearts" Darragh Reck, Barry Grace, Paul Murphy 10th–11th Eliminated (Show 4)
"Say You Love Me" Edgaras Lubys 12th Eliminated (Show 3)

Shows

[edit]

Elimination shows

[edit]

The six elimination shows of the competition aired between 3 January and 7 February 2015 and featured the 12 competing artists. Audrius Giržadas temporarily replaced Arūnas Valinskas as a host during the fourth show.[12] The members of the Lithuanian jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer; all shows), Juozas Liesis (journalist, first show), Edmundas Seilius (opera singer; first and second show), Linas Adomaitis (musician; first and second show), Audrius Giržadas (LRT chief producer; second show), Sigutė Stonytė (opera singer; third show), Vytautas Lukočius (conductor; third show), Justė Arlauskaitė (singer; third show), Gediminas Zujus (producer; fourth show), Ieva Norkūnienė (choreographer; fourth show), Darius Užkuraitis (LRT Opus director; fourth to sixth shows), Rosita Čivilytė (singer; fifth and sixth show) and Gintaras Rinkevičius (conductor; fifth and sixth show). International jury members included Lela Tsurtsumia (Georgian singer; all shows), René Romkes (organiser of the annual Eurovision in Concert event in the Netherlands; all shows), Peter Jenner (British music manager; second show) and Ralfs Eilands (Latvian singer; third to sixth shows).[13][14][15]

In the first two shows, the artists performed covers that related to the theme of that particular show: Lithuanian hit songs in the first show and worldwide hit songs in the second show. The results of the two shows were combined and one artist was eliminated. The remaining 11 artists in the competition performed the potential Eurovision songs starting from the third show. The artists each performed one song between the third and fifth shows and two songs in the sixth show, and one artist was eliminated per show. The group Rollikai, which was eliminated following the second show, recorded a performance for the song "Sound of Colours" for the third show, however, the performance was not part of the show as they were previously eliminated. Milita Daikerytė withdrew from the competition following the third show due to illness.[12][16]

Show 1 – 3 January 2015[17]
Draw Artist Song (original artists) Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points Votes Points
1 Mia "Man patinka" (Džordana Butkutė) 12 3 278 6 9 5
2 Reda Striškaitė "Kai sirpsta vyšnios Suvalkijoj" (Vytautas Kernagis) 6 2 226 5 7 8
3 Edgaras Lubys "Širdis ant balto sniego" (Natalija Bunkė) 23 10 308 8 18 3
4 Monika Linkytė "Besieliai" (Monika Linkytė) 21 7 130 0 7 9
5 Tadas Juodsnukis "Nakty" (Kastytis Kerbedis) 23 10 366 12 22 1
6 Wilma La "Laužo šviesa" (Foje) 0 0 142 1 1 12
7 Rollikai "Violeta" (Kastytis Kerbedis) 6 2 39 0 2 11
8 Liepa Mondeikaitė "Aš mylėjau tave tau nežinant" (Aktorių Trio) 14 4 206 4 8 6
9 Vaidas Baumila "Aš tik žmogus" (Vaidas Baumila) 29 12 307 7 19 2
10 Milita Daikerytė "Tarp tavęs ir manęs" (Milita Daikerytė) 21 7 329 10 17 4
11 Jurgis Brūzga "1000 dienų" (Jurgis Brūzga) 15 5 170 3 8 7
12 Neringa Šiaudikytė "Meilę skolingas tau" (Stasys Povilaitis) 4 0 164 2 2 10
Detailed Jury Votes[18]
Draw Artist
LTU

GEO

NLD
Total
1 Mia 3 7 2 12
2 Reda Striškaitė 1 1 4 6
3 Edgaras Lubys 12 10 1 23
4 Monika Linkytė 8 8 5 21
5 Tadas Juodsnukis 10 6 7 23
6 Wilma La 0
7 Rollikai 3 3 6
8 Liepa Mondeikaitė 6 8 14
9 Vaidas Baumila 7 12 10 29
10 Milita Daikerytė 4 5 12 21
11 Jurgis Brūzga 5 4 6 15
12 Neringa Šiaudikytė 2 2 4
Show 2 – 10 January 2015[18]
Draw Artist Song (original artists) Jury Televote Total Place Result
Votes Points Votes Points
1 Edgaras Lubys "Get Lucky" (Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams) 27 8 294 6 14 3 Advanced
2 Mia "Chandelier" (Sia) 27 8 250 4 2 4 Advanced
3 Tadas Juodsnukis "Here I Go Again" (Whitesnake) 18 3 277 5 8 8 Advanced
4 Neringa Šiaudikytė "Euphoria" (Loreen) 9 2 153 0 2 11 Advanced
5 Vaidas Baumila "Hallelujah" (Leonard Cohen) 38 12 341 10 22 2 Advanced
6 Reda Striškaitė "If I Were a Boy" (Beyoncé) 7 1 304 8 9 7 Advanced
7 Liepa Mondeikaitė "What a Wonderful World" (Louis Armstrong) 21 5 202 1 6 9 Advanced
8 Rollikai "Let's Get Loud" (Jennifer Lopez) 7 1 143 0 1 12 Eliminated
9 Wilma La "Set Fire to the Rain" (Adele) 2 0 228 2 2 10 Advanced
10 Monika Linkytė "Queen of the Night" (Whitney Houston) 35 10 492 12 22 1 Advanced
11 Jurgis Brūzga "Locked Out of Heaven" (Bruno Mars) 22 6 250 4 10 6 Advanced
12 Milita Daikerytė "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" (Paloma Faith) 19 4 295 7 11 5 Advanced
Detailed Jury Votes[18]
Draw Artist
LTU

GBR

GEO

NLD
Total
1 Edgaras Lubys 7 5 7 8 27
2 Mia 5 2 10 10 27
3 Tadas Juodsnukis 8 4 6 18
4 Neringa Šiaudikytė 4 3 2 9
5 Vaidas Baumila 10 10 12 6 38
6 Reda Striškaitė 1 5 1 7
7 Liepa Mondeikaitė 2 7 12 21
8 Rollikai 1 1 5 7
9 Wilma La 2 2
10 Monika Linkytė 12 8 8 7 35
11 Jurgis Brūzga 3 12 3 4 22
12 Milita Daikerytė 6 6 4 3 19
Show 3 – 17 January 2015[19]
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Result
Votes Points Votes Points
1 Vaidas Baumila "This Time" 34 10 343 2 12 5 Advanced
2 Mia "Say You Love Me" 18 4 511 6 10 7 Advanced
3 Reda Striškaitė "Es tut mir nicht leid" 13 2 206 0 2 10 Eliminated
4 Edgaras Lubys "Not Perfect" 30 8 685 10 18 2 Advanced
5 Neringa Šiaudikytė "Skęstu" 17 3 466 5 8 8 Advanced
6 Liepa Mondeikaitė "Feel My Love" 8 1 703 12 13 3 Advanced
7 Tadas Juodsnukis "No More Tears" 25 6 566 7 13 4 Advanced
8 Milita Daikerytė "Dangerous (S.O.S.)" 27 7 382 4 11 6 Advanced
9 Monika Linkytė "The Right Way" 41 12 616 8 20 1 Advanced
10 Jurgis Brūzga "Take My Love" 19 5 375 3 8 9 Advanced
11 Wilma La "Factory Hearts" 0 0 263 1 1 11 Eliminated
Detailed Jury Votes[19]
Draw Artist
LTU

LVA

GEO

NLD
Total
1 Vaidas Baumila 12 10 8 4 34
2 Mia 6 2 5 5 18
3 Reda Striškaitė 1 3 2 7 13
4 Edgaras Lubys 10 4 10 6 30
5 Neringa Šiaudikytė 2 8 4 3 17
6 Liepa Mondeikaitė 4 1 1 2 8
7 Tadas Juodsnukis 8 6 3 8 25
8 Milita Daikerytė 3 7 7 10 27
9 Monika Linkytė 5 12 12 12 41
10 Jurgis Brūzga 7 5 6 1 19
11 Wilma La 0
Show 4 – 24 January 2015[12]
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Result
Votes Points Votes Points
1 Edgaras Lubys "This Time" 35 10 680 6 16 3 Advanced
2 Liepa Mondeikaitė "Take My Love" 21 5 775 12 17 2 Advanced
3 Tadas Juodsnukis "Factory Hearts" 17 3 549 3 6 8 Eliminated
4 Mia "The Right Way" 36 12 741 10 22 1 Advanced
5 Vaidas Baumila "Not Perfect" 33 8 619 5 13 6 Advanced
6 Monika Linkytė "Flying" 30 7 699 7 14 5 Advanced
7 Jurgis Brūzga "No More Tears" 29 6 732 8 14 4 Advanced
8 Neringa Šiaudikytė "Feel My Love" 19 4 586 4 8 7 Advanced
Detailed Jury Votes[12]
Draw Artist
LTU

LVA

GEO

NLD
Total
1 Edgaras Lubys 10 10 10 5 35
2 Liepa Mondeikaitė 7 3 3 8 21
3 Tadas Juodsnukis 5 4 4 4 17
4 Mia 12 5 7 12 36
5 Vaidas Baumila 6 8 12 7 33
6 Monika Linkytė 4 12 8 6 30
7 Jurgis Brūzga 8 6 5 10 29
8 Neringa Šiaudikytė 3 7 6 3 19
Show 5 – 31 January 2015[20]
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Result
Votes Points Votes Points
1 Jurgis Brūzga "This Time" 27 7 686 5 12 5 Advanced
2 Liepa Mondeikaitė "Skęstu" 26 5 795 6 11 6 Eliminated
3 Mia "Take My Love"[a] 29 8 1,116 12 20 1 Advanced
4 Edgaras Lubys 27 7 1,040 8 15 4 Advanced
5 Neringa Šiaudikytė "Dangerous (S.O.S.)" 20 4 103 4 8 7 Eliminated
6 Vaidas Baumila "The Right Way" 38 10 1,042 10 20 2 Advanced
7 Monika Linkytė "No More Tears" 41 12 994 7 19 3 Advanced
Detailed Jury Votes[20]
Draw Artist
LTU

LVA

GEO

NLD
Total
1 Jurgis Brūzga 5 8 8 6 27
2 Liepa Mondeikaitė 6 6 4 10 26
3 Mia 12 4 6 7 29
4 Edgaras Lubys 10 5 7 5 27
5 Neringa Šiaudikytė 4 7 5 4 20
6 Vaidas Baumila 8 12 10 8 38
7 Monika Linkytė 7 10 12 12 41
Show 6 – 7 February 2015[21][22]
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Result
Votes Points Votes Points
1 Mia "Feel My Love" 60 7 2,712 12 19 2 Advanced
"Flying"
2 Monika Linkytė "This Time"[b] 80 10 2,554 10 20 1 Advanced
"Dangerous (S.O.S.)"
3 Vaidas Baumila "This Time"[c] 86 12 2,334 7 19 3 Advanced
"Take My Love"
4 Edgaras Lubys "Not Perfect" 61 8 2,451 8 16 4 Eliminated
"No More Tears"
5 Jurgis Brūzga "The Right Way" 57 6 917 6 12 5 Eliminated
"Sound of Colours"
Detailed Jury Votes[23]
Draw Artist Song
LTU

LVA

GEO

NLD
Total
1 Mia "Feel My Love" 8 6 6 7 60
"Flying" (Skęstu)" 12 6 7 8
2 Monika Linkytė "This Time" 10 12 8 10 80
"Dangerous (S.O.S.)" 10 10 8 12
3 Vaidas Baumila "This Time" 12 10 10 12 86
"Take My Love" 8 12 12 10
4 Edgaras Lubys "Not Perfect" 6 7 12 6 61
"No More Tears" 7 7 10 6
5 Jurgis Brūzga "The Right Way" 7 8 7 8 57
"Sound of Colours" 6 8 6 7

Song selection

[edit]

The 12 potential Eurovision songs were evaluated by the public through an internet vote on LRT's voting platform over three rounds. The first round resulted in the elimination of one song, while the second round resulted in the elimination of two songs. The results of first two rounds were determined solely by public voting on LRT's internet platform. In the third round, the top three songs as determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and the internet vote advanced to the semi-final, while the bottom eight were eliminated.[24] An additional round was to take place following the second round resulting in the elimination of two songs, however, it was cancelled as voting was extended by a week until 25 January 2014.[21]

Third Round – 3–10 February 2014
Song Jury Internet Vote Total Place Result
Votes Points
"Dangerous (S.O.S.)" 4 8,411 12 16 3 Advanced
"Es tut mir nicht leid" Eliminated
"Factory Hearts" Eliminated
"Feel My Love" Eliminated
"No More Tears" Eliminated
"Not Perfect" 4 Eliminated
"Skęstu" Eliminated
"Sound of Colours" Eliminated
"Take My Love" Eliminated
"The Right Way" 10 8,025 10 20 1 Advanced
"This Time" 12 4,619 6 18 2 Advanced
Semi-final
[edit]

The semi-final of the competition aired on 14 February 2015 and featured each of the remaining three artists that qualified from the sixth elimination show each performing the remaining three potential Eurovision songs. The members of the Lithuanian jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer), Rosita Čivilytė (singer), Gediminas Zujus (producer) and Vytautas Lukočius (conductor). International jury members included Ralfs Eilands (Latvian singer), Lela Tsurtsumia (Georgian singer) and René Romkes (organiser of the annual Eurovision in Concert event in the Netherlands). "This Time" was selected as the winning song after gaining the most points from both the jury vote and the public vote.[27]

Semi-final – 14 February 2015
Draw Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points Votes Points
1 "The Right Way" 8 10 319 8 18 3
2 "This Time" 11 12 1,429 12 24 1
3 "Dangerous (S.O.S.)" 5 8 898 10 18 2
Detailed Jury Votes
Draw Song
LTU

LVA

GEO

NLD
Total
1 "The Right Way" 2 3 2 1 8
2 "This Time" 3 2 3 3 11
3 "Dangerous (S.O.S.)" 1 1 1 2 5
Final
[edit]

The final of the competition took place on 21 February 2015 and featured the remaining three artists that qualified from the sixth elimination show each performing three songs: two covers of their choice and the winning song selected from the semi-final, "This Time". Vaidas Baumila and Monika Linkytė performed together as a duet at the request of Vytautas Bikus, one of the songwriters of "This Time".[28] The final was the only show in the competition to be broadcast live; all other preceding shows were pre-recorded earlier in the week before their airdates. Jury voting in the final was decided by a two-member Lithuanian panel and a three-member international panel. The members of the Lithuanian panel consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer) and Rosita Civilytė (singer). The international panel consisted of Ralfs Eilands (Latvian singer), Eric Lehmann (President of OGAE Luxembourg) and René Romkes (organiser of the annual Eurovision in Concert event in the Netherlands). Vaidas Baumila and Monika Linkytė were selected as the winners after gaining the most points from both the jury vote and the public vote. In addition to the performances of the competing artists, interval acts included 2013 Latvian Eurovision entry PeR performing the song "Smile" and Mélanie René performing the 2015 Swiss Eurovision entry "Time to Shine".[29]

Final – 21 February 2015
Draw Artist Song (Original artists) Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points Votes Points
1 Mia "Take a Look at Me Now" 5 10 12,746 10 20 2
"Dangerous (S.O.S.)"
"This Time"
2 Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila "Saulės pėdomis" (Linas and Simona) 10 12 13,902 12 24 1
"Tiktai tu" (Vaidas Baumila)
"This Time"
Detailed Jury Votes
Draw Artist R. Zilnys R. Čivilytė R. Eilands E. Lehmann R. Romkes Total
1 Mia 1 1 1 1 1 5
2 Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila 2 2 2 2 2 10

Preparation

[edit]

On 7 March, LRT broadcast the support concert Būkime kartu where Lithuanian viewers could call to donate funds to support the Lithuanian Eurovision participation. The concert featured guests Leon Somov and Justė Arlauskaitė, Rosita Čivilytė and Jurgis Brūzga, and raised €20,843 from the public donations.[30] In late March, Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila filmed the official music video for "This Time" at the Qpolo bar in Vilnius.[31] The video, directed by Algina Navickaitė, was released on 13 April.[32] Lithuanian and French language versions of "This Time" were released on 22 April. The Lithuanian version had lyrics written by Vytautas Bikus while lyrics for the French version were written by Dominique Dufaut.[33]

Promotion

[edit]

Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "This Time" as the Lithuanian Eurovision entry. On 17 April, Linkytė and Baumila performed during the Eurovision PreParty Riga, which was organised by OGAE Latvia and held at the Palladium Concert Hall in Riga, Latvia.[34] On 18 April, the duet performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Edsilia Rombley.[35]

At Eurovision

[edit]
Vaidas Baumila and Monika Linkytė during a press meet and greet

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top 10 countries from each semi-final progress to the final. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation.[36] The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into five different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.[37] On 26 January 2015, an allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Lithuania was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 21 May 2015, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[38]

Once all the competing songs for the 2015 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Lithuania was set to open the show performing in position 1, before the entry from Ireland.[39]

The two semi-finals and final were broadcast in Lithuania on LRT televizija and LRT Radijas with commentary by Darius Užkuraitis.[40] The Lithuanian spokesperson, who announced the Lithuanian votes during the final, was Ugnė Galadauskaitė.[41]

Semi-final

[edit]
Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila during a rehearsal before the second semi-final

Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila took part in technical rehearsals on 13 and 16 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 20 and 21 May.[42][43] This included the jury final where professional juries of each country, responsible for 50 percent of each country's vote, watched and voted on the competing entries.[44]

The Lithuanian performance featured Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila performing choreography on stage with two female and two male backing vocalists. The LED screens displayed bright colourful rays in shades of red, blue, yellow and orange. The performance also featured a kiss shared between Linkytė and Baumila with the two female backing vocalists and two male backing vocalists kissing as well.[42][43][45] Vaidas Baumila's bluish-grey costume was designed by Andrius Sergejenko, while Monika Linkytė's blue, pink and white dress was designed by Kristina Kalinauskaitė along with citizens of Lithuania, who were able to cut-out petals featured on the dress in the colour of their choice at special booths set up in Klaipėda, Panevėžys and Vilnius in April 2015.[46][47] The two female backing vocalists that joined Linkytė and Baumila were Rūta Žibaitytė and Justė Kraujalytė, while the two male backing vocalists were Dainotas Varnas and Jurijus Veklenko. Veklenko would go on to represent Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.[48]

At the end of the show, Lithuania was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final.[49] It was later revealed that the Lithuania placed seventh in the semi-final, receiving a total of 67 points.[50]

Final

[edit]

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winner's press conference was held for the 10 qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries were announced during the semi-final. Lithuania was drawn to compete in the first half.[51] Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Lithuania was subsequently placed to perform in position 7, following the entry from Armenia and before the entry from Serbia.[52]

Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila once again took part in dress rehearsals on 22 and 23 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show.[53] The duet performed a repeat of their semi-final performance during the final on 23 May. At the conclusion of the voting, Lithuania placed 18th with 30 points.[54][55]

Voting

[edit]

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member were released shortly after the grand final.[56]

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Lithuania had placed 16th with both the public televote and the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Lithuania scored 44 points, while with the jury vote, Lithuania scored 31 points.[57] In the second semi-final, Lithuania placed sixth with the public televote with 98 points and 10th with the jury vote, scoring 52 points.[58]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Lithuania and awarded by Lithuania in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Points awarded to Lithuania

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Points awarded by Lithuania

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Detailed voting results

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The following members comprised the Lithuania jury:[56]

  • Lauras Lučiūnas (jury chairperson) – music producer
  • Jolita Vaitkevičienė – choir conductor
  • Jurga Čekatauskaitė – journalist, author of song lyrics
  • Jurgis Brūzga [lt] – singer
  • Rosita Čivilytė [lt] – singer
Detailed voting results from Lithuania (Semi-final 2)[61]
Draw Country L. Lučiūnas J. Vaitkevičienė J. Čekatauskaitė J. Brūzga R. Čivilytė Jury Rank Televote Rank Combined Rank Points
01  Lithuania
02  Ireland 5 13 5 6 13 7 12 9 2
03  San Marino 14 16 16 16 16 16 10 14
04  Montenegro 15 11 15 13 10 14 14 15
05  Malta 13 5 12 7 4 6 16 12
06  Norway 4 3 2 3 1 3 5 3 8
07  Portugal 12 6 10 15 14 13 15 16
08  Czech Republic 16 12 14 12 11 15 7 11
09  Israel 10 10 13 8 7 9 6 7 4
10  Latvia 1 2 3 2 3 2 1 1 12
11  Azerbaijan 2 4 6 4 8 4 9 5 6
12  Iceland 7 15 8 10 9 10 11 10 1
13  Sweden 3 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 10
14   Switzerland 9 9 9 14 15 12 13 13
15  Cyprus 11 7 7 11 6 8 8 8 3
16  Slovenia 6 8 4 5 5 5 4 4 7
17  Poland 8 14 11 9 12 11 3 6 5
Detailed voting results from Lithuania (Final)[62]
Draw Country L. Lučiūnas J. Vaitkevičienė J. Čekatauskaitė J. Brūzga R. Čivilytė Jury Rank Televote Rank Combined Rank Points
01  Slovenia 9 14 4 14 11 9 7 7 4
02  France 17 24 19 15 17 19 23 21
03  Israel 8 10 17 17 9 11 12 12
04  Estonia 3 8 5 5 12 7 2 3 8
05  United Kingdom 15 9 15 9 25 13 17 17
06  Armenia 24 12 22 24 20 22 22 24
07  Lithuania
08  Serbia 18 22 21 20 19 21 24 25
09  Norway 7 3 1 7 3 3 10 6 5
10  Sweden 5 1 2 1 2 2 4 2 10
11  Cyprus 13 17 12 13 21 14 14 14
12  Australia 14 6 13 2 4 8 9 8 3
13  Belgium 6 4 7 6 5 5 5 4 7
14  Austria 20 11 14 8 8 10 18 16
15  Greece 19 23 10 18 16 17 25 22
16  Montenegro 12 18 23 22 14 18 21 18
17  Germany 11 19 9 11 13 12 16 15
18  Poland 10 15 16 23 15 16 11 13
19  Latvia 2 2 3 3 1 1 1 1 12
20  Romania 23 16 24 21 26 25 15 19
21  Spain 22 25 20 16 22 23 19 20
22  Hungary 21 20 18 25 24 24 20 23
23  Georgia 1 7 8 4 6 4 8 5 6
24  Azerbaijan 4 5 6 10 7 6 13 9 2
25  Russia 26 13 26 19 10 20 3 11
26  Albania 25 26 25 26 23 26 26 26
27  Italy 16 21 11 12 18 15 6 10 1

Notes and references

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Notes

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  1. ^ Performed as a duet between Mia and Edgaras Lubys.
  2. ^ Performed as a duet with Vaidas Baumila.
  3. ^ Performed as a duet with Monika Linkytė.

References

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