Last night, 13 acts performed in the first of four elimination heats for Eurovizijos 2018. Six have qualified through to the next stage of the competition, including the winner of the first heat, Ieva Zasimauskaitė.
When We’re Old charms both jurors and televoters
The format for Eurovizijos 2018 has been long-awaited but with the first show came official confirmation that the first four shows would be elimination heats during which half the contestants would be eliminated each week.
Saturday 6th January saw the first show take place with 13 contestants. The jury and the televote contributed 50% each to the final scoreboard.
Votes from the jury saw both Godo and Ieva Zasimauskaitė lead the way with 12 points apiece, Lukas Norkūnas was next closest with 8 points.
The public televote was convincingly in favour of Ieva Zasimauskaitė, who received 1086 votes. In second and third place on the televote, Germantė Kinderytė (who received 0 jury points) was backed by 748 public votes and Godo received 732.
As Ieva Zasimauskaitė topped both votes, she was the runaway winner of the first heat with 24 points. Godo was second with 20 points and Milda Rasilavičiūtė, who came middle of the pack in both votes – receiving 6 from the jury and 7 from the televote, finished in third place with 13 points.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFT3ivxtp9c
The full results of the first heat of Eurovizijos 2018
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury vote | Public televote | Total score | Placing |
| 1 | Justin3 | “Born to Be Wild One” | 4 | 2 (197) | 6 | 10 |
| 2 | Monee | “Standing Here” | 1 | 1 (184) | 2 | 11 |
| 3 | Germantė Kinderytė | “Turn It Up” | 0 | 10 (748) | 10 | 5 |
| 4 | Godo | “Fire Fountain” | 12 | 8 (732) | 20 | 2 |
| 5 | Lukas Norkūnas | “Tegu” | 8 | 4 (282) | 12 | 4 |
| 6 | Meda Meškauskaitė | “Blood Roses” | 0 | 0 (91) | 0 | 13 |
| 7 | Benas Malakauskas | “My Memories” | 3 | 6 (512) | 9 | 6 |
| 8 | Milda Rasilavičiūtė | “I Think About You” | 6 | 7 (561) | 13 | 3 |
| 9 | Dangė | “Netikra Laimė” | 0 | 0 (110) | 0 | 12 |
| 10 | Natalija Chareckaja | “Serious” | 7 | 0 (172) | 7 | 8 |
| 11 | Aušra Difartė | “Someday” | 5 | 3 (242) | 8 | 7 |
| 12 | Evaldas Vaikasas | “Blind” | 2 | 5 (369) | 7 | 9 |
| 13 | Ieva Zasimauskaitė | “When We’re Old” | 12 | 12 (1086) | 24 | 1 |
Lithuania at the Eurovision Song Contest
After Fusedmarc failed to qualify to the Final last year, finishing 17th out of 18 participants in Semi-final 2, Lithuania will be hoping they can return to the standard that Donny Montell set in 2016.
Lithuania’s best result at the Eurovision Song Contest was with LT United in 2006, finishing 5th in the Semi-final and 6th in the Grand Final. In 2016, Donny Montell achieved a 4th place result in Semi-final 2 before landing a respectable 9th place in the Grand Final.
Lithuania’s worst results at the Eurovision Song Contest came in 1994, in their first participation, in which Ovidijus Vyšniauskas came 25th with the dreaded ‘nul points’. Laura and the Lovers also came last, 25th, in the Semi-final in 2005.
Will Ieva Zasimauskaitė be a contender for the Eurovizijos 2018 crown? Are you looking forward to the next three elimination heats of the Lithuanian selection? Let us know in the comments below and on social media @ESCXTRA.
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