Ahead of this weekend’s Pabandom iš Naujo! final, LRT has confirmed that a larger-than-usual jury will vote on the finalists. It is expected that eight jury members will cast their vote, instead of five – as has been the case in the first three shows.
Unlike at the heats and the semi-final, the jury will not be present in the studio for the final. Instead, they will watch, give feedback and vote on the performances remotely. The jury will make up 50% of the overall vote this weekend, with televoters making up the other half.
Six acts left in the running
After two weeks of heats and then a semi-final, just six songs are left in the Lithuanian national final – one of which will be selected as Lithuania’s act for Eurovision 2021 on Saturday.
The finalists, which will take part in the show this weekend, are:
- The Roop – “Discoteque”
- Gebrasy – “Where’d You Wanna Go”
- Evita Cololo – “Be paslapčių”
- Voldemars Petersons – “Never Fall For You Again”
- Titas & Benas – “No”
- Martyna Jezepčikaitė – “Thank You Very Much”
LRT’s Chief Producer, Audrius Giržadas, added that he is confident that the performances this weekend will be strong and varied:
I am very grateful to all the participants of this year’s national selection, who, knowing the current difficult situation in the music industry, did not run away and took part in the selection. I can also be happy with the really strong and different performances that await in the finals this Saturday.
– Audrius Giržadas, LRT Chief Producer
Five votes become ten
Televoters will also see a change this weekend, as they will be able to vote up to ten times from a mobile phone – double the amount of votes that were permitted in the first three shows.
A portion of the money from the televotes will be allocated to the winning act, while an additional €5,000 prize will be awarded by the LATGA Association for the winning song’s writers.
You can listen to the six finalists, all hoping to win this weekend, below:
Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest
The Baltic nation of Lithuania debuted at the contest in 1994. Their first entrant, Ovidijus Vyšniauskas with the song ‘Lopšinė mylimai‘, finished last with ‘nul points’. However, this didn’t deter them from continuing; they have participated every year since 2004.
The semi-final era has seen some mixed results. With Lithuania’s best finish coming in 2006 with LT United’s ‘We Are The Winners‘. Despite the title, LT United could only manage 6th. Lithuania’s only other top 10 came in 2016, when Donny Montell finished 9th with ‘I’ve Been Waiting For This Night‘. Overall, Lithuania has qualified in 9 out of 16 attempts since the introduction of the semi-finals.
Last year The Roop won the rebranded national selection, Pabandom iš Naujo! Their viral hit ‘On Fire’ topped both the jury and televote and was among the early favourites for Eurovision 2020. However, last March, the EBU had to announce the cancellation of the contest due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Do you think the addition of extra jurors will change the vote? Who do you want to win the selection?
Let us know in the comments below and on social media @ESCXTRA.