Preview: Lithuania in Eurovision 2015

In this new rubric at ESC Daily, we will take a look at next year’s Eurovision Song Contest. What can we expect from each participating country? In today’s preview we will feature the plans in Lithuania.

What do we know so far

On the last day of October, broadcaster LRT announced the dates for January and February when their national selection will take place. The lengthy journey to select a new Lithuanian representative remains the same, split over a number of 10 shows to ‘enhance the experience’. We will give you a quick breakdown:

The process begins on 3rd January, when the 12 internally chosen artists are presented by performing non-competing Lithuanian-written songs. The second show on 10th January is ‘world-hits night’ – voting is combined with the previous show’s count and 1 person will be eliminated. On 17th January, the competing songs are finally introduced; and here’s the twist in voting – the 2 songs and 2 artists that will be eliminated are voted for separately. Meaning, the contestant may go home but their song stays. The three following shows, on the 24th/31st January and 7th February, constitute the same rules: 2 artists and 2 songs will be eliminated until 3 remain.

The winning song will be chosen on 14th February – all 3 final contestants will sing the chosen song on  21st February and 50/50 voting will reveal who carries the Lithuanian flag to Vienna. The two remaining shows are reserved for highlights and a support concert.

Possible names

As said, there will be 12 internally selected contestants to participate in the show. Submissions are widely open until mid-December – you can find official rules and details here. Generally, young musicians who have previous experience in talent shows are selected to compete.

Chances at Eurovision

Lithuania do not hold the best track record at Eurovision, either narrowly qualifying for the final or sometimes not at all. The highest result they achieved in the last five years was 14th place with Donny Montell in 2012. Andruis Pojavis finished in 22nd the following year, and Vilija failed to qualify for the final in Denmark with her song ‘Attention’. The current selection system is the same one as used last year, leaving not much hope. But who knows whether results could be better this time.