After five shows in previous weeks, Lithuania will pick their act for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 this weekend in the final of Pabandom iš naujo! And based on the results of the three heats and two semi finals, it seems to be a four horse race in Vilnius.
It was expected that, based on their name and fame, Monika Marija and Aistė Pilvelytė would be the ones to watch in 2020. And the jury has always backed them so far as winners, but they have not yet performed in the same show together. The Roop and Moniqué have showed to be televote favourites, but they have also had a good jury vote after their performances. With that said, it seems that Lithuania will be sending one of these four acts, but which will they choose?
Monika Marija – If I Leave
Monika Marija has been a hot favourite of the last two years, but has yet to win the Lithuanian Eurovision selection. She is a former winner of The Voice, and it certainly shows. Last year she was in the Lithuanian national final with two songs, however decided to withdraw one the entries in order to put her full focus on the other entry, however in the end she lost out to Jurijus. This year, she is back with the song If I Leave, which is perhaps one of her weaker entries in the Lithuanian selections, but she has a strong pull with the Lithuanian jury, and hence is still a favourite to win the competition.
In the first heat, Monika won both the jury and the televote. In the second semi-final, she was the jury favourite once again, however was second in the televote behind Moniqué. With the televote numbers considered, her participation at Eurovision could be in doubt.
The Roop – On Fire
Lithuania aren’t afraid of sending ‘fun’ songs, and this year, The Roop is serving up one of the fun entries of the selection. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen something jovial from Lithuania at Eurovision, and there is something about this entry that the Lithuanian public is very much enjoying. The Roop has had the best numbers in the televotes by far, and this will probably carry through to the final.
‘On Fire’ isn’t just a televote hit, however, winning the jury vote in the third heat. It’s a memorable song, and with the potential for a strong jury and public vote, this cannot be discounted.
Moniqué – Make Me Human
The next big contender to win the Lithuanian selection is Moniqué, who is a new face to the Lithuanian selection. Her song, Make Me Human, shows her in a robotic style of performance, loosening up or ‘becoming more human’ as the performance progresses.
Moniqué was the winner of heat 2, winning the jury vote and coming second in the public vote. By the second semi-final, her televote results improved, having won ahead of Monika Marija. In that semi-final however, the jury vote prevails, and as such Moniqué finished in second behind Monika Marija.
Aistė Pilvelytė – Unbreakable
Aistė Pilvelytė is not a stranger to the Lithuanian selection, having tried to participate in previous years. When she has participated, she often presents a ‘typical’ Eurovision song, ie, something that doesn’t take too many risks.
She has received some high jury scores thus far, but with a mediocre songs, it could just be credited to her name. The televotes were fairly strong for Aistė Pilvelytė, however not as good as The Roop this season. She is likely going to get another strong result, and perhaps could win the final, but the likelihood feels less when compared with some of the other competitors this year.
The Other Candidates
It’s not uncommon to see a surprise results from Lithuania, so perhaps we could be seeing one of these four win the selection? Based off their scores in the heats and semi-finals, it feels less likely, but here are the other four competitors:
KaYra – Alligator
Rūta Loop – We Came From The Sun
The Backs – Fully
Meandi – Drip