With over a month to go before we actually crown a winner in Vilnius, you maybe can be forgiven for thinking, “Show FIVE? And not the final?”
So we forgive you and assure you this is why Eurovizijos is SO good. It’s really an endurance race with gladiatorial-like obstacles for the artists to overcome. Juicy.
This past Tuesday Eurovizijos brought back the artists who did not come with a composition in hand (shame.). They were all given songs that were submitted by composers to LRT, the national broadcaster. The in-house jury this evening was a male-only affair, with Ramunas Zilnys, Darius Uzkuraitis , Gintaras Rinkevičius, and Oleg Aleksejevas doling out the national scores.
- Baiba “Mayday” – 1 point – The throwback of a song was thoroughly trounced by the judges, which is too bad for singer, Baiba, as they still rather like her and her voice
- Berta Timinskaitė “Stars in a Rainbow” – 3 points – Called very radio-friendly by one judge, the timely dance number was also called very Eurovision-friendly, but with the points, it seems one judge does not a good chance of wining, make
- Ieva Zasimauskaitė “Life (Not That Beautiful)” – 6 points – Showing the points you can receive if you flip the coin, Ieva was given better comments for her voice (one judge disagreed), but the song was not really appreciated by the judges
- Neringa Šiaudikytė “Never Knew Love” – 8 points – The Eurovizijos vet was praised for her voice and a song that seemed to suit her well, something she’d supposedly lack in previous attempts, but maybe it’s a good thing to not peak in the year of Donny Montell
- 4 Roses “Butterfly” – 7 points – Given fair praise, and called very Eurovision (not necessarily a good thing), the judges obviously liked it more than some competitors, but spared their comments for elsewhere, it seems
- Ruslanas Kirilkinas “In My World” – 10 points – One of the faults of this song, which plays up the singer’s good looks, was that it ends too soon – the judges commented at simplifying the story/staging as the actors seemed to be unnecessary when all you want to do is gaze at Ruslanas’ dreamy visage
- Aistė Pilvelytė “You Bet” – 12 points – The performance left a ‘deep impression’ on the judges, and the singer added an element on the stage that had a double meaning – she’s got her bags packed for Stockholm (Chutzpah!)
- Saulenė Chlevickaitė “Strong” – 5 points – This performer seemed to take in the previous comments on her entry, and earned some benefits with the judges, with them approving of this version over the old
- Milda Martinkėnaitė “If Tomorrow Never Comes” – 2 points – ‘Adventerous’ and ‘Summery’ describe this country-pop which divided the judges on whether or not it would work at Eurovision, not to mention with that outfit and those lyrics
- E.G.O. “Long Way From Home” – 4 points – Fitting then that a bunch of boys closed the show where the male judges held court, but the two sets of gentlemen couldn’t get along with E.G.O. being told they were ‘fun’ and ‘well-made’, but lacking in the vocal department (did that ever hurt a boy band?) and lacking originality (really?)
So the fifth round concluded with Aistė Pilvelytė and her ready-packed suitcase with 12 points and clearly heading to the finals. Today the international jury and the televote will be added to the judges’ scores and we’ll find out who is going to be entering the sights on Donny Montell in the future. He who is clearly the buzz-worthy name of this year’s contest.
Check out the show later today on LRT at 20:00 CET and tell us who you think will qualify.