Who is Monika Linkytė? Meet the Eurovision 2023 representative from Lithuania

During January and February, Lithuania’s public broadcaster LRT held the 4th edition of Pabandom Iš Naujo, the country’s national final for Eurovision 2023. After five weeks of competition, Monika Linkytė emerged as the winner, succeeding Monika Liu.

Meet Monika Linkytė

Monika Linkytė was born on June 3, 1992, in Gargždai. After finishing high school, she moved to Vilnius to attend Vilnius University, where she studied public health, but dropped out after three semesters. In 2014, she began studying law at Vilnius University, but left in 2016 to study music education at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute in London.

In 2007, at the age of 15, Linkytė competed in Lithuania’s national final for Junior Eyrivusuib 2007, where she finished in third place. She later competed in Eurovizija 2010, Eurovizija 2011, and Eurovizija 2012, finishing 10th, 4th, and 3rd in the finals, respectively. She also placed second in the second season of Lietuvos Balsas, the Lithuanian version of The Voice.

In 2013, after the switch from Eurovizija to Eurovizijos Atranka, Linkytė returned to compete with the song “Baby Boy” but had to withdraw from the competition due to laryngitis. The following year, she competed in Eurovizijos Atranka 2014, finishing in fourth place, and represented Lithuania in the New Wave 2014 competition, finishing in fourth place. In 2015, she competed in Eurovizijos Atranka again with two songs, winning the competition with the song “This Time” with Vaidas Baumila. They represented Lithuania in Eurovision 2015 in Vienna, finishing in 18th place.

Since her last participation in the Lithuanian national final, Linkytė has released several singles and two albums, including Old Love (2018) and a live album in 2020. With her seventh participation in the Lithuanian pre-selection, now under the Pabandom Iš Naujo brand, she has become the second Lithuanian representative to compete in Eurovision for a second time since the country’s first participation in 1994 with the song “Stay”.

“Stay”: Monika’s Song for Liverpool

“Stay” is an anthem to pain and healing. The verses speak to the struggle of growing up with pain and suppressing it. The song also speaks to acknowledging pain in order to overcome it: “I had to try it and embrace it”, offering a glimmer of hope. It pleads with her loved one to stay with her and be patient with her scars. The chorus “finally my heart is beating” is a sigh of relief, showing that even if slowly, the healing process is happening.

The phrase “Čiūto tūto” is in Lithuanian. It is an old phrase that was used in religious rituals where people would stand in a circle and sing traditional folk songs. It harks back to Lithuania’s ancient ethnic origins, and is a call to listen to our inner selves, from the heart and is a way to showcase Monika’s strong national identity and roots, Lithuania, to all of Europe.

“Stay” Lyrics

Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest

Lithuania has been participating in the Eurovision Song Contest since 1994. The Baltic country was one of the first countries from Eastern Europe to join the contest after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the socialist sphere. Lithuania has competed a total of 21 times since then, reaching the final on 14 occasions and absenting itself from the festival for 6 years due to its poor results. Their best historical result was achieved in 2006 with “We are the winners” by LT United, finishing in 6th place with 162 points.

In contrast to its Baltic neighbors, Latvia and Estonia, who have already achieved victory, Lithuania has not had much success in the contest, entering the Top 10 of the final on only 3 occasions: 6th place in 2006; 9th place in 2016 and 8th place in 2021. On the other hand, Lithuania has finished below 19th place in 7 out of the 14 finals it has participated in, including their debut in last place with 0 points and in 2005, the year in which they also finished in last place in the semi-final with 17 points.

In 2021, the Baltic country was represented by The Roop, selected after receiving a direct pass to the final of Pabandom Iš Naujo 2021, the Lithuanian national final, after not being able to participate in the 2020 Eurovision edition due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Lithuanian band finished in 8th place in the grand final of the European contest after achieving a total of 220 points in the final with their song “Discoteque,” and reached the country’s second-best historical position in Eurovision.

In the last edition of Eurovision in 2022, Lithuania chose Monika Liu in Pabandom Iš Naujo as their representative in Turin. After qualifying for the final by finishing in ninth place in her final, Monika Liu with “Sentimentai” finished in 14th place with a total of 128 points (93 from televoting and 35 from the jury).