Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022

Background

Prior to 2022, Lithuania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-one times since its first entry in 1994. Their best placing was achieved in 2006, with "We Are the Winners", performed by LT United, finishing in sixth place in the final. Following the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Lithuania has managed to qualify to the final ten times.^[1]

Lithuania was represented in 2021 by the song "Discoteque", performed by the Roop, who qualified for the final and ended 8th overall with 220 points.

Before Eurovision

Pabandom iš naujo! 2022

In mid-August 2021, LRT confirmed its participation in the 2022 contest.^[2] On 1 October 2021, the broadcaster announced Pabandom iš naujo! 2022 ("Let's try again! 2022") had been confirmed for the third time in a row as the national final format used to select Lithuania's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, and opened its submissions.^[3] The shows will be broadcast on LRT televizija, LRT Lituanica and LRT Radijas as well as online via the broadcaster's website lrt.lt.

Format

For the 2022 competition, six shows will be held starting in early January 2022, consisting of three heats, two semi-finals, and a final, in which 36 contestants will take part.^[4] The three heats will take place in 2022 on 8, 15 and 22 January, while the two semi-finals will take place on 29 January and 5 February. The final will take place on 12 February.^[5]

Competing entries

On 1 October 2021, LRT opened a submission form for artists to apply with one song (contrarily to what had occurred the previous year, when two separate forms for entries and entrants had been opened), with the deadline set for 25 November 2021. The broadcaster will allocate a budget of around €54,000 to be divided among the participants as their funding.^[3][6] On 7 December 2021, the list of the 36 participating artists was released by LRT.^[7] Included in the list are previous Eurovision competitors Erica Jennings (2001, as member of SKAMP), Ieva Zasimauskaitė (2018), Monika Linkytė (2015) and Vilija Matačiūnaitė (2014). The day after the release, the titles of the songs were also released.^[8] On 11 January 2022, it was revealed that Alekas and Monika Linkytė withdrew from the competition for personal reasons and illness, respectively.^[9]

Shows

Heat 1

The first heat of the competition aired on 8 January 2022 and featured eleven of the competing artists. Basas Pegasas was intended to participate on Heat 1 as well but due to disclosed health issues the band will appear on Heat 3. The show was filmed on 4 January 2022.^[10] 6 of the competing acts qualified to the semi-finals.^[10] The jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer), Ieva Narkutė (singer), Gerūta Griniūtė (cultural presenter and event host), Vytautas Bikus (composer) and Vaidotas Valiukevičius (member of the Roop, representative of Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 and 2021).

Heat 2

The second heat of the competition aired on 15 January 2022 and featured eleven of the competing artists. The show was filmed on 10 January 2022.^[11] 6 of the competing acts qualified to the semi-finals. The jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer), Giedrė Kilčiauskienė (solist, formerly member of an electronic band Pieno lazeriai [lt]), Leonas Somovas (producer and composer), Vytautas Bikus (composer) and Ieva Narkutė (singer).

Heat 3

Qualifiers for the Semi-Finals

At Eurovision

According to contest rules, all participating countries with the exception of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify for the final as one of the top ten countries from one of the two semi-finals. In allocating countries to the semi-finals, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) splits the countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.

References