Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025
| Eurovision Song Contest 2025 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participating broadcaster | Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) | |||
| Country |  Lithuania | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Eurovizija.LT 2025 | |||
| Selection date(s) |
| |||
| Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Lithuania will be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, which will be held in Basel, Switzerland. The Lithuanian participating broadcaster, the Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT), will organize the national final Eurovizija.LT 2025 to select its entry for the contest.
Background
[edit]Prior to 2025, the Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Lithuania twenty-four times since its debut in 1994. Its best placing was achieved in 2006, with the song "We Are the Winners" performed by LT United, which finished in sixth place in the final. Since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, LRT has managed to qualify for the final thirteen times. It was represented in 2024 by the song "Luktelk", performed by Silvester Belt, who qualified for the final and finished 14th overall with 90 points.[1]
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, LRT organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. LRT has used a national final to select all of its Eurovision entries, with the exception of its debut entry in 1994. Between 2020 and 2023, the national final format Pabandom iš naujo! was used to select its entry. In 2024, LRT introduced a new format, titled Eurovizija.LT. LRT confirmed its intention to participate in the 2025 contest in mid-June 2024;[2] two months later, the broadcaster started accepting applications for Eurovizija.LT 2025.[3]
Before Eurovision
[edit]Eurovizija.LT 2025
[edit]Eurovizija.LT 2025 is set to be the national final format organized by LRT to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025. It will be held between 11 January and 15 February 2025.[4] The shows will be broadcast on LRT televizija and LRT Lituanica, as well as online via the broadcaster's website lrt.lt and official LRT YouTube channel.
Format
[edit]The competition will saw 45 entries compete across five semi-finals, held between 11 January and 8 February 2024, and a final on 15 February 2024.[5] A 50/50 combination of jury and public vote will determine the ranking in each phase, with the top two entries from each semi-final (out of the nine total) qualifying for the final; the top three entries from the final will move on to a final televoting round to select the winner. In case of a tie in any of the previous stages, the jury ranking will take precedence.[6] The scoring system will be the same as used at the Eurovision Song Contest: the top ten entries from both the jury vote and the televote will be assigned scores of 1–8, 10, and 12 points.[6]
Performances for the semi-finals will be pre-recorded, while those in the final will be performed live.[5]
Competing entries
[edit]On 13 August 2024, LRT opened a submission platform for interested artists, lasting until 11 November 2024, later the deadline was extended to 25 November 2024.[7] Each applicant could only submit one entry. Performers were required to be citizens of the European Union who have a permanent residence permit in Lithuania, while songwriters could be of any nationality, though citizens of countries "hostile to Lithuania" were not allowed to submit entries. The selected artists are able to withdraw until 20 December 2024.[6] 81 entries were submitted at the conclusion of the submission period.[4]
On 11 December 2024, the list of the 45 participating artists and songs was released by LRT.[4] On 13 December, Evelina Gancewska was disqualified from the competition as her competing song "Aurora" had already made the line-up of the Croatian national selection, Dora 2025, and was replaced by Austėja Lukaitė.[8] Among the selected competing artists were Vilija and Ieva Zasimauskaitė, who represented Lithuania in 2014 and 2018, respectively.[4] Gebrasy, Indrė and Laimonas (as part of Il Senso), Justinas Lapatinskas, Liepa, Lion Ceccah (formerly known as Alen Chicco), Mario Junes, Petunija, Queens of Roses and Siga (as part of Žalvarinis) have all competed in previous editions of the Lithuanian national selection and advanced to the final.
Entry withdrawn Replacement entry
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Aistay | "Meilę sapnavau" | TBA |
| Amari | "Sirens Call" | |
| Amoralu | "Freedom" | |
| Anyanya | "Running Out of Time" | |
| Austėja Lukaitė | "Kas esu be tavęs?" | |
| Black Biceps | "Visaip man reik" | |
| Donata | "Empower" |
|
| Euften | "Goodbye Hell" | TBA |
| Evelina Gancewska | "Aurora" |
|
| Ewa | "Tell Me Lie" | TBA |
| Freya Alley | "Lalala" | |
| Gebrasy | "Whole" | |
| Gøya | "After Storm" | |
| Godo Yorke | "<3 neparodai" | |
| Halummi | "The Flame" | |
| Hansanova | "Leilydo" | Giedrius Balčiūnas |
| Ieva Zasimauskaitė | "Don't You Ever Leave Me" | TBA |
| Indrė and Laimonas | "Namo" | Stanislavas Stavickis-Stano |
| Jokūbas Jankauskas | "Far Away" | TBA |
| Joseph June | "Ko man nesakei" | |
| Justė Baradulinaitė | "Tired" | |
| Justinas | "Alright" | |
| Káro | "Love Bug" | |
| Katarsis | "Tavo akys" | |
| Liepa | "Ar mylėtum" | |
| Lion Ceccah | "Drobė" | |
| Lit | "You're Not Alone" | |
| Mantas Ben | "Svajonės po 12" | |
| Mario Junes | "Bury Me" | |
| Matas Ligeika | "Saule" | |
| Matt Len | "Not Alone" | |
| Meidė | "Gyvatės" | |
| Noy | "Just Take Me on a Date" | |
| Ofelija | "Širdelė" | |
| Petunija | "Į saldumą" | |
| Queens of Roses | "Taip!" | |
| Rūta Budreckaitė | "Tai kur namai" | |
| Siga | "Walking with My Shadow" | |
| Sophie Ali | "The Bluest Bell" |
|
| Sun Francisco | "Atsimerkt" | TBA |
| The Ditties | "Zui Zu Bi" | |
| Thomas G | "Highest Goals" | |
| Tomas Dirgėla | "Pašok" | |
| Ustin | "You're the One" | |
| Viktorija Faith | "Scary Beautiful" | |
| Vilija | "Liesti negalima" | Vilija Matačiūnaitė |
Jury members
[edit]Unlike last year, jury members will comment on the contestants' performances in all shows.[5] Since 2020, the jury in the semi-finals has usually consisted of five people, with more jury members participating in the final.
Semi-finals
[edit]The five semi-finals of the competition will be filmed on 8, 14, 15, 20, and 21 January 2025 at the LRT studios in Vilnius and will be aired on 11, 18, 25 January, 1, and 8 February 2025. In each semi-final, 9 of the 45 competing acts will perform, with the top two entries progressing to the final.
Final
[edit]The live final of the competition will take place on 15 February 2025 at the Žalgiris Arena in Kaunas. A combination of the votes of a jury (50%) and the public (50%) will select three songs for a superfinal, where a televoting round will determine the winner.
References
[edit]- ^ "Lithuania". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Retrieved 13 August 2024.
- ^ Lukošienė, Raminta (13 June 2024). "Pasirodžius Petro Gražulio peticijai prieš Lietuvos dalyvavimą 'Eurovizijoje' – LRT atsakas: pasakė, ar planuotų trauktis" [After the appearance of Petras Gražulis' petition against Lithuania's participation in 'Eurovision' – LRT's response: they said whether they plan to withdraw]. Delfi (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 13 June 2024.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (13 August 2024). "Lithuania: Search Commences for Eurovision 2025". Eurovoix. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Skelbiami „Eurovizijos" atrankos dalyviai: rungsis 45 dainos, finalas – „Žalgirio" arenoje" [Eurovision Song Contest participants announced: 45 songs will compete, final at Žalgiris Arena]. lrt.lt (in Lithuanian). LRT. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
- ^ a b c "Prasideda registracija į „EUROVIZIJA.LT": ankstesnė atranka – daugiau laiko kūrybai" [EUROVIZIJA.LT registration opens: earlier selection – more time to create]. Lithuanian National Radio and Television (in Lithuanian). 13 August 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
- ^ a b c "Eurovizija" [Eurovision]. lrt.lt (in Lithuanian). LRT. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
- ^ @ESCdiscord (11 November 2024). "LRT has extended the song submission window for Eurovizija.LT by two weeks, setting the new submission deadline to Monday 25 November" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Pokyčiai „Eurovizijos" atrankoje: vietoj Evelinos Gancewskos rungsis Austėja Lukaitė" [Changes in Eurovision selection: Austėja Lukaitė will compete instead of Evelina Gancewska]. lrt.lt (in Lithuanian). 13 December 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.