Lithuania: National selection for Stockholm!

A national selection will be used to decide Lithuania's entry for 2016. Submissions to compete close on 1st December and all entrants must be Lithuanian. Naturally. The dates remain unknown...

REVIEWING THE CLASS OF 2015: LITHUANIA!

The Lithuanian selection seemed to go on for months and months.. although the winning combination isn't a bad one at all. Actually, it's one of Lithuania's best. Check out our reviews below...

Ana: Vaidas and Monika are “feeling love round in their hearts” and they make me feel it too.  This song just makes me feel happy and I really love the way they perform. They will stand out in Vienna with a different style among so many ballads. It’s a very sweet song non-apt for diabetics. 9/10

Ilkar: They finally did it. Together. And this song is better than any of their effort before. They have a great chemistry, they look and sound great together, the song works and they do great job with it. This could surprise us all in Vienna if they keep the good thing going and not spoiling it with some weird staging. 7.5/10

Jack: The Baltic's are really bringing it this year. I love Lithuania's song! As John says below, it probably isn't going to be a contender for victory although I do hope Vaidas and Monika achieve a decent position in Vienna. Please let this qualify! It's a great opener to the 2nd semi final. Their performance during the national final was gorgeous - that kiss <3 !!! It makes me happy and that's good enough for me. 8/10

Jess: This song is very catchy, and it's a song that I listen to quite a bit. 8/10

John: Rather like a country song that has crossed over into mainstream pop, this is a pleasant song but stops short of being anything more. It is unlikely to be a threat to many of the other contenders. 5/10

OUR VERDICT - 37.5/50

OVERALL SCORE - 7.5/10

VAIDAS BAUMILA AND MONIKA LINKYTÉ TO REPRESENT LITHUANIA!

Attention! This time it's a perfect result from Lithuania! Monika Linkyte and Vaidas Baumila have both won the Lithuanian selection and therefore are going to represent the country. This blogger is thrilled - it's an amazing song and the chemistry between the two of them works a treat. Mia therefore will have to wait at least another year.. if y'all remember, she came a very close 2nd place last year too!

Estonia will also be selecting their entry tonight so stay tuned!

Vienna 2015: Super Weekend #5!

Another national final weekend awaits us, ahh I love this time of year :-) Three countries will be selecting their song for Vienna whilst Finland, Hungary and Sweden continue their selections.

ESTONIA
Eesti Laul concludes tonight. Ten songs are in the running to represent Estonia and the winner will be decided by a 50/50 combination of jury and televote.

1. Luisa Värk - Minu päike
2. Maia Vahtramäe - Üle vesihalli taeva
3. Elina Born & Stig Rästa - Goodbye to Yesterday
4. Kali Briis Band - Idiot
5. Robin Juhkental & The Big Bangers - Troubles
6. Daniel Levi - Burning Lights
7. Elisa Kolk - Superlove
8. The Blurry Lane - Exceptional
9. Elephants From Neptune - Unriddle Me
10. Triin Niitoja & John4 - This is Our Choice

Will Elina Born & Stig Rästa win as predicted or could there be a major upset? This blogger would devastated if they didn't win.. it's an amazing song!!

LITHUANIA
Mia, Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila will tonight fight for the Lithuanian ticket to Vienna. All three have previous national final experience.. The song was decided last week and it's This Time. Interestingly, Monika and Vaidas both performed the song amazingly together. They even kissed - it was a lovely performance and I would love to see them both win. But I don't know if that's possible as it would be rather unfair on Mia I guess.....

• Mia - This Time
• Monika Linkytė - This Time
• Vaidas Baumila - This Time
• Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila - This Time

You will be able to watch the show at 19:00 CET

FINLAND
The final semi final of Finland's UMK is set to take place tonight.

1. Ida Bois - Kumbaya
2. Aikuinen - Kyynelten lahti
3. Solju - Hold Your Colours
4. Järjestyshäiriö - Särkyneiden sydänten kulmilla
5. Angelo de Nile - All for Victory
6. Heidi Pakarinen - Bon voyage

Find out here what myself and Blogilkar thought of tonight's line-up!

SWEDEN
Another seven acts are aiming to make the final of Melodifestivalen as the 3rd semi final will be held tonight. I will be focusing on Estonia and Lithuania and therefore won't watch the show tonight..

• Andreas Weise – Bring Out the Fire
• Isa – Don’t Stop
• Kalle Johansson – För din skull
• Kristin Amparo – I See You
• Ellen Benediktson – Insomnia
• Jon Henrik Fjällgren – Jag är fri (Manne Liem Frije)
• Andreas Johnson – Living to Die

HUNGARY
Nine acts will be hoping to qualify to the final of A Dal although only four will make the cut.

• Bálint Gájer - That's How It Goes
• Bogi Dallos - World of Violence
• Gabi Szűcs - Úgysem felejtesz el
• Gergő Oláh - A tükör előtt
• Gyula Éliás Jr. feat. Fourtissimo - Run to You
• Ív - Fire
• Kati Wolf - Ne engedj el
• Other Planet - Untold Story
• Passed - Mesmerize

Of course I want to see Kati Wolf make the final.. I expect Passed and Bogi will also sail through to the final too, but who will join them?

LATVIA
All attention will be on Latvia tomorrow, as Supernova finally concludes. Only four acts remain in the competition. Aminata Savadogo seems to be the big favourite, with Markus Riva also a big contender for victory. Maybe. Although don't rule out MNTHA. Her song is weird yet somehow wonderful - and the Latvians don't always select the most internationally friendly songs..ElektroFence's song isn't bad but come on.. the other three are so much better! More here

Lithuania: 'This Time' to be performed in Vienna - but by who?

The Lithuanian song for Eurovision has been chosen and it's This Time. Mia, Vaidas Baumila and Monika Linkyte will perform it next week and then the Lithuanians will select their favourite version and that'll be the Lithuanian entry! Was the best song chosen tonight?

Vienna 2015: Super Weekend #4!

No less than ten selections are taking place this weekend - including two national finals and Sanremo!

ICELAND
Iceland will be selecting their Eurovision entry tonight. The show will take place at 19:45 CET and be seen here. Who should win? I did a little review and you can read that HERE

• Haukur Heiðar Hauksson - Milljón augnablik 
• María Ólafsdóttir - Lítil skref
• Sunday - Fjaðrir
• Cadem - Fyrir Alla
• Björn and friends – Piltur og stúlka
• Elín Sif Halldórsdóttir – Í kvöld
• Friðrik Dór – Í síðasta skipti

This blogger would be delighted to see Sunday win - although I expect the Icelanders will opt for either Cadem or Björn and friends.. but who knows!

SWEDEN
Eric Saade and Jessica Anderson qualified directly to the final last week - so who will join them in Friends Arena on 8th March?

• Mariette – Don’t Stop Believing
• Emelie Irewald – Där och då med dig
• Linus Svenning – Forever Starts Today
• Magnus Carlsson – Möt mig i Gamla stan
• Samir & Viktor – Groupie
• Neverstore – If I Was God For One Day
• Marie Bergman & Sanne Salomonsen – Nonetheless

Y'all can watch Melodifestivalen here at 19:00 CET.

ITALY
Throughout the previous week, the amazing festival of Sanremo will conclude tonight. The winner will maybe go to Eurovision but if they decline, a special jury will select the Italian representative although it won't necessarily be from tonight's participants. Arisa, who openly wanted to go to Copenhagen, said she'll be up for it IF the winner of Sanremo isn't interested. More of this weeks goings on here. Nek and Il Volo are joint favourites to win tonight!

• Annalisa – Una Finestra Tra Le Stelle
• Bianca Atzei – Il Solo Al Mondo
• Malika Ayane – Adesso E Qui (Nostalgico Presente)
• Alex Britti – Un Attimo Importante
• Chiara – Straordinario
• Dear Jack – Il Mondo Esplode Tranne Noi
• Lorenzo Fragola – Siamo Uguali
• Irene Grandi – Un Vento Senza Nome
• Gianluca Grignani – Sogni Infranti
• Il Volo – Grande Amore
• Marco Masini – Che Giorno È
• Grazia di Michele & Mauro Coruzzi – Io Sono Una Finestra
• Moreno – Oggi Ti Parlo Così
• Nek – Fatti Avanti Amore
• Nesli – Buona Fortuna Amore
• Nina Zilli – Sola

Watch the show here.

LITHUANIA 
The Lithuanian song will be chosen tonight. Once the song has been selected, the three remaining artists will perform it next week and then the overall winner will be chosen. The show will start at 19:00 CET and can be watched here. These songs remain in the competition....

• Dangerous (S.O.S.)
• This Time
• The Right Way

FINLAND 
The 2nd semi final of UMK will be held tonight and these are the participants will be aiming to make the final in a fortnights time:

• Jouni Aslak – Lions and lambs
• Eeverest – Love it all away
• Otto Ivar – Truth or dare
• Opera Skaala – Heart of light
• Shava – Ostarilla
• Siru – Mustelmat

This blogger predicts that Siru, Shava and Opera Skaala will qualify. Catch the show here. I only care for Siru tonight and Eeverest are pretty good too. Here's some special reviews myself and Blogilkar did - read them here.

ESTONIA 
There very well may be ten acts participating in Eesti Laul tonight, although all eyes will be on Elina Born & Stig Rästa's Goodbye to Yesterday. Will they sail through to next weeks final as expected?

• Wilhelm - Light Up Your Mind
• Kruuv - Tiiu talu tütreke
• Demie feat. Janice - Kuum
• NimmerSchmidt - Kellega ma tutvusin?
• Elina Born & Stig Rästa - Goodbye to Yesterday
• Daniel Levi - Burning Lights
• Triin Niitoja & John4 - This is Our Choice
• Kali Briis Band - Idiot
• Luisa Värk - Minu päike
• 1Mari - Kolm päeva tagasi

HUNGARY
A Dal also continues tonights at 19:25 CET - and the show can be seen here. This is tonight's lineup:

• Ádám Szabó – Give Me Your Love
• Boggie – Wars For Nothing
• Karmapolis – The Time Is Now
• New Level Empire – Homelights
• Pankastic! – Kicsi A Világ, De Nagy Világ!
• Spoon – Keep Marching On
• Timi Antal – Woke Up This Way
• Vera Tóth – Gyémánt
• Zoltán Mujahid – Beside You

SERBIA 
Serbia are going to chose their song for Vienna tomorrow. Although first, there'll be an introduction show tonight. The three competing acts will be officially reveal their songs and the the winner will be chosen tomorrow night via a 50/50 mix of televoting and a jury.

• Danica Krstić - U ime ljubavi
• Bojana Stamenov - Ceo svet je moj
• Aleksa Jelić - Vodi me

LATVIA 
The first semi final will be held in Latvia tomorrow night.

• ElektroFolk - Sundance
• MNTHA - Nefelibata
• Antra Stafecka - It's the Night
• Framest - Ziemā
• Aminata - Love Injected
• Markus Riva - Take Me Down
• Rihards Bērziņš - Your Eyes
• Euphony - Home

Big favourites to take the crown next week are ElektroFolk, Antra Stafecka, Markus Riva and Aminata.. will they all make the final or could there be any surprise elimination?

Here's the favourite (or at least my favourite) to win in Iceland:

Lithuania: Mia, Vaidas Baumila and Monika Linkyte make the final!

And finally, we have results from Lithuania! It all started with twelve acts back in December and now we have three finalists. Either Vaidas Baumila, Mia or Monika Linkyte will represent Lithuania in May - but with what song? That'll be decided next week. Then the following week, the singer will be decided :-) Ironically this years finalists came 2nd, 3rd and 4th last year. Mia came 2nd although Vaidas is the big favourite to win ever though Monika Linkyte won tonight's show. It's all to play for! Jurgis Brūzga and Edgaras Lubys lost their place in the competition tonight.

Lithuania: Liepa Mondeikaité and Neringa Šiaudikyté eliminated!

Both Liepa Mondeikaité and Neringa Šiaudikyté have been eliminated from the race in Lithuania. Mia won the show tonight and Vaidas came 2nd. Jurgis Bruzga, Monika Linkyte and Edgaras Lybus also managed to qualify so five remain.

Vienna 2015: Super Weekend #2!

A number of shows will be held over the weekend; including two national finals from Switzerland and Cyprus. We also have shows from Lithuania, Iceland, Latvia and Hungary.

SWITZERLAND 
Six acts are aiming to represent Switzerland in Vienna. The main favourite appears to be Timebelle - and they are closely followed by The Voice winner Tiziana. This blogger would be shocked if one of them didn't win. I would love to see Deborah Bough win though. Check out my full review of the finalists here. More information here.

• Andy McSean – Hey now
• Timebelle – Singing about love
• Tiziana – Only human 
• Licia Chery – Fly 
• Mélanie René – Time to shine 
• Deborah Bough – Take me back to 23 

When? 21:10 CET. Where? here.

HUNGARY
Hungary's national selection continues with the 2nd heat of A Dal. Another ten acts will all be hoping for a place in the semi finals.

• Ádám Szabó - Give Me Your Love
• Chances - The Night
• Gergő Oláh - A tükör előtt
• Gyula Éliás Jr. feat. Fourtissimo - Run to You
• Heni Dér - Ébresztő
• Ív - Fire
• Leander Rising - Lőjetek fel
• New Level Empire - Homelights
• Pankastic! - Kicsi a világ, de nagy világ
• Saci Szécsi & Böbe Szécsi - Our Time

Six will make the next stage of A Dal. When? 21:25 CET. Where? here.

ICELAND
Söngvakeppnin returns this weekend with a rather fine bunch of songs. Stefanía Svavarsdóttir's my personal favourite from the first Icelandic semi. The three most popular songs will make the final on 14th February..

• Stefanía Svavarsdóttir - Augnablik
• Elín Sif Halldórsdóttir - Í kvöld
• Friðrik Dór - Í síðasta skipti
• Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir - Myrkrið hljótt
• Björn og félagar - Piltur og stúlka
• HINEMOA - Þú leitar líka að mér

When? 21:45 CET. Where? Here.

LITHUANIA
Seven acts remain in the Lithuanian selection, and with no immediate favourite, it's still all to play for. Two acts will be eliminated..

• Edgaras Lubys
• Jurgis Brūzga
• Liepa Mondeikaitė
• Mia
• Monika Linkytė
• Neringa Šiaudikytė
• Vaidas Baumila

When? 21:00 CET. Where? Here.

CYPRUS 
On Sunday, the Cypriot entry for Eurovision 2015 will be chosen. The winner will be chosen by a 50/50 combination of televote and jury vote - the jury consists of Despina Olympiou, Alex Panayi, Elena Patroklou, Tasos Tryfonos, Nicola Caligiore, and Dimitris Kontopoulos. Who will represent Cyprus?

1. Hovig - Stone in a River
2. Doody - Magic
3. Panagiotis Koufogiannis - Without Your Love
4. Minus One - Shine
5. Giannis Karagiannis - One Thing I Should Have Done
6. Nearchos Evangelou & Charis Savva - Deila den agapo

I'd like to see either Panagiotis Koufogiannis or Nearchos Evangelou & Charis Savva victorious although I'm still gutted Ioanna didn't make it.... Doody's song is popular for some reason but this blogger isn't a fan. When? 21:00 CET. Where? Here.

LATVIA
And finally, Latvia's selection will also kick off on Monday. The first heat will feature ten songs and four will qualify for the semi final.When? 21:20 CET. Where? Here.

Lithuania: Tadas Juodsnukis is eliminated!

Tadas Juodsnukis was eliminated from Lithuania's Eurovizija tonight. Liepa Mondeikaitė won the televote and Mia won the jury vote. Vaidas Baumila only managed 6th place tonight, out of eight participants so it's not looking good for him. The following acts live to fight another day:

• Edgaras Lubys
• Jurgis Brūzga
• Liepa Mondeikaitė
• Mia
• Monika Linkytė
• Neringa Šiaudikytė
• Vaidas Baumila

Vienna 2015: Super Weekend #1!

National final season will soon be in full swing so I have decided to do these posts every weekend to make it a little easier for y'all :-) the following shows will be held tonight!

HUNGARY
Hungary's A Dal will start at 20:25 CET tonight and you will be able to watch the show live here. These acts are in the running:

• Bori Magyar - Lead Me To Heaven
• Balazs Farkas Jenser - Liar
• Gabi Szucs - Ugysem felejtesz el
• Passed - Mesmerize
• Bogi - World Of Violence
• Karmapolis - The Time Is Now
• Gergo Szakacs – Ösz utca
• Timi Antak - Woke Up This Way
• Vera Toth - Gyemant
• MDC - Maniac

Fan favourite Bogi is among tonights lineup... will she finally be the chosen one for Eurovision? There will be an app vote meaning international viewers can vote for their favourites! Six acts will qualify to the next stage of the competition.  

LITHUANIA

The Lithuanian marathon continues tonight. Because Milita Daikeryte withdrew, there's now eight participants aiming to represent the country in Vienna. One more act will be eliminated tonight and you will be able to watch the show live here. 

• Edgaras Lubys – “This Time”
• Liepa Mondeikaite – “Take My Love”
• Tadas Juodsnukis – “Factory Hearts”
• Mia – “The Right Way”
• Vaidas Baumila – “Not Perfect”
• Monika Linkyte- “Skestu”
• Jurgis Bruzga – “No More Tears”
• Neringa Siaudikyte – “Feel My Love”

Lithuania: Milita Daikeryte withdraws from the competition!

Aw, here's some sad news. Milita Daikeryte has unfortunately decided to withdraw from Lithuania's Eurovizijos. Her illness has caused her severe vocal problems and therefore she has no choice but to leave the competition. Last weekend, she finished in sixth place out of eleven participants. These acts remain in the running to represent Lithuania:

• Edgaras Lubys – “This Time”
• Liepa Mondeikaite – “Take My Love”
• Tadas Juodsnukis – “Factory Hearts”
• Mia – “The Right Way”
• Vaidas Baumila – “Not Perfect”
• Monika Linkyte- “Skestu”
• Jurgis Bruzga – “No More Tears”
• Neringa Siaudikyte – “Feel My Love”

Lithuania: Reda Striškaitė and Wilma La eliminated!

Wilma La is out!

Lithuanian continued their selection last night and the artists finally performed their potential Eurovision songs. Sadly, Reda Striškaitė and Wilma La were both eliminated from the competition. Monika Linkyte won the voting last night and Edgaras Lybus achieved 2nd place. Vaidas Baumila came 5th overall but shockingly only managed 9th in the televote. Neringa Siaudikyte seems the be the favourite to leave next week if previous results are anything to go by. Eurovizijos will return for the fourth live show next weekend. These acts are still in the running:

• Tadas Juodsnukis 
• Vaidas Baumila 
• Edgaras Lybus 
• Monika Linkyte 
• Mia
• Liepa Mondeikaite 
• Milita Daikeryte 
• Jurgis Bruzga 
• Neringa Siaudikyte

Lithuania: Songs revealed, listen here!

Monika Linkytė

They are online! Listen to the Lithuanian songs here on Soundcloud. This weekend will see the third show from Lithuania, where the participants will sing these songs - two songs and two artists will be eliminated every weekend until mid February. Vaidas Baumila and Tadas Juodsnukis are the hot favourites to win, judging from the previous shows results but then there's still a long time to go until the finals. Anything could happen! The winning song will be selected on Valentines Day and then the artist the following week. Who should Lithuania send to Eurovision? 

• Vaidas Baumila
• Tadas Juodsnukis
• Edgaras Lubys
• Mia
• Monika Linkytė
• Reda Striškaitė
• Liepa Mondeikaitė
• Milita Daikerytė
• Jurgis Bruzga
• Wilma La
• Neringa Šiaudikytė

Lithuania: Rollikai first to be eliminated!

The Lithuanian selection continued tonight and Rollikai have become the first act to be eliminated. Fan favourite Vaidas Baumila was once again on top form and is already tipped to win the whole thing. Time will only tell if he's as lucky this year. The acts tonight only performed cover songs but next week it starts to get really interesting. They will sing their possible Eurovision songs. 12 songs have been chosen for the competition and online voting will start tomorrow. These are the song titles:

• “I’m feeling love”
• “Say you love me”
• “Es tut mir nicht leid” (“I’m not sorry”)
• “Not perfect”
• “Skestu” (“Expand”)
• “Feel my love”
• “No more tears”
• “Dangerous”
• “The right way”
• “Sound of Colours”
• “Take my love”
• “Factory Hearts”

Lithuania: 12 acts selected for Eurovizijos!

Lithuania's selection is almost underway and the twelve competing participating acts were presented last week.. You may recognise some names here as Mia, Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila all took part in the Lithuanian marathon last year and Mia even came 2nd. Here's the full line-up:

• Liepa Mondeikaité
• Neringa Šiaudikytė
• Edgaras Lubys (Amberlife)
• Mia
• Vaidas Baumila
• Monika Linkyté
• Reda Striškaitė
• Milita Daikeryté
• Jurgis Bruzga
• Wilma La
• Tadas Juodsnukis
• Rollikai

"Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka will kick off on 3rd January where the acts will sing cover songs. I see Laurita didn't make it.....

Lithuania: Eurovizija returns - a topless singer to compete?

Vilija Matačiūnaitė didn't manage to get enough attention in Copenhagen and you'd think this would make LRT, the national broadcaster, review their selection. However this isn't the case, because the Lithuanian national selection will be exactly the same next year. There will be several shows; including a separate show to select the song for Vienna and then another show to determine the Lithuanian representative. Laurita, a topless singer, promises to compete according to Balsas.lt. She often performs with very little clothing on and wants to "seize the agonizing Lithuanian pop scene". But isn't Eurovision supposed to be a family show? ;-)

Lithuania: Vilija wins Barbara Dex Award!

Attention! Vilija Matačiūnaitė has won this years Barbara Dex Award. She achieved a landslide victory with 311 votes. Emma and Cristina Scarlat both came 2nd - they managed to achieve 90 points. Personally, I don't understand why Emma is one that list. I am also shocked to see Casey on that list - I thought she looked absolutely fantastic. Oh well. Here are the full results!

1. Vilija (Lithuania) – 311 votes
2. Emma (Italy) – 90 votes
3. Cristina Scarlat (Moldova) – 90 votes
4. The Shin & Mariko (Georgia) – 76 votes
5. Hersi (Albania) – 64 votes
6. Twin Twin (France) – 56 votes
7. Can-Linn ft. Kasey Smith (Ireland) – 52 votes
8. Tijana (FYR Macedonia) – 52 votes
9. Donatan & Cleo (Poland) – 40 votes
10. Elaiza (Germany) – 30 votes

Introducing 2014: Lithuania!

Vilija Matačiūnaitė won the Lithuanian selection with Attention. A very contemporary entry from Lithuania. Vilija Matačiūnaitė isn't just a songwriter, she's also an actress. The Lithuanian national final started in December 2013 and finally came to an end on 1st March. The final show was even postponed a couple of weeks because of the high ratings. I didn't really follow the Lithuanian national final, however I did manage to watch parts of the final. The final featured the three remaining acts performing the same song - and then the Lithuanians decided which interpretation they preferred.

I liked all the version, actually. It's a very good song. Mia's version was very classy and sophisticated, meanwhile Vaidas's version had a more relaxed atmosphere. But Vilija composed "Attention" and I think she was a worthy winner. Will Lithuania make the grand final in Copenhagen?! I expect so... I think Lithuania has a very good chance this year.

Lithuania: Vilija Matačiūnaitė is heading to Eurovision!

Tonight's national finals come to an end with Lithuania. Vilija Matačiūnaitė won the Lithuanian selection with her version of Attention. Mia was tonight's runner-up and Vaidas Baumila came last. I do really like Vilija actually - although I don't know if she'll make the final... a borderline qualifier at best me thinks.

Tomorrow will be another busy day as Azerbaijan will hold their national final (even though the winner has already decided it seems....) and the French act will be revealed, too!