It’s getting down to the wire. Tonight nine contestants competed in the first semi-final of Lithuania‘s revamped national final Pabandom iš naujo! Nacionalinė Eurovizijos Atranka 2020. But of that nine, only four could qualify for the grand final in two weeks.
As always, while the performances were pre-recorded earlier in the week, the voting was live. And while in previous years the jury gave their scores after each performance, this year all scoring was left until the end. Both the jury and televote scores were revealed for the first time tonight.
The semi-final was won by Aistė Pilvelytė. Her song “Unbreakable” was top with the jury and second favourite with the televote which put her top overall.
In second place was indie group THE ROOP. Their song “On Fire” was the televote favourite and second favourite with the jury. This meant they tied with Aistė, but she won the tiebreak.
The third qualifier was KaYra and her quirky song “Alligator”. It was the fourth favourite of the jury and third favourite of the televote, securing her a place in the grand final.
The final qualifier was Rūta Loop and her song “We Came from the Sun”. She placed outside the televote top four, but the jury ranked her third, meaning she made the cut.
But with those four qualifying, sadly it meant that five others had to miss out. We said goodnight to Baltos Varnos with “Namų dvasia”, Alen Chicco with “Somewhere Out There”, Kristina Jure with “My Sound of Silence”, Gabrielius Vagelis with “Tave čia randu” and Viktorija Miškūnaitė with “The Ocean”. Despite having won the televote in her semi-final, Kristina Jure was unable to sustain the momentum and placed only seventh.
The four qualifiers from tonight’s semi-final will head to the grand final on 15 February. There they will be joined by the four qualifiers from next week’s semi-final. The winner of Pabandom iš naujo! 2020 will go on to represent Lithuania at Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam.
Pabandom iš naujo! 2020 – Semi-final one results
- Aistė Pilvelytė – “Unbreakable” (12 points)
- THE ROOP – “On Fire” (10 points)
- KaYra – “Alligator” (8 points)
- Rūta Loop – “We Came from the Sun” (7 points)
- Baltos Varnos – “Namų dvasia” (6 points)
- Alen Chicco – “Somewhere Out There” (5 points)
- Kristina Jure – “My Sound of Silence” (4 points)
- Gabrielius Vagelis – “Tave čia randu” (3 points)
- Viktorija Miškūnaitė – “The Ocean” (2 points)
What do you think? What were your favourites in this semi-final? Did anyone miss out? Tell us your thoughts below!
KaYra should be the black horse!
Omg…
Dunno what is worst: Aiste or THE ROOP.
Sry but they r sooo bad and cringe.
Yeah, and those childish dances taken from Minecraft.
Am i the only one who likes aistes song? its cliche but its so happy and upbeat
i do:)
Of course you do. Swedophile.
i dont think your friends like you very much. I can sense that.
I love it too, Dear: it could be No 1 in terms of televote…Contrary to other comments here I think her power is her voice, wisdom and beauty x
Evgenya Redko withdraws from semifinal due back pain 🙁
Oh no. I hope she comes back next year. 🙁
Wow.. what a shame, I really thought she had a chance of making it through when she avoided this semi after being robbed in the heat
How can you NOT love Aistes song and the Alligator song? I can listen to them all day
Let’s see, maybe because this generic, basic, cliché, expired Swedish garbage is 15 years too late?
im 100% sure now: Your friends dont like you. You have a bad attitude.
So, I firmly believe that The Roop will top the televote on the final, and it’s down to whether the jury will deliberately sabotage him to so to send Monika to Eurovision or not.
Sabotage? Why The Roop fans thinks it’s almost criminal to have another favorite other than The Roop? Come on guys, many people like other songs like Monique’s or Ruta Loop’s much more than The Roop’s song.
I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the meaning of the word ‘sabotage’. Even if you are, the jury choosing another, much better I would say, contestant over them wouldn’t be a sabotage for sure. Just because a plenty of teenage girls and some older people like the band and the song, it doesn’t mean all Lithuanians are crazy about it. Example of sabotaging could be Lithuanian Eurovision 2004 where Amberlife got over 5000 votes from the audience (much much more than any other artist) but the jury gave him only two points out of 12. But it was 16… Read more »
Ok I haven’t seen the performances so I can’t say anything on them…. But I actually think that the songs by KaYra, The Roop and Ruta Loop are all really really good. Aistes song is pleasant but totally wrong for a Eurovision. That said… The song by Gabrielus Vagelus is one of the most beautiful songs in Lithuanian i have ever heard 🙂
If someone’s interested, these are votes from the jury (taken from the official broadcaster website):
56 balsai
Aist? Pilvelyt? – „Unbreakable“
45 balsai
„The Roop“ – „On fire“
35 balsai
R?ta Loop – „We came from sun“
34 balsai
KaYra – „Alligator“
32 balsai
„Baltos varnos“ – „Nam? dvasia“
29 balsai
Alen Chicco – „Somewhere Out There“
24 balsai
Gabrielius Vagelis – „Tave ?ia randu“
19 bals?
Kristina Jure – „My Sound of Silence“
11 bals?
Viktorija Mišk?nait? – „The Ocean”
The more I see The Roop perform the more I think it would be a huge smash at Eurovision. The dance will get people’s attention instantly and then the songs an earworm, I’m sure it would get the votes
it’s incredibly risky choice, it’s either resonates or not with the public. It could be a huge let down. Also how about the juries? You think they’ll like it? I doubt it. These two reasons makes this song extremely risky if we are thinking about the grand final. Moniques song is so much safer and has much better odds.
Safe song didn’t win that often. Can make a top but need luck to win
Risky choice – that’s exactly what want to send to Eurovision. Mediocre, safe songs will get you nowhere. Like you said “risky choice, it’s either resonates or not with the public”. So at least you have say 50/50 chance that the song will resonate and be in the top 10. With mediocre, safe song you don’t have that chance to begin with. That is why The Roop is much better choice than Aiste Pilvelyte and Lithuanian jury should have done their job better.
yeah, the problem is The Roop is nowhere near winning material. Whoever thinks that I must say they are a bit delusional. This choice is risky to even go to grand final from semis. It has pretty much zero chance of winning.
I’d better take a safer but more decent song than risky mediocre(yes,mediocre) song.
Plus who says Monique has no chance of winning? With great staging that song could be pretty impressive.
Exactly. Monique or KaYra are more sensible choices.
Why is the juries winner ahead of the televote winner when there’s a tie?
Because that’s how it is in Lithuania
So in the final if there’s a tie the juries decides the winner? What the f^^k
Litunianians only vote for joke acts so i think thats why
Anyone else developing a weird crush on The Roop’s lead singer or is just me?
LOL
literally whoever this is has posted the same thing on like three different articles, smh
mhm sure
Joaquin calls, wants his mask back 😀
I like Gabrielius, but wtf that performance.
Between all those try-hard-to-be different-dated-phobia- acts advanced Aiste in the end lol
not a fan of the roop, but i’d take them anytime over aiste’s cliché’d mess that only appeals to grandmavision stans and makes the competition look like an out-of-touch joke
Oh sorry I forgot, nobody over the age of 40 is allowed to watch this contest are they?
anyone can watch but if you’re mostly into dated / cliché’d songs like this one you ain’t doing the contest any favors
It is rather disappointing that Aiste took this song. Most of her other ones are good-ish or at least acceptable. I’d like to know if the broadcaster forced it on her, or if she got this from the composers and is actually thankful for it.
It’s the latter. Singers chose songs themselves. She was like: ‘I let my daughter listen to a demo with another female singing and my daughter thought it was a great song. Kids can’t be wrong’
Oh my. Is her daughter 90? Does she understand English?
Polegend G., that sounds kinda ageist… Winner of televote last year was dated mess imo, so I wouldn’t automatically write off these kind of songs.
i wouldn’t say spirit in the sky was awfully dated like certain other songs. it was fitting for the act keiino proposed. but despite winning the televote it wasn’t a commercial success, while the two hits (soldi n arcade) sounded like proper 2019 songs and snatched certifications left and right… so for the sake of the singers’ careers (and for the contest itself) i don’t understand why anyone would come up with a song so dated such as unbreakable, that won’t do anyone any favors?
Yeah song is painful cliche, but maybe is the key the way she delivers it? Strong stage presence. Reminds me of Jessica Mauboy We got love.. I get your point, but I think Eurovision needs all kinds of songs- modern, dated, ethnic, rock etc., that is what makes contest interesting.
Yeah! Six (or more) wiwireaders might as well start watching JESC.
AISTE = THE BEST 🙂
This is why no-one good does Eurovision in the UK, because it doesn’t help your music career. For most people, it is a once in a year, 4 hour entertainment show. An act has 3 minutes to impress an audience. It is not a “what is the most modern hit record” contest. If you think it is love, you are in the wrong place.
For the life of me, I don’t get why Monique’s entry is considered a sure win. She’s struggling with the notes in the low register, the song has one of the ugliest repetitive choruses with this howling refrain (hu-ah-hu-ah-hu-ah-humaannnn), the “robot” choreography is plain awkward. Maybe it can get better after a complete overhaul but for now it’s a sure non-qualifier.
Completely agree. Only with the Roop they stand a real chance.
Pretty sure that anyone who says the Roop should win wants for Lithuania to fail again. Fusedmarc is calling, they were so much unique, so much good, so much a fail
Anyone who relates fusedmarc with the roop has no idea about music 😀
I think Lithuanians thenselves tried to build a hype for Moniqué, hoping they would succeed better at ESC and enjoy being a favourite. But looks like most people don’t see anything in this song. It’s uncatchy, dull and repetitive.
You might be a little overreacting but indeed the song, although I think it’s nicely sung, suffers from its repetitiveness especially during the last minute, and that rather weak hook in the chorus (if you can’t sing it easily then the hook is always weak). These songs indeed tend to do not well in the contest because they usually get easily lost and forgotten.
Sad Vagelis and Alen Chicco didn’t qualify.
I Love Aistes song . You can say what you want , dont care. Im not fake . This is me
If they gave Aiste first over the roop then I am pretty confident that Monique will win. Pretty sure Monique and Monika Marija will get more jury votes than the roop. And even Aiste somehow managed to overtake them lol
no, that’s not sure. First of all there will be a bit different jury in the final. Second of all jury is not serious in semis, they vote often a bit illogically and when then final comes they do 180 degree spin and vote max points to whoever was their favorite from the beginning. It has happened before, I remember.
Are you sure they vote completely different in the final? Both Ieva Zasimauskait? and Jurijus were one of a few favourites from the beginning. They sure did have other songs they liked, but they didn’t do a 180 degree spin.
The juries are different and they do vote differently if you look into the previous years. They always have 3-4 favorites every year, but there might be different ranking from show to show. Both Donny Montell and Fusedmarc lost the semifinal jury vote and won the final one. This year’s jury favorites are Monique, Monika Marija, Aiste and THE ROOP and any of those 4 can win. The televoting will also play a role and the televoting ranking so far based on the heat results is THE ROOP>Aiste>Monika Marija>Monique.
Omg, the roop is pretty good! It reminds me of “we are the winners” which gave Lithuania their best ever result.
How in the world does The Roop remind you of that almost spoken-word musical gag?
There’s nothing to be proud of when it comes to ‘We are the winners’. I don’t get it how it’s so praised. What’s so good about it? Absolutely nothing
Gabi, agree. Try hard to be cool, they actually looked desperate.
Oh come on guys, it was quirky and fun. Roop has the same effect on me. I think they would do really well in Rotterdam
Roop is fine, singer is charismatic.
I need the public to wake up and actually recognize R?ta’a performance for how polished and quality it is ffs
it isn’t my winner but if it did win I’d be so happy, the song is so good and her voice is amazing
Someone needs to explain the jury in Lithuania. Is it different people, do they judge different aspects? I can’t understand how Unbreakable won the Jury vote when doing so poorly the week before?
It’d be such a shame for Lithuania to send a song like Unbreakable this year, when having such a great field of talent. The song is fine, but it’s been done hundreds of times before
I think I’ve got this right…
In the heat, Unbreakable came 2nd in the jury (with The Roop winning).
In this SF, Unbreakable came 1st in the jury (with The Roop coming second)
There are 5 (or 6?) jury members. Three of the jury members from the heat were also the jury members in the SF. All I can assume is that either a) the two members not returning voted for The Roop or b) the two new members voted for Unbreakable or c) a combination of both.
Taken from an official broadcaster website, the jury votes:
56 balsai
Aist? Pilvelyt? – „Unbreakable“
45 balsai
„The Roop“ – „On fire“
35 balsai
R?ta Loop – „We came from sun“
34 balsai
KaYra – „Alligator“
32 balsai
„Baltos varnos“ – „Nam? dvasia“
29 balsai
Alen Chicco – „Somewhere Out There“
24 balsai
Gabrielius Vagelis – „Tave ?ia randu“
19 bals?
Kristina Jure – „My Sound of Silence“
11 bals?
Viktorija Mišk?nait? – „The Ocean“
I am heartbroken that Gabrielius didn’t move forward 🙁
That was very strange indeed, performing very poorly especially with the public
I can feel the same. Other strange thing it is how jury ranked it only 7th in this semi-final. I understand that there are still some details missing in the performance itself and these things could improve and sometimes vocals were a bit shaky, but only 7th? I think his song is one of the best in the pre-selection and how come it does worse than Unbreakable? I understand that Aiste sang decently, but the song itself is just too poor, Aiste for sure had better songs in previous attempts. Another thing, how do you feel when singers decide to… Read more »
Meandi is just awful.
Unbreakable! I believe, i believe, i believe in Aiste 🙂 I love her song. Yes, its full of cliches and what not and generic as f*ck, but i dont care about it. I need a song like this in my fav music show on earth. Good luck to her!
sadly his perfomance didn’t get any better 🙁
Listening to Aiste’s song is like listening to Aisel’s (Azerbaijan 2018) entry. So artificial with lyrics that feel so empty.
What are you calling artificial? Aisel’s song is about her husband who passed away due to cancer. That comes straight from the heart
maybe so, but you would never be able to tell what X My Heart is about unless you read up on Aisel’s experiences. as much as I appreciate the sentiment behind the song, I still dislike it because it feels so cold and manufactured. the staging didn’t do it any favours either.
Yeah she said that but was it really though? It may have spoken to her and her past experiences but really it was just another artificial Swedish-written song that could have been about anything.
Unbreakable is such a…no.
Just ? want to say tasteless choice ??
I loved the moment when one of the jury said about Jure’s performance: ‘So yeah I was chatting with her boyfriend from 8 kambarys the other day and he said that her song would win the whole thing’. Sorry dude, you are too poor for you gf even to make it to the final.
What a strong semi! And what a strange result… Do the professionals really think that Unbreakable is the best song among these 9? And what does the audience in such an overwhelming number see in On Fire? But… KaYra qualified and that’s all I need to be genuinely happy! 🙂
If it depended on me, I would send KaYra to Rotterdam. Her act has a lot of personality and charisma, it would be a great asset to ESC and I’m sure the audience would love her.
Aiste smashed it out of the park tonight – amazing vocals and visuals – I think it would do really well at Eurovision.
The ROOP is not far behind – i found it more toned down tonight which was good as it allowed more focus on the actual song, which is actually quirky and catchy, so has the potential to stand out.
Those two are the only two with a realistic chance of winning for me.
I’m hope Lithuania will send Monique to Eurovision! She can get the highest result for Lithuania!
Yes, “Make Me Human” is a great song and in fact the best choice for Lithuania, but so was Light On last year and we know what end up happening…I’m scared 😐
I like Monique’s song but we can’t have 36 ballad at ESC ….
It’s not a ballad.
Aisté’s song is trash. So disappointed for Gabrielius …
I hope Moniqué or Monika Marija will win.
Both The Roop and Aiste have horrible songs. One is annoying, other is outdated. I hope this opens the doors for Monique to win. She deserves it all.
The lyrics are fine but the choreography is childish, they wouldn’t even use it in JESC.
kayra has my favourite song by far but i just feel like she is putting too much theatrics in her voice? like you obviously need some of it cause its a quirky song but putting too much in… it kinda ruins her actual vocals. still love her tho. aiste is meh. did not deserve to win but still ok? the roop is good. deserved to go to the final. prolly deserved to win the semi. tbh i dont see it winning eurovision in the slightest but is it good? yeah. also ruta is nice but the song is so overrated… Read more »
Ruta’s song is repetitive.
Omg yas Aiste won the semi <3 I understand why people don't like it. The song sounds very early 2000s schlager, but early 2000s schlager is a genre that I love, and I still love it in 2020. Lithuania should not send this to eurovision if they actually wanna get a good result.
Wasn’t keen on her clothing either looked like her nightie and neglegee
amen hallelu!!!
Throw away the juries, what kind of trash votes for this generic old-fashioned crap? So many good songs and they go for Aiste?! Disgusted.
Oh well, the jury giving top marks to Aiste is a joke, but at least THE ROOP slayed with the public and will easily win the televoting in the final! I don’t think that another song has ever even come near to 5,000 televotes in a Lithuanian semi. Come on guys, you can do it!
5k is not a lot. last year it was similar with Jurijus and Monika Marija and in the final they both got like over 30k votes. Pretty sure Monique will win this.
Check your facts! Jurijus got 4k and Monika Marija just 3k in the semis last year (and 25k and 20k in the final respectively). There are always more televotes in the final (still around 20k for the winner), but as you should know Lithuanian semis are well known for their low televoting count. THE ROOP set a new record yesterday being the first ever above 5k! 🙂
Let’s go!! THE ROOP must win!!
Gabrielius got robbed so bad
He got robbed himself. Wtf these performances in both shows.
Funny how her 2017 entry sounds more current than this song… I hope Monique wins, her song is just so good. ”On Fire” is nice but Make Me Human is on another level
It will be between Monique and The Roop.
To be honest many Lithuanians feel that this whole thing is semi-staged, that the jury already chosen the winner and whoever gets 1st place from the jury, 90% sure will go to Rotterdam, especially if the jury vote down whoever is the biggest rival to their favorite. It had happened before. Plus Lithuanians are pretty susceptible to jury opinion, whoever jury starts calling “almost a winner” that usually gets many televotes.
Jury in Lithuanian’s Eurovision has too much power.
Look at Lithuanian results of 2004. Amberlife was 1st among televoters, but got 2 points out of 12 (!!!) from the jury and we got this awful song representing the country.
yeah, biggest robbery ever in Lithuania’s NF.
Listen to Amberlife song in 2004 year. It’s really quite good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHTsuBiUu54
So disappointed with Lithuania. I mean it was a hard SF, everyone could have qualified, but why Gabrielius second to last overall and last with the televote by THAT margin? The staging and the vocals were better than in the heat, though he could have created a more edgier staging as it all felt too safe. His voice sounds very comforting and the song is so appealing that he needed, at least, to qualify. So sad to see him fall so hard undeservedly. I can’t get why would someone consider Aiste’s “Unbreakable” better than “Tave cia randu”, but hey! Try… Read more »
I’m sure they voted for Aiste so that she won’t be showing up again next year. She desperate
OMG YAAAAAASSSSS. My top 4 went through. I honestly can’t believe that. Aistè winning this is unbelievable and in case she wins I hope she’ll change the song because she is capable of being better. The Roop are still great not seeing much development here but the bar they have set pretty high, so they just need to keep up the good work. KaYra is quirky and so amazing live, amazing staging and really well planned out staging because she does a lot on stage but feels really free and joyful. R?ta Loop is my favorite from this semi. Impressive… Read more »
There are so many good songs in Lithuania this year. I’m looking forward to the final.
Still hoping for Monique, I really like Ruta as well though. but one thing is for certain – Lithuania really upped their game this year
So sad for Baltos Varnos and Gabrielius. Aiste’s song is just another “ready to wear for Eurovision” average song penned by Mr G:Son, with lyrics seeming to have been taken from Google Translate.
Why are Lithuania still voting for Aiste lol.. and according to the jury it was the best song of the semi, yikes
Shows the level of jury. It happens every year. And no, I don’t think the Roop was better, but Aist? first?
Happy for Kayra and Ruta, they deserved the final so much, I wish they had a chance to win. I like The Roop. not crazy about it, but they’re entertaining and the song is catchy. Aisté winning the semi with this song is something that makes me worry about the final result… I guess I’m team Moniqué now. I’m sorry for Gabrielius, I think he had the best song. The performance was toned down, but still felt disconnected to the song. A big reminder that yes, the song is the most important thing, but you also need to know how… Read more »