Lithuania: Wiwi Jury reviews Lukas Norkunas and Milda Rasilaviciute

The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to review the qualifying acts from Lithuania’s Eurovizijos Atranka 2018. Next we listen to Lukas Norkunas wth “Tegu” and Milda Rasilaviciute with “I Think About You”. Did these songs stay in our thoughts? Read on to find out!

Lukas Norkunas – “Tegu”

“Tegu” reviews

Antranig: Eurovision 2001 was the last time Lithuania sang in Lithuanian at Eurovision. And if “Tegu” is anything to go by, I hope that’s not about to change. This song will undoubtedly have an appeal to a particular niche of Eurovision fans but, I find it annoying more than anything. Being different can work to get you a good result but it can also be a complete calamity and “Tegu” qualifies as the latter.

Score: 1/10

Lukas: This one does not impress me at all. The positive thing is that it is in Lithuanian which is quite rare but everything else is just a mess. Lukas’ hipster style doesn‘t go well with this song at all and the entire performance is very weird. It seems more like a bad joke act rather than a funny entry. The way he falls at the end of this performance is how I feel about this song from start to finish.

Score: 4/10

Raphael: To sing a non-English song that’s neither a ballad nor modern pop takes serious guts, and is a risk that most artists are — for better or worse — not willing to take. Lukas took the risk, but “Tegu” isn’t paying off. What cleverness or charm it may well have in Lithuanian only appears as eccentric garble, and it’s difficult to ever get a grasp on the song’s emotional direction. Lukas’s mismatched outfit and the backers’ straight-faced clapping even make the performance, dare I say, mildly uncomfortable?

Score: 2/10

Robyn: At first glance, Lukas looks like he’s literally just standing in front of the microphone, with no thought to staging. But the dramatic collapse at the end, as the song runs out of steam, is a sign that it’s all deliberate. His deadpan charm is endearing, reminiscent of Sebastian Tellier at Eurovision 2008. I suspect this won’t go much further in Eurovizijos Atranka, but it’ll be fun to see how it evolves in future weeks.

Score: 7/10

William: Hawaiian shirt beneath a vintage blazer, ponytail and piercings — the Lithuanian hipster styling is on point! Sadly the look is far more interesting than the song, which lacks power and drive, and which has the most annoying chorus of the national finals season. It’s a no from me.

Score: 2/10

In the Lithuanian Wiwi Jury, we have 13 jurors but only room for 5 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

Before calculating the average score, the highest and lowest scores are dropped. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 1 and a high of 7.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 4.41/10

Milda Rasilaviciute – “I Think About You”

“I Think About You” reviews

Antranig: Milda looks like she’s ready to walk into a boardroom and conquer the business world. In reality, she’s ready to conquer Eurovision with a very powerful voice. The song itself is admittedly dated but it’s definitely salvageable. With a revamp, this could at least get Lithuania a return to the grand final. It does need a considerable amount of work but there’s enough here for Lithuania to work with.

Score: 7/10

Lukas: Milda has a very good voice and it shows in this song quite well. “I Think About You” isn’t anything special itself. It is your typical lyrical ballad and this year Lithuania has quite a lot of them. But Monika with her performance manages to make it something more special and interesting. You can feel her emotions and the song fits her very well. Is it the best song so far? Maybe not but in the first heat it was one of the better ones.

Score:  7/10

Raphael: Milda’s a stunner with a fairly powerful yet touching voice, but her song “I Think About You” is unfortunately too dated and drowsy for any looks or vocals to overcome. Even at its musical peaks, the bridge and pared back chorus provide a weak buildup to the final chorus, which glides instead of soaring to new heights. It would take a rewrite, let alone just a revamp, to save this sweet yet ultimately forgettable entry.

Score: 4/10

Robyn: Milde has one of the strongest voices in this heat, but one of the weakest songs. “I Think About You” isn’t terrible, it’s just really dated. Even though Milde gives a great vocal performance, it’s hard to elevate a tired song. And as we saw with Claudia Faniello and Omar Naber in Kyiv, being a great singer means little when your song sounds dated.

Score: 4.5/10

William: Another maudlin ballad delivered by a strong, if not stellar, female vocalist. Replace the song title and name of the singer, and we could be in any number of national finals from Moldova to Romania and beyond. This is just far too cliché and generic to stir any emotions.

Score: 3/10

In the Lithuanian Wiwi Jury, we have 13 jurors but only room for 5 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

Before calculating the average score, the highest and lowest scores are dropped. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 3 and a high of 7.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 5/10

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