They were one of the countries that suffered the most from the broken sun stage in Turin. But that didn’t stop Lithuania from qualifying for the Grand Final and actually doing pretty well at Eurovision 2022. Now the thirty acts vying to follow in Monika Liu’s footsteps have been revealed.
Lithuanian broadcaster LRT today revealed their national selection will kick off one month from now. It will feature thirty acts, but that doesn’t mean we’ll get another national selection marathon from Lithuania. Only five shows will decide the winner of Pabandom iš naujo! 2023 and with it who will get the ticket to Eurovision. The names of all thirty acts wishing to represent the nation in Liverpool have been released.
- Agnė – “New Start”
- Aistė Pilvelytė – “We’re Not Running”
- Alen Chicco – “Do You”
- Antikvariniai Kašpirovskio dantys – “Sėdi ir važiuoji” (Sit down and drive)
- Baiba – “When the Lights Go Out”
- Beatrich – “Like a Movie”
- Donata – “Dreamer”
- Gabrielius Vagelis – “Šauksmas” (Shout)
- Gebrasy – “Saw Your Ghost”
- Il Senso – “Sparnai” (Wings)
- I. T. – “Žinau, tai tu” (I know it’s you)
- Joseph June – “Vacuum”
- Justa Rubežiūtė – “When I’ll Find”
- Justė Kraujelytė – “Need More Fun”
- Justin 3 feat. Dj AugustYno – “Not Giving Up”
- Lina Štalytė – “My Body”
- Luknė – “Paradise”
- Mario Junes – “Do What You Do”
- Matt Len – “Midnight Train”
- Melona – “Song Of Whispers”
- Monika Linkytė – “Stay”
- MoonBee – “Rumor”
- Multiks – “London”
- NOY – “Destiny’s Child”
- Paulina Paukštaitytė – “Let Me Think About Me”
- Petunija – “Love of my life”
- Rūta MUR – “So Low”
- Viktorija Faith – “If You Ever Miss Me”
- Voldemaras Petersonas – “Things”
- W.I – “You Can Not”
While we are especially excited if NOY’s “Destiny’s Child” will give us Beyoncé-vibes and what Multiks has to say about the UK’s capital, we immediatly recognized Monika Linkyte. The singer, known for kissing and singing on stage in Viena back in 2015, wants to experience Eurovision again…this time without her former duet partner Vaidas Baumila. They came 18th back then. She wants to go a few higher for sure.
Another well-known act from recent Lithuanian selection editions is Gebrasy. Back in 2021, he came second behind The ROOP and also made it to the final last year. The 28-year old singer and songwriter from Kaunas will be back for the coming national selection with “Saw Your Ghost”.
Other acts known from past editions of Pabandom iš naujo! include Voldemars Petersons, Aistė Pilvelytė, Alen Chicco and Justė Kraujelytė.
It seems like we can expect not only a variety of genres and languages but also a very strong selection in terms of quality. At least that’s what Gytis Oganauskas, the Deputy General Director of LRT, thinks about the selected songs: ”I think that this year’s list of participants is very promising. It will be possible to create meaningful entertainment for winter evenings, and to send a representative of Lithuania to the great Eurovision, which we will be proud of again”.
“Monika Liu, who sang in Lithuanian at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, and Kalush Orchestra, who won the contest, showed that a song performed in one’s native language is not an obstacle to winning the hearts of viewers all over Europe. In the 2023 selection, we will hear works performed in both Lithuanian and English languages, from both experienced performers and new artists.“
Pabandom iš naujo! 2023 will start with two heats on 21 January and 28 January. Two semi finals will take place on 4 and 11 February. The big final in Lithuania will take place on 18 February. So far it’s the first national final in the coming season taking place on this exact day.
What do you expect from Lithaunia at Eurovision 2023? Which act makes you excited for their national selection? Let us know in the comments below.
Antikvariniai Kašpirovskio dantys!!! Yayyy
I realized the article doesn’t state how many artists have applied to participate in PIN out of the 30 that were eventually chosen. There must’ve been enough to plug in a new competitor when they had to disqualify someone For breaking the rules.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Lina Stalyte is disqualified due to breaking rules (her entry “My Body” was publicly available on Youtube since 2020-ish at least). She will be replaced by the band named The PiXLS and their song “Saukt” (in Lithuanian). The composition remains unchanged – 30 entries will compete in #PIN2023.
Ooooooooooo… that’s sad.
That’s a really stupid mistake. Good thing it was caught early on.
That really is a shame. It was a nice song.
With just four songs out, there’s already a real gem found – Donata’s song “Dreamer” is my clear winner, from the released songs at least. This song – which sounds like it was born a classic – gets a 9/10 rating from me. The other three released songs don’t appeal to me very much.
It’s awful lol
I hope you were well-compensated for this comment.
Fingers crossed for a scheme of shows: 15 songs per Heat (2 shows) 10 songs advance from the Heats 10 songs per Semi-Final (2 shows) 5 songs advance from the Semis 10 songs in a Final (1 show) I mean, it would make sense to have 10 songs in the Final when PIN is using a score system of 1-8, 10 and 12 points (10 different numbers to allocate). I always find it cringey while seeing the last placer getting 4 points at minimum. I am like, duuude/duuudette, does it even make sense to give him/her 4 points for being… Read more »
Maybe, but I still think it will likely be 7-8 songs qualifying per heat for 14-16 Semi finalists which will then be reduced to eight finalists, four for each semifinal, Like it was done for 2020 and 2022. Let’s see once PIN starts airing.
The 12 points system was introduced in the 70s to avoid ties like in 1969. Giving 12 and 10 points then 8-1 meant that favourites should get a clear lead. Worked very well when 20-25 countries were voting. Some very close results but a tie only once, in 1991. When there are 30+ countries voting the leader gets way ahead.
At this point, it’s tradition. Can you imagine eurovision without the iconic 12 points?
Gabrielius!!!
Fun fact – one of the composers of “This Time” is Monika Liu
Yes she said that she started to write good songs after 2015 🙂
OMG Beatrich i’m so exciting by this girl !
Lithuania has been killing it since 2020, and I really hope they can continue their success streak this year again. While most of their songs since 2010 didn’t really do anything for me (and a lot of others), and giving us some really uh… particular entries like Attention in 2014 and Rain Of Revolution in 2017 which were not exactly beloved… Maybe with this renewed NF format they’ve been using since 2020 really does work well for them. Let’s wait and see 🙂
While countries like Croatia and Romania decided to scale back on the number of known returning acts, Lithuania decided to go all in. This line-up is *stacked*, which will only make this more turbulent than usual. Gebrasy and Gabrielius Vagelis are singers who have both been on my wishlist for ESC for a couple of years now. I think that both men, when at their A-game, could bring Lithuania deep into my personal top 10, as well as get a good result at ESC. But I don’t want them to become like Markus Riva, each time applying with a new… Read more »
Well, this is actually A lower number for Lithuania, 30 songs instead of 36 (Well, it became 30 for last year when to artists withdrew including Monika). I meant I would prefer the number to drop even further to maybe 24 to 28 because when there are only two heats this year, That means 15 songs will compete per heat and that’s a lot. I wonder how many songs will qualify per heat Because it’s not an even number. it’ll probably be 7-8 songs, With four songs qualifying from each semifinal for eight song final. That’s just my guess.
I meant ”stacked” more in a ”so many returnees” than being too many songs. For Lithuanian standards, they are trimming it down. With only 2 heats, I also assume that only 7 or 8 songs will qualify from each. A longer line-up of 15 songs will almost certainly ”swallow” some nice subtle entries with not enough staging, but sadly, that happens in ESC too, so this might be an appropriate testing ground for that.
I apologize, I misunderstood what you wrote above. While you are praising Lithuania for having many returning acts, would you say the same thing for Sweden? I’m just tired of sweden being slammed for doing something that lots of countries do for their national finals, a lot of it reflective of them having small populations. It can’t be helped. Getting back to the subject of song, I’m hoping that this slightly reduced song amount can up the quality of Lithuania’s national final, may be seeing lots of artists up their game, Even the ones I consider Cannon fodder because somebody… Read more »
Sure! I am over the moon for this year’s Melodifestivalen line-up! You can check my comments on the subject. I’m not just praising returning acts for the sake of returning, but when I see names whose music I like coming back, I am happy. In both Sweden and Lithuania, there are a lot of them this year. Perhaps even more in Sweden. Of course, the quality of the songs matter, and PIN was all over the place through years. Personally, my option A is always delivering quality, but believe it or not, my option B is, if fillers are even… Read more »
I’ll be honest, I don’t care if somebody has been in a national final before 100 times or if it’s their first time, All I care about is the song. Do they have a good or bad song? That’s what matters to me.
I have a question— who are the three artists in the thumbnail I don’t recognize them
On the left, Monika Linkyte, on the right, Gebrasy. I don’t know who’s in the middle.
In the middle Alen Chicco, I think.
I didn’t realize the middle picture was a guy until I looked closely and saw the chest hair
Alen Chicco is a drag queen
A lot of people what Gebrasy to go through to Eurovision, so MAYBE it’s his time THIS year?!
If he has one of the best songs of the selection. I don’t want him sending some thing that is weak that could get him eliminated in the semifinal at Eurovision.
I rly wanted Monique 🙁 Make me Human was Epic
Not this time, I’m sorry.
Yeah she is like Arilena Ara – one time competition singer 🙁
National selection is a huge commitment to say least. ESC is ever a bigger commitment as in case you are selected – basically you have to dedicate 4-5 months for a lifetime contest. Keeping in mind Monique is now a freelancer (she ditched Warner Music to be able to do things the way she likes), I would think she is a hard person to maintain and she just wants to go with the flow, thus, a longterm commitment would go literally against everything she is betting on at the moment. 🙂
Nope, she didn’t ditch Warner Music. It’s still her record label. She ditched the managers here in Lithuania. Completely different things.
Nice to see Gabrielius back. Such a pity he always brings good songs but stage them awfully. Hope this time is the lucky one.
My shot would be either for Beatrich, Monika Linkyte or Paulina Paukstaityte. Beatrich has had some big hits which were played outside Lithuania as well (such as “Superstar”, “Everything You Say” and “Pardon Me”). I was also very enthusiastic of her song “Hands Tied”, which, unfortunately, did not make much of a success. Her malus might be the fact she is currently residing and focusing on the British market – expatriates rarely ever get sympathy from the public in Lithuania. Nevertheless, I think Beatrich has the biggest advantage out of the list. Monika Linkyte, on the other hand, is somewhat… Read more »
How successful is Beatrich in the UK or has she failed a breakthrough and she’s coming back to her home country to compete? If she has the best song and go to eurovision, will her familiarity with the United Kingdom be an advantage for eurovision, because the United Kingdom is hosting? It is a country that has constantly supported Lithuania in the televote in both semifinal and finals.
That, I guess, is a question to Brits. I live in Vilnius, thus, I cannot tell me much about her success in the UK. Youtube/Spotify numbers are decreasing gradually after Beatrich relocation though. I have not heard about any of her big gigs either. By the way, I saw her on stage in Vilnius during the Christmas tree lightning event, which happened on 26 November. Who would have guessed she was then preparing for a national selection already. Sneaky! 🙂 To be fair, a guaranteed 8-12 telepoints from the UK for years is not due to the fact Brits adore… Read more »
I don’t think the actual songs and/or snippets are out yet, but Paulina, from the title, seems like a ballad that could get lost at Euorvision, almost like Miss You: powerful, but without semis judging panels, depending on if it’s a ballad, might not wven get out of semis. Same for AKD, but I like their sound more than Paulina’s… that’s just me though.
All good sir, we have the right to have different opinions. I just hope that the voting changes in the Semis won’t actually scary away countries from sending ballads or slower songs in general. If the next 36 songs to be chosen will be again mid-tempo to bops, everything will blend in together and nobody will stand out. Now that would be a borenight! One of the reasons I’m a s*cker for the ESC is the diversity of genres, languages, rhytmos. If I would want to watch another American Idol or Melfest – I would watch the later shows, not… Read more »
Lithuania never releases their songs. It all depends on the artist whether they release it. Some songs will be unknown until they’re performed in the heats.
Beatrich is the biggest surprise. Probably the most awaited. She barely does concerts or live performances, so her applying to PIN is saying a lot – the song must be really good.
Agne, Lina Stalyte and Ruta MUR have already released their songs and I must say that Agne has the best song out of the bunch that are already out.
All of these 3 are decent but they don’t feel like songs worthy to represent Lithuania this year in Eurovision, I guess we have to wait and see tho.
As a Lithuanian, I’m a bit surprised to see so few songs in Lithuanian after Monika’s success last year. Maybe artists thought that the juries/public won’t want to send a song in Lithuanian twice? Idk The biggest names in the selection (in my opinion) is Beatrich, Monika Linkyte (esp if Leon Somov is involved in the songwriting process), and Gabrielius Vagelis. Other frontrunners include Alen Chicco, Gebrasy and Antikvariniai Kašpirovskio Dantys (even though I doubt that juries will get behind them if we have at least 1 decent “serious” song as this band is usually known for somewhat of joke… Read more »
Thanks for the input. After Monika Liu slayed at ESC this year, I was also hoping for more songs in Lithuanian. I hope that Gabrielius Vagelis and Gebrasy are bringing their A-game to the contest.
Beatrich is probably the biggest name and suprise
Gebrasy is the new Samanta Tina
Hopefully if he is ever chosen, he doesn’t end up last place in the semi final.
the last place from semi was a lot better song(for that genre) than the vidbir 2023 winner.
how deep my counter will go into red now? 😀
Didn’t Voldemars Petersons and Gabrielius Vagelis participate more times than Gebrasy?
Yes, they did. Gebrasy is a fresh participant since few years.
I want to clarify that this is a wrong assumption. Gebrasy took many attempts to represent Lithuania in the ESC. I would say even more times than Gabrielius and Voldemars combined. When you think of it, he maybe the only true contender to Aiste Pilvelyte’s record. Gebrasy is a stage name he has been using for the past few years only. Until then, he did appear either under his full name (Audrius Petrauskas) or as a member of band Original Copy. There were times even when Gebrasy would participate twice at the same selection (both, as a solist and as… Read more »
What are all the years he did participate?
As a soloist, 2021 (finished 2nd to The Roop) and 2022 (5th behind Monika Liu)
Gebrasy participated in 2022, 2021, 2019 (as Audrius Petrauskas), also 2019 (as a part of Original Copy), 2018 (as Audrius Petrauskas), 2017 (as Audrius Petrauskas)
Voldemars participated in 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019
Gabrielius participated in 2021, 2020, 2018, 2017, 2013, also 2013 (in a duet with Ieva Zasimauskaite)
So, this year will mark both Gebrasy’s and Gabrielius’ seventh try, and 5th one to Voldemars.
Wow, I didn’t realize Gebrasy Participated a lot longer than I thought. Easy to miss because he changed his name.
Now that we know who is competing to represent Lithuania, I want to know from my fellow Lithuanian Eurovision fans. Who are the biggest names in this selection? Who are you most excited for? Who’s the most promising and who is just cannon fodder? Do you think this reduction will increase the song quality?
I wish Lithuania good luck.
On paper this is how I see it.
Favorites:
Antikvariniai Kaspirovskio Dantys
Beatrich
Gebrasy
Monika Linkyte
Cannon fodder:
Donata
Voldemaras Petersonas
Everyone else is somewhere in the middle 🙂
of Course, this will all depend on the songs. Promising names could disappoint while names that were initially written off could have their best songs yet. How many artists have participated before and who is competing for the first time?
Well, Aiste Pilvelyte is a record-breaker as it will be her 13th attempt to represent Lithuania. She tried to represent Lithuania in 1999, 2002 (disqualified for listing Lara Fabian’s song as her own), 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2020 and now 2023. What I did notice, she tends to get cold everytime the national selection happens and then put a blame on the cold to not being able to sing as in studio track. Not a very reliable artist to be fair. I do not know other artists who would be anywhere close to Aiste’s record.… Read more »
“Get cold.” Do you mean she gets a cold like she gets sick or cold as in cold feet like she gets nervous?
Cold as in getting some sort of a flu, which affects your capabilities at singing live. I mean, I am not inspiring she’s faking it, but keeping in mind her record of getting instant cold almost every single national selection is a bit odd and unreliable. As if, what if she’s getting cold in the rainy UK in May? Can we take a risk to listen to a cringy vocals? I don’t think so! >:)
Gabrielus Vagelis. Wow, i am a big Fan. Gebrasy and Alen Chicco are big names too. Expecting a great show.
I don’t expect every song here to be a masterpiece but I hope there are enough gems to choose from that would make Lithuania proud, maybe even be good enough to breach the top 5, but that’s a little high to expect. I’ll just keep my expectations at neutral and Hope enough songs go above the line not below it.
After Monika got a decent result in Turin, I was hoping to get more songs in Lithuanian language. Wishful Thinking at my part.
I guess, it has something to do with the fact the ESC is to be held in the UK. A market known to be a trampoline to a wider fame. I have faith that the ESC will be more English-friendly than regularly.
The UK is also home to a Lithuanian diaspora base that usually supports Lithuania on the televote side.
I’m ecstatic to see Gabrielius on the list! He’s my favourite Lithuanian artist and truly one of my favourites globally, I couldn’t have received a better birthday gift than this announcement!
Eagerly waiting for his song release, and really looking forward to quite a few artists’ proposals (Gebrasy, Monika, Beatrich just to name a few).
Same here. I love Gabrielus.
Omg Guys Beatrich she is a moment
Is she a big name in Lithuania?
She kinda is, she has song with 20 mln views “Superstar”
Also try listening to “Same Song” it’s one of new ones
She is pretty known
Well I hope she has one of the best songs for this selection.
Three songs are actually out already.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lSyBSA_Z8vc
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F3pamgeXITI
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iiZprX7Bb0I
I’m pretty sure Monika Linkyte collaborated with Leon Somov – one the best producers in Lithuania at the moment. So I expect a good song from Monika. I also think Antikvariniai Kaspirovskio Dantys (AKD) has a good song. I expect Alcohol Is Free type of song from them. I’m sorry to say, but I don’t think Aiste Pilvelte is going to be competitive. I think her time has already passed. People just don’t vote enough for Aiste. Gebrasy most certainly will perform another pop ballad that he has written/composed. Let’s hope it’s on the level of Where’d You Wanna Go.… Read more »
Monika Linkyte Was supposed to compete last year but she pulled out. I wish her luck.
I’ve been waiting for news about Lithuania on wiwibloggs for a long time and it’s about time. So there will be 30 acts competing this year, which would mean 15 songs per heat. I already figured that the number of acts would be reduced due to shaving off a heat. I was hoping it would be closer to 24 songs overall, but I estimated a range of 24-30 so I am not too far off. 15 songs is a lot to split for two heats, so it will probably be 7-8 qualifiers per heat.
I was hoping to see Lolita Zero but it’s ok maybe someday : )