Lithuania was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "Eastern European Funk", written and performed by the group InCulto. The Lithuanian participating broadcaster, (LRT), organised the national final (Eurovision Song Contest national selection) in order to select its entry for the contest. The national final took place over four weeks and involved 34 competing entries. The results of each show were determined by the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public vote. In the final, twelve artists and songs remained and "Eastern European Funk", performed by InCulto, was selected as the winner.
Lithuania was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 27 May 2010. Performing as the opening entry for the show in position 1, "Eastern European Funk" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Lithuania placed twelfth out of the 17 participating countries in the semi-final with 44 points.
Background
Prior to the 2010 contest, (LRT) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Lithuania ten times since its first entry in 1994. Its best placing in the contest was sixth, achieved with the song "We Are the Winners" performed by LT United. Following the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Lithuania, to this point, had managed to qualify for the final three times. In , "Love" performed by Sasha Son qualified to the final, where the song scored 23 points and placed 23rd.
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. Other than the internal selection of their debut entry in 1994, the broadcaster has selected its entry consistently through a national final procedure. On 15 December 2009, LRT announced that it would not participate in the 2010 contest due to financial problems. However, the broadcaster confirmed its participation on 6 January 2010 and announced the organization of , which would be the national final to select its entry, after receiving funding from the company Teo LT. Nerijus Ivanauskas, deputy director of Teo LT, stated: "It was decided to support LRT for two reasons: the international image of Lithuania and Teo LT digital development".
Before Eurovision
(Eurovision Song Contest national selection) was the national final format developed by LRT in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. The competition involved a four-week-long process that commenced on 13 February 2010 and concluded with a winning song and artist on 27 February 2010. The four shows took place at the LRT studios in Vilnius and were hosted by Giedrius Masalskis. The shows were broadcast on LTV, LTV World, and Lietuvos Radijas, as well as online via the broadcaster's website lrt.lt. The final was also streamed online on the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.
Format The 2010 competition involved 34 entries and consisted of four shows. The first three shows were the semi-finals, consisting of eleven or twelve entries each. The top three entries proceeded to the final from each semi-final, while LRT also selected three wildcard acts for the final out of the remaining non-qualifying acts from the semi-finals. In the final, the winner was selected from the remaining twelve entries. Monetary prizes were also awarded to the top three artists by the Lithuanian Copyright Protection Association (LATGA). The winner received 15,000 LTL, while the second place received 7,000 LTL and the third place received 3,000 LTL.
The results of each of the four shows were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and public televoting. The ranking developed by both streams of voting was converted to points from 1-8, 10 and 12 and assigned based on the number of competing songs in the respective show. The public could vote through telephone and SMS voting. Ties in all shows were decided in favour of the entry that received the most votes from the public.
Competing entries LRT opened a submission period on 6 January 2010 for artists and songwriters to submit their entries with the deadline on 24 January 2010. On 1 February 2010, LRT announced the 36 entries selected for the competition from 81 submissions received. Among the artists were previous Lithuanian Eurovision contestants 4Fun, which represented Lithuania in 2007, and Sasha Song, who represented Lithuania in 2009. On 27 February 2010, the final changes to the list of 36 competing acts were made with the withdrawal of the songs "Nupirkta pasaka", performed by Donata Virbilaitė, and "Faces", performed by Vanilla Soud.
+Competing entries Artist Song Songwriter(s) 4Fun "Don't You Know" Julija Ritčik Agama "Field of Kings" Violeta Jurkonienė, Vyasadeva Aistė Pilvelytė "Melancolia" Rafael Artesero Amberlife "Material World" Edgaras Lubys Audrius Zavadskis "Right Now" Georgios Kalpakidis Avenue Acoustic "Aklomis myliu tavo vardą" Karolis Jančenkovas The Cavaliers "We Are About to Love" Laura Tarulytė, Svajūnas Mackevičius Daina Bilevičiūtė "Myliu gyventi" Virginija Paulauskienė, Ąžuolas Paulauskas Donatas Montvydas "Running Fast" Donatas Montvydas Eden "Nirvana" Marina Sorohan, Andrej Viazinin Eva "Nes tu pamiršai" Eimantas Gardauskas, Oleg Jerochin Evelina Sašenko "For This I'll Pray" Andrius Kairys, Florian Scharnofske Gabrielė "Girl" Raigardas Tautkus, Raimundas Jankauskas Gaudentas Janušas "Man nieko nereikia" Gaudentas Janušas Imantas "Won't U Come Back" Ąžuolas Paulauskas InCulto "Eastern European Funk" InCulto Jūratė Miliauskaitė "Let It Rain" Leif Goldkuhl, Kjell Jennstig Kafka, Rūta and Kivi "Tonight" Niall Mooney, Jonas Gladnikoff, Christina Schilling, Brendan McCarthy Mariaana Seppern "My Home is Europe" Mariaana Seppern, Arthur Seppern Marta Lukošiūtė "Meilės ruduo" Dalia Teišerskytė, Jaroslavas Cechanovičius Merūnas "Rosa" Raigardus Tautkus, Raimundas Jankauskas Mindaugas Mickevičius-Mino "Angela" Mindaugaus Mickevičius Mini Me "Amžinai" Egidijus Remeikis, Vutis Smolskas, Lukas Pačkauskas Monika Linkytė "Give Away" Monika Liubinaitė, Mario Basanov Mundis and Electric Ladies "Sielos muzika" Stanislavas Stavickis, Mundis Onsa "Will You Be My Wife" Tautrimas Rupulevičius, Marius Leskauskas Raimonda Masiulytė "Ledinė širdis" Aurelijus Sirgedas, Raimonda Masiulytė Ramūnas Difartas "Blues of Life" Ramūnas Difartas, Austra Sutkauskaitė Ruslanas Kirilkinas "I Love a Boy Who's in Love With a Fairytale" Stanislav Stavickis Sasha Song and Nora "Say Yes to Life" Dmitrij Šavrov Saulės kliošas "Tu atėjai" Monika Žiauberytė, Saulės kliošas Širdelės "Aš ir tu" Žilvinas Liulys Soliaris "So High" Algimantas Minalga, Justina Chachlauskas Urtė Šilagalytė "Angelai" Urtė Šilagalytė Jury members The jury panel in the semi-finals and the final consisted of five members. +Jury members by show Jury memberSemi-finalsFinal Occupation(s) 1 2 3Aistė Smilgevičiūtė singerArtūras Novikas musicianDarius Užkuraitis musicologist, Opus 3 director Jonas Vilimas producerKazimieras Šiaulys presenterLinas Rimša composer, jazz singerMindaugas Urbaitis composer Neda Malunavičiūtė singerPovilas Meškėla musicianRosita Čivilytė singerSaulius Urbonavičius producer
Shows
Semi-finals The three semi-finals of the competition aired on 13, 20, and 27 February 2010 and featured the 34 competing entries. The top three entries advanced to the final from each semi-final, while the bottom entries were eliminated. On 22 February 2010, LRT announced the three entries that had received a wildcard to also proceed to the final.
On 22 February 2010, "Running Fast" performed by Donatas Montvydas, which advanced from the second semi-final, was disqualified as the song had been publicly performed before 1 October 2009. The song "Material World" performed by Amberlife, which placed fourth in the second semi-final, replaced the song and advanced to the final. Key Qualifier Wildcard qualifier Entry disqualified
+ Semi-final 113 February 2010 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points Votes Points 1 Kafka, Rūta and Kivi "Tonight" 30 6 410 6 12 4 2 Mindaugas Mickevičius-Mino "Angela" 19 4 384 5 9 6 3 Monika Linkytė "Give Away" 36 8 719 7 15 3 4 Gabrielė "Girl" 12 2 933 8 10 5 5 Avenue Acoustic "Aklomis myliu tavo vardą" 36 8 91 1 9 6 6 Imantas "Won't U Come Back" 16 3 126 3 6 9 7 Onsa "Will You Be My Wife" 12 2 111 2 4 10 8 Daina Bilevičiūtė "Myliu gyventi" 0 0 62 0 0 11 9 Sasha Song and Nora "Say Yes to Life" 54 12 955 10 22 2 10 Urtė Šilagalytė "Angelai" 26 5 366 4 9 6 11 Aistė Pilvelytė "Melancolia" 50 10 3,645 12 22 1
+ Semi-final 220 February 2010 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points Votes Points 1 Mariaana Seppern "My Home is Europe" 0 0 388 4 4 9 2 Mundis and Electric Ladies "Sielos muzika" 19 3 1,504 10 13 5 3 Raimonda Masiulytė "Ledinė širdis" 10 1 97 0 1 11 4 Agama "Field of Kings" 48 10 1,224 8 18 2 5 Audrius Zavadskis "Right Now" 21 4 333 3 7 8 6 Ruslanas Kirilkinas "I Love a Boy Who's in Love With a Fairytale" 31 7 988 7 14 3 7 Marta Lukošiūtė "Meilės ruduo" 19 3 193 1 5 9 8 Amberlife "Material World" 46 8 487 6 14 4 9 Saulės kliošas "Tu atėjai" 22 6 443 5 11 6 10 Mini Me "Amžinai" 22 6 308 2 8 7 11 Donatas Montvydas "Running Fast" 52 12 1,705 12 24 1
+ Semi-final 327 February 2010 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points Votes Points 1 Ramūnas Difartas "Blues of Life" 50 12 309 2 14 4 2 Soliaris "So High" 7 2 1,506 10 12 5 3 The Cavaliers "We Are About to Love" 22 3 358 3 6 9 4 Eden "Nirvana" 28 5 601 5 10 7 5 Eva "Nes tu pamiršai" 5 0 231 1 1 11 6 Merūnas "Rosa" 35 8 1,438 7 15 3 7 Širdelės "Aš ir tu" 0 0 92 0 0 12 8 Gaudentas Janušas "Man nieko nereikia" 6 1 786 6 7 8 9 4Fun "Don't You Know" 25 4 171 0 4 10 10 InCulto "Eastern European Funk" 31 6 1,825 12 18 1 11 Evelina Sašenko "For This I'll Pray" 49 10 1,475 8 18 2 12 Jūratė Miliauskaitė "Let It Rain" 34 7 521 4 11 6
Final The final of the competition took place on 4 March 2010 and featured the remaining twelve entries that qualified from the semi-finals. The final was the only show in the competition to be broadcast live; all other preceding shows were pre-recorded earlier in the week before their airdates. "Eastern European Funk" performed by InCulto was selected as the winner after gaining the most points from both the jury vote and the public vote.
+ Final4 March 2010 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points Votes Points 1 Agama "Field of Kings" 41 8 2,778 5 13 4 2 Aistė Pilvelytė "Melancolia" 42 10 17,447 10 20 2 3 Ruslanas Kirilkinas "I Love a Boy Who's in Love With a Fairytale" 15 3 1,301 4 7 7 4 Merūnas "Rosa" 23 5 4,135 7 12 6 5 Ramūnas Difartas "Blues of Life" 29 6 345 0 6 8 6 Monika Linkytė "Give Away" 5 0 1,256 3 3 10 7 InCulto "Eastern European Funk" 47 12 23,767 12 24 1 8 Evelina Sašenko "For This I'll Pray" 41 8 3,257 6 14 3 9 Sasha Song and Nora "Say Yes to Life" 22 4 4,418 8 12 5 10 Jūratė Miliauskaitė "Let It Rain" 8 1 388 0 1 12 11 Eden "Nirvana" 10 2 785 2 4 9 12 Amberlife "Material World" 7 0 476 1 1 11
Promotion