# Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023

Lithuania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, with "Stay" performed by Monika Linkytė. The Lithuanian broadcaster, Lietuvos radijas ir televizija (LRT), used the national selection Pabandom iš naujo! 2023 to select their representative.
Lithuania was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 11 May 2023 and was later selected to perform in position 15. At the end of the show, "Stay" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and hence qualified to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Lithuania placed fourth out of the sixteen participating countries in the semi-final with 110 points. In the final, Lithuania performed in position 22 and placed eleventh out of the 26 participating countries, scoring a total of 127 points.

## Background

Prior to 2023, Lithuania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-two times since its first entry in 1994. Their best placing was achieved in 2006, with "We Are the Winners", performed by LT United, finishing in sixth place in the final. Following the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Lithuania has managed to qualify to the final eleven times. Lithuania was represented in 2022 by the song "Sentimentai", performed by Monika Liu, who qualified for the final and ended 14th overall with 128 points. LRT confirmed its participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in mid-July 2022. On 11 October 2022, the broadcaster announced that Pabandom iš naujo! had been confirmed for the fourth time in a row as the national final format used to select Lithuania's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.

## Before Eurovision
### Pabandom iš naujo! 2023

Pabandom iš naujo! 2023 ("Let's try again! 2023") was the national final format developed by LRT in order to select Lithuania's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. The competition involved a five-week-long process that commenced on 21 January 2023 and concluded with a final on 18 February 2023. All shows took place at the LRT Studios in Vilnius. The shows were hosted by Giedrius Masalskis, Augustė Nombeko and Richardas Jonaitis, and broadcast on LRT televizija, LRT Lituanica and LRT Radijas as well as online via the broadcaster's website lrt.lt and official LRT YouTube channel.

#### Format

For the 2023 competition, two heats consisting of fifteen entries each were held on 21 and 28, January where five entries from each heat were eliminated, while the remaining twenty entries participated in the competition's two semi-finals, taking place on 4 and 11 February. In each semi-final, ten entries participated and the top five proceeded to the final. In the final, the winner will be selected from the remaining ten entries. The results of each of the six 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. During the first four shows, the jury votes were determined by a five-member panel. In the final, a nine-member panel will vote. The public could cast their votes through telephone and SMS voting, which were monitored by independent observers from auditor Grand Thornton Baltic, with a maximum of ten votes cast from one device. Ties in all shows were decided in favour of the entry that was awarded the most points by the jury. The composer of the winning song will receive a €5,000 cash prize.

#### Competing entries

On 11 October 2022, LRT opened a submission form for artists to apply with one song, with the deadline set for 12 December 2022. The broadcaster will allocate a budget of up to 1,500 euros to each participant, which the participants can use to prepare for the selection. On 20 December 2022, the list of the 30 participating artists and the titles of the songs was released by LRT. On 23 December 2022, Lina Štalytė was disqualified from the competition due to the song being previously published in 2020, and was replaced by the band The Pixls.
Key: Withdrawn Replacement entry
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
| Agnė | "New Start" | Agnė Buškevičiūtė-Tumalavičienė, Vilius Tumalavičius |
| Aistė Pilvelytė | "We're Not Running" | Justine Eltakchi, Aidan O'Connor |
| Alen Chicco | "Do You" | Tomas Alenčikas |
| Antikvariniai Kašpirovskio dantys [lt] | "Sėdi ir važiuoji" | Martynas Enčius, Karolis Steponavičius |
| Baiba | "When the Lights Go Out" | Baiba Skurstene, Andrius Kairys |
| Beatrich | "Like a Movie" | Marc Dowding, Beatričė Pundžiūtė |
| Donata | "Dreamer" | Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Janne Hyöty, Christopher Wortley |
| Gabrielius Vagelis | "Šauksmas" | Kim Wennerström, Gabrielius Vagelis |
| Gebrasy | "Saw Your Ghost" | Faustas Venckus, Audrius Petrauskas |
| Il Senso | "Sparnai" | Merūnas Vitulskis [lt] |
| I.T. | "Žinau, tai tu" | Ingrida Toleikytė-Mikalauskienė |
| Joseph June | "Vacuum" | Vytautas Gumbelevičius |
| Justa Rubežiūtė | "When I'll Find" | Algirdas Veževičius, Justinas Stanislovaitis |
| Justė Kraujelytė | "Need More Fun" | Justė Kraujelytė, Edgaras Žaltauskas, Kasparas Meginis |
| Justin 3 feat. Dj AugustYno | "Not Giving Up" | Algirdas Veževičius, Justinas Stanislovaitis |
| Lina Štalytė | "My Body" | Lina Štalytė |
| Luknė | "Paradise" | Rob Price |
| Mario Junes | "Do What You Do" | Marius Kijauskas, Faustas Venckus |
| Matt Len | "Midnight Train" | Matas Lenktis |
| Melona | "Song of Whispers" | Algirdas Veževičius, Illona Podrabinkína, Justinas Stanislovaitis |
| Monika Linkytė | "Stay" | Monika Linkytė, Krists Indrišonoks |
| MoonBee | "Rumor" | Austėja Pukelytė, Gytis Valickas |
| Multiks | "London" | Paulius Burba |
| Noy | "Destiny's Child" | Nojus Žebrauskas, Viktorija Raibužytė, Rita Dmitrijenko, Dominykas Zalieckas |
| Paulina Paukštaitytė | "Let Me Think About Me" | Paulina Paukštaitytė, Krists Indrišonoks, Jānis Jačmenkins |
| Petunija | "Love of My Life" | Agnė Šiaulytė, Diana Anisko, Morta Grigaliūnaitė, Egidija Mačiulytė |
| Rūta Mur | "So Low" | Rūta Murinaitė |
| The Pixls | "Šaukt" | Mantvydas Sabaitis, Kęstutis Vaitkevičius, The Pixls |
| Viktorija Faith | "If You Ever Miss Me" | Viktorija Faith |
| Voldemars Petersons | "Things" | Voldemars Petersons |
| W.I | "You Can Not" | Viktoras Olechnovičius, Ieva Lapinskaitė |

#### Shows
##### Heats

The two heats of the competition aired on 21 and 28 January 2023 and featured the 30 competing entries. The respective heats were filmed on 17 and 23 January 2023. The jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys [lt] (music reviewer; both heats), Ieva Narkutė (singer; both heats), Giedrė Kilčiauskienė (soloist, formerly member of an electronic band Pieno lazeriai [lt]; both heats), Jievaras Jasinskis (composer and musician; first heat), Leonas Somovas (producer and composer; first heat), Vytautas Bikus [lt] (composer; second heat) and Stanislavas Stavickis-Stano (singer-songwriter; second heat). The top ten entries advanced to the semi-finals from each heat, while the bottom five were eliminated.

##### Semi-finals

The two semi-finals of the competition aired on 4 and 11 February 2023 and featured the 20 competing entries. The respective semi-finals were filmed on 31 January and 7 February 2023. The jury consisted of Ieva Narkutė (singer-songwriter; both semi-finals), Ramūnas Zilnys [lt] (music reviewer; both semi-finals), Stanislavas Stavickis-Stano (singer-songwriter and music producer; first semi-final), Vytautas Bikus [lt] (composer and music producer; first semi-final), Leonas Somovas (music producer; first semi-final), Duncan Laurence (winner of Eurovision Song Contest 2019; second semi-final), Vaidotas Valiukevičius (singer of The Roop, representative of Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 and 2021; second semi-final) and Monika Liu (representative of Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022; second semi-final). The top five entries advanced to the final from each semi-final, while the bottom entries were eliminated.

##### Final

The final took place on 18 February 2023 and featured the ten qualified artists. The jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys [lt] (music reviewer), Monika Liu (representative of Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022), Raminta Naujalytė-Bjelle (singer), Ieva Narkutė (singer-songwriter), Vytautas Bikus [lt] (composer and music producer), Jievaras Jasinskis (member of InCulto, representative of Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010), Vaidotas Valiukevičius (singer of The Roop, representative of Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 and 2021), Stanislavas Stavickis-Stano (singer-songwriter and music producer), and Gerūta Griniūtė (TV and radio host). In addition to the competing entries, Eurovision Song Contest 2023 Ukrainian representatives Tvorchi appeared as guests, and Eurovision Song Contest 2019 winner Duncan Laurence and Monika Liu performed as interval acts.
Final – 18 February 2023 :
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Jury | Televote | Televote | Total | Place |
| Draw | Artist | Song | Votes | Points | Votes | Points | Total | Place |
| 1 | Mario Junes | "Do What You Do" | 30 | 3 | 1,102 | 2 | 5 | 9 |
| 2 | MoonBee | "Rumor" | 14 | 1 | 3,780 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
| 3 | Justė Kraujelytė | "Need More Fun" | 43 | 5 | 606 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| 4 | Paulina Paukštaitytė | "Let Me Think About Me" | 49 | 6 | 2,910 | 5 | 11 | 5 |
| 5 | Beatrich | "Like a Movie" | 78 | 8 | 9,392 | 8 | 16 | 3 |
| 6 | Rūta Mur | "So Low" | 88 | 10 | 12,822 | 12 | 22 | 2 |
| 7 | Il Senso | "Sparnai" | 19 | 2 | 2,090 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| 8 | Petunija | "Love of My Life" | 62 | 7 | 2,501 | 4 | 11 | 4 |
| 9 | Gabrielius Vagelis | "Šauksmas" | 42 | 4 | 3,085 | 6 | 10 | 6 |
| 10 | Monika Linkytė | "Stay" | 97 | 12 | 12,675 | 10 | 22 | 1 |
Detailed Jury Votes :
| Draw | Song | Juror | Juror | Juror | Juror | Juror | Juror | Juror | Juror | Juror | Total |
| Draw | Song | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Total |
| 1 | "Do What You Do" | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 30 |
| 2 | "Rumor" | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 14 |
| 3 | "Need More Fun" | 3 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 43 |
| 4 | "Let Me Think About Me" | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 49 |
| 5 | "Like a Movie" | 10 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 78 |
| 6 | "So Low" | 12 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 88 |
| 7 | "Sparnai" | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 19 |
| 8 | "Love of My Life" | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 62 |
| 9 | "Šauksmas" | 5 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 42 |
| 10 | "Stay" | 7 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 97 |

#### Ratings

Viewing figures by show :
| Show | Air date | Viewing figures | Viewing figures |
| Show | Air date | Nominal | Share |
| Heat 1 | 21 January 2023 | 236,000 | 23.5% |
| Heat 2 | 28 January 2023 | 213,000 | 21.7% |
| Semi-final 1 | 4 February 2023 | 191,600 | 18.8% |
| Semi-final 2 | 11 February 2023 | 199,400 | 19.8% |
| Final | 18 February 2023 | 310,900 | 28.8% |

## At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Lithuania has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 11 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.
Once all the competing songs for the 2023 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Lithuania was set to perform in position 15, following the entry from Albania and before the entry from Australia.
At the end of the show, Lithuania was announced as a qualifier for the final.

### Voting
#### Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Lithuanian jury:
* Jonas Nainys
* Julijus Grickevičius
* Vaidotas Valiukevičius
* Eglė Juozapaitienė
* Nombeko Augustė Khotseng