# Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest

Lithuania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 24 times since its debut in 1994, where "Lopšinė mylimai" performed by Ovidijus Vyšniauskas finished last, receiving "nul points". Lithuania withdrew from the contest, not returning until 1999. The sixth place of the song "We Are the Winners" performed by LT United in 2006 is Lithuania's best result in the contest. The country reached the top ten for a second time in 2016, when "I've Been Waiting for This Night" by Donny Montell finished ninth, and for the third time in 2021, finishing eighth with "Discoteque" by The Roop. The Lithuanian participant broadcaster in the contest is Lietuvos nacionalinis radijas ir televizija (LRT).
As of 2024, Lithuania remains the only Baltic country that is yet to win the contest after wins for Estonia in 2001 and Latvia in 2002. However, since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Lithuania has the second most final appearances in comparison to other Baltic nations, with seventeen, compared to nineteen for Estonia and eleven for Latvia.

## Participation

Lietuvos nacionalinis radijas ir televizija (LRT) is a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 1 January 1993, thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest since then. It has participated in the contest representing Lithuania since its 39th edition in 1994.

## History
### 2000s

Having been relegated from the 2000 contest, Lithuania returned in 2001 with "You Got Style" by Skamp, the first Lithuanian song to include English. They received 35 points, placing 13th. However, the following year, Aivaras could only manage to come second-to-last with 12 points.
Since the semi-finals were introduced, Lithuania again came last with Laura and the Lovers and "Little by Little". The following year, the Lithuanian broadcaster Lietuvos nacionalinis radijas ir televizija (LRT) sent LT United to the 2006 contest with the football chant-like song "We Are the Winners". They took Lithuania to the final for the first time since 2002, coming sixth in the final with 162 points, Lithuania's best placing as of 2024.
The following year Lithuania automatically qualified for the final; however, 4Fun could not replicate LT United's success, coming 21st with only 28 points, 12 of which came from Ireland. In 2008, Jeronimas Milius failed to reach the final, coming 16th out of 19 competing nations in the second semi-final.
Lithuania initially threatened to boycott the 2009 contest "if Russia continues to showcase power and ignores international law." The statement was made in reaction to Russia's actions in the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008. Culture Minister Jonas Jučas stated that it was too early to discuss the boycott since "spontaneous decisions might aggravate the efforts of diplomats" and thus make the situation worse. They did eventually participate in the 2009 contest, where they qualified from the semi-finals and received 23 points in the final, placing them 23rd.

### 2010s

LRT announced in December 2009 that, due to a lack of necessary funds, Lithuania would formally withdraw from the 2010 Contest. However, in the event that the necessary funds of 300,000 litas (€90,000) were found, the broadcaster announced that they would attempt to continue the country's participation. Ultimately, private company TEO LT provided the necessary funding and Lithuania participated in Oslo.
In 2011, Lithuania was represented by Evelina Sašenko with the song "C'est ma vie". The song qualified from the first semi-final, placing 5th with 81 points. In the grand final, Lithuania finished in 19th place with 63 points.
In 2012, Lithuania qualified for the final with Donny Montell and his song "Love Is Blind", placing 3rd with 104 points. They eventually finished 14th in the Grand Final.
In 2013, Lithuania qualified to the final with "Something" by Andrius Pojavis, placing 9th in the first semi-final with 53 points. In the final, he ended in 22nd place with 17 points.
In 2014, Vilija didn't qualify for the final, finishing 11th out of 15 entrants in the second semi-final, scoring 36 points.
In 2015, Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila represented Lithuania with the song "This Time". The duo qualified from the second semi-final, finishing 7th, and ultimately placed 18th in the grand final with 30 points.
In 2016, Donny Montell returned to the contest and achieved Lithuania's best result of the decade, finishing ninth with "I've Been Waiting for This Night".
In 2017, Lithuania was represented by Fusedmarc with the song "Rain of Revolution". The song failed to qualify for the grand final, finishing 17th in the second semi-final with 42 points.
In 2018, Ieva Zasimauskaitė achieved Lithuania's fifth top 15 result, finishing 12th with "When We're Old".
In 2019, Jurij Veklenko represented Lithuania with the song "Run with the Lions". He competed in the second semi-final, placing 11th with 93 points, which was not sufficient to advance to the grand final.

### 2020s

In 2021, Lithuania qualified for the final with the song "Discoteque" by The Roop, placing 4th in the first semi-final with 203 points. In the final, The Roop reached 8th place with 220 points, thereby achieving Lithuania's second-best result to date. The Roop was previously chosen to represent the country in the later-cancelled 2020 edition with "On Fire".
In 2022, Monika Liu performed her song "Sentimentai" in Lithuanian, which marked the second appearance of the language in the contest, and the first one since 1994. The song qualified from the semi-final.
In 2023, Monika Linkytė represented Lithuania for a second time with the song "Stay". She finished 11th in the grand final with 127 points.
In 2024, Lithuania was represented by Silvester Belt with the song "Luktelk". Silvester Belt was selected through the new national final, Eurovizija.LT, and finished 14th in the grand final with 90 points.

## Participation overview

| Year | Artist | Song | Language | Final | Points | Semi | Points |
| 1994 | Ovidijus Vyšniauskas | "Lopšinė mylimai" | Lithuanian | 25 ◁ | 0 | No semi-finals | No semi-finals |
| 1999 | Aistė | "Strazdas" | Samogitian | 20 | 13 | No semi-finals | No semi-finals |
| 2001 | Skamp | "You Got Style" | English, Lithuanian | 13 | 35 | No semi-finals | No semi-finals |
| 2002 | Aivaras | "Happy You" | English | 23 | 12 | No semi-finals | No semi-finals |
| 2004 | Linas and Simona | "What's Happened to Your Love" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 16 | 26 |
| 2005 | Laura and the Lovers | "Little by Little" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 25 ◁ | 17 |
| 2006 | LT United | "We Are the Winners" | English, French | 6 | 162 | 5 | 163 |
| 2007 | 4Fun | "Love or Leave" | English | 21 | 28 | Top 10 in 2006 final | Top 10 in 2006 final |
| 2008 | Jeronimas Milius | "Nomads in the Night" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 16 | 30 |
| 2009 | Sasha Son | "Love" | English, Russian | 23 | 23 | 9 | 66 |
| 2010 | InCulto | "Eastern European Funk" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 12 | 44 |
| 2011 | Evelina Sašenko | "C'est ma vie" | English | 19 | 63 | 5 | 81 |
| 2012 | Donny Montell | "Love Is Blind" | English | 14 | 70 | 3 | 104 |
| 2013 | Andrius Pojavis | "Something" | English | 22 | 17 | 9 | 53 |
| 2014 | Vilija | "Attention" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 11 | 36 |
| 2015 | Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila | "This Time" | English | 18 | 30 | 7 | 67 |
| 2016 | Donny Montell | "I've Been Waiting for This Night" | English | 9 | 200 | 4 | 222 |
| 2017 | Fusedmarc | "Rain of Revolution" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 17 | 42 |
| 2018 | Ieva Zasimauskaitė | "When We're Old" | English | 12 | 181 | 9 | 119 |
| 2019 | Jurij Veklenko | "Run with the Lions" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 11 | 93 |
| 2020 | The Roop | "On Fire" | English | Contest cancelled X | Contest cancelled X | Contest cancelled X | Contest cancelled X |
| 2021 | The Roop | "Discoteque" | English | 8 | 220 | 4 | 203 |
| 2022 | Monika Liu | "Sentimentai" | Lithuanian | 14 | 128 | 7 | 159 |
| 2023 | Monika Linkytė | "Stay" | English, Lithuanian | 11 | 127 | 4 | 110 |
| 2024 | Silvester Belt | "Luktelk" | Lithuanian | 14 | 90 | 4 | 119 |
| 2025 | Katarsis | "Tavo akys" | Lithuanian | Upcoming † | Upcoming † | Upcoming † | Upcoming † |

## Trivia
### Songs by language

* English (77.88%)
* Lithuanian (17.31%)
* Samogitian (3.85%)
* Russian (0.96%)
| Songs | Language | Years |
| 21 | English | 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023 |
| 5 | Lithuanian | 1994, 2001, 2022, 2024, 2025 |
| 1 | Samogitian | 1999 |
| 1 | Russian | 2009 |

### Selection process

| Year | Selection process |
| 1994 | Internal selection |
| 1999 | National final with 12 participants |
| 2001 | National final with 15 participants |
| 2002 | National final with 15 participants |
| 2004 | National final with 52 participants (18 in the final) |
| 2005 | National final with 49 participants (20 in the final) |
| 2006 | National final with 47 participants (16 in the final) |
| 2007 | National final with 35 participants (11 in the final) |
| 2008 | National final with 32 participants (14 in the final) |
| 2009 | Lietuvos Dainų Daina with 36 participants (10 in the final) |
| 2010 | National final with 34 participants (12 in the final) |
| 2011 | National final with 40 participants (13 in the final) |
| 2012 | National final with 36 participants (14 in the final) |
| 2013 | National final with 39 participants (7 in the final) |
| Year | Selection process |
| 2014 | National final with 20 participants (3 in the final) |
| 2015 | National final with 12 participants (2 in the final) |
| 2016 | National final with 28 participants (6 in the final) |
| 2017 | National final with 49 participants (7 in the final) |
| 2018 | National final with 50 participants (6 in the final) |
| 2019 | National final with 49 participants (8 in the final) |
| 2020 | Pabandom iš naujo! with 36 participants (8 in the final) |
| 2021 | Pabandom iš naujo! with 21 participants (6 in the final) |
| 2022 | Pabandom iš naujo! with 34 participants (8 in the final) |
| 2023 | Pabandom iš naujo! with 30 participants (10 in the final) |
| 2024 | Eurovizija.LT with 40 participants (10 in the final) |
| 2025 | Eurovizija.LT with 45 participants (12 in the final) |

## Awards
### Winner by OGAE members

| Year | Song | Performer | Final | Points | Host city | Ref. |
| 2020 | "On Fire" | The Roop | Contest cancelled | Contest cancelled | Rotterdam | |

### Barbara Dex Award

| Year | Performer | Host city | Ref. |
| 2014 | Vilija Matačiūnaitė | Copenhagen | |

## Related involvement
### Delegation members

Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the contestants, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others.

#### Heads of delegation

| Year | Head of delegation |
| 1994 | Irena Didžiulienė |
| 1999–2001 | Nerijus Maliukevičius [lt] |
| 2002–2009 | Jonas Vilimas |
| 2010–present | Audrius Giržadas [lt] |

#### Heads of press

| Year | Head of press |
| 2015–2018 | Virginija Bunevičiūtė |
| 2019–2023 | Lina Patskočimaitė |
| 2024 | Karolina Drigotaitė |

### Jury members

Each participating broadcaster assembles a five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals for the semi-finals and Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest, ranking all entries except for their own. The juries' votes constitute 50% of the overall result alongside televoting. The modern incarnation of jury voting was introduced beginning with the 2009 contest.
| Year | First member | Second member | Third member | Fourth member | Fifth member |
| 2009 | Linas Rimša | Linas Adomaitis | Egmontas Bžeskas [lt] | Edita Vilčiauskienė | Rūta Lukoševičiūtė [lt] |
| 2014 | Deivydas Zvonkus [lt] | Rūta Lukoševičiūtė [lt] | Povilas Varvuolis | Kristina Zmailaitė | Kristina Žaldokaitė |
| 2015 | Lauras Lučiūnas | Jolita Vaitkevičienė | Jurga Čekatauskaitė | Jurgis Brūzga | Rosita Čivilytė [lt] |
| 2016 | Nomeda Kazlaus | Vidas Bareikis [lt] | Justas Čekuolis | Vytautas Lukočius | Eglė Nepaitė-Abaravičienė |
| 2017 | Vytenis Pauliukaitis | Giedrė Kilčiauskienė [lt] | Viktorija Navickaitė | Rafailas Karpis [lt] | Vaidas Stackevičius |
| 2018 | Lauras Lučiūnas | Jurga Šeduikytė | Dovilė Filmanavičiūtė | Mindaugas Urbaitis | Leon Somov |
| 2019 | Vytautas Bikus [lt] | Andrius Mamontovas | Jurgis Brūzga | Girmantė Vaitkutė [lt] | Gerūta Griniūtė |
| 2021 | Jievaras Jasinskis | Rafailas Karpis [lt] | Giedrė Kilčiauskienė [lt] | Bjelle | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] |
| 2022 | Aistė Lasytė | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] | Ieva Narkutė | Jurga Šeduikytė | Vaidas Baumila |
| 2023 | Jonas Nainys | Julijus Grickevičius | Vaidotas Valiukevičius | Eglė Juozapaitienė | Nombeko Augustė |
| 2024 | Jievaras Jasinskis | Kristupas Naraškevičius | Povilas Meškėla | Agneta Gabalytė | Monika Marija |

### Commentators and spokespersons

LRT usually broadcasts all shows in Lithuania on LRT televizija and on LRT radijas as well as online via the broadcaster's website lrt.lt. For the show's broadcast on LRT several commentators have provided comment on the contest in the local language. Darius Užkuraitis [lt] was Eurovision commentator in Lithuania as many as 19 times. He was replaced by Ramūnas Zilnys [lt] in 2021. At the Eurovision Song Contest after all points are calculated, the presenters of the show call upon each voting country to invite each respective spokesperson to announce the results of their vote on-screen.
| Year | Commentator | Spokesperson |
| 1994 | Unknown | Gitana Lapinskaitė |
| 1995 | No broadcast | Did not participate |
| 1996 | Unknown | Did not participate |
| 1997 | No broadcast | Did not participate |
| 1998 | Unknown | Did not participate |
| 1999 | Unknown | Andrius Tapinas |
| 2000 | Ramūnas Česonis and Vilija Grigonytė | Did not participate |
| 2001 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] | Loreta Tarozaitė |
| 2002 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] | Loreta Tarozaitė |
| 2003 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] | Did not participate |
| 2004 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] | Rolandas Vilkončius [lt] |
| 2005 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] | Rolandas Vilkončius [lt] |
| 2006 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] | Lavija Šurnaitė [lt] |
| 2007 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] | Lavija Šurnaitė [lt] |
| 2008 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] | Rolandas Vilkončius [lt] |
| 2009 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] | Ignas Krupavičius |
| 2010 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] | Giedrius Masalskis [lt] |
| 2011 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] | Giedrius Masalskis [lt] |
| 2012 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] | Ignas Krupavičius |
| 2013 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] | Ignas Krupavičius |
| 2014 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] | Ignas Krupavičius |
| 2015 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] | Ugnė Galadauskaitė |
| 2016 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] | Ugnė Galadauskaitė |
| 2017 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] and Gerūta Griniūtė | Eglė Daugėlaitė |
| 2018 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] and Gerūta Griniūtė | Eglė Daugėlaitė |
| 2019 | Darius Užkuraitis [lt] and Gerūta Griniūtė | Giedrius Masalskis [lt] |
| 2021 | Ramūnas Zilnys [lt] | Andrius Mamontovas |
| 2022 | Ramūnas Zilnys [lt] | Vaidotas Valiukevičius |
| 2023 | Ramūnas Zilnys [lt] | Monika Liu |
| 2024 | Ramūnas Zilnys [lt] | Monika Linkytė |

#### Other shows

| Show | Commentator | Ref. |
| Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest | Rolandas Vilkončius [lt] | |
| Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light | Ramūnas Zilnys [lt] | |

### Stage directors

The appointed stage directors are responsible for directing the country's live performance, for camerawork and for the visuals used.
| Year | Stage directors |
| 1999 | Irena Morkevičienė |
| 2006 | Donatas Ulvydas [lt] |
| 2008 | Dalius Abaris [lt] and Vytautas Dambrauskas |
| 2016 | Sacha Jean-Baptiste [sv] |
| 2017 | Povilas Varvuolis |
| 2018 | Povilas Varvuolis and Rasa Micachienė |
| 2019 | Povilas Varvuolis |
| 2021 | Povilas Varvuolis |
| 2022 | Povilas Varvuolis |
| 2023 | Povilas Varvuolis |
| 2024 | Povilas Varvuolis and Norvydas Genys |

### Costume designers

| Year | Costume designers |
| 1999 | Juozas Statkevičius [lt] |
| 2001 | Daiva Urbonavičiūtė |
| 2007 | Aleksandras Pogrebnojus [lt] and Vida Simanavičiūtė |
| 2012 | Egidijus Sidaras |
| 2014 | Olga Filatova-Kontrimienė |
| 2015 | Kristina Kalinauskaitė and Andrius Sergejenko |
| 2016 | Marius Stanevičius |
| 2017 | Sandra Yushka |
| 2018 | Vida Strasevičiūtė and Thomas Bara |
| 2021 | Glorija Gžimailaitė |
| 2022 | Monika Kazakevičiūtė-Kriščiūnienė |
| 2023 | Omar Bayoumi |
| 2024 | Vainotas Jakštas |

### Conductors

Tomas Leiburas was the only Lithuanian conductor in Eurovision as he conducted their 1994 entry.

## Photo gallery

* Linas and Simona in Istanbul (2004)
* 4Fun in Helsinki (2007)
* Jeronimas Milius in Belgrade (2008)
* Sasha Son in Moscow (2009)
* InCulto in Oslo (2010)
* Andrius Pojavis in Malmö (2013)
* Vilija in Copenhagen (2014)
* Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila in Vienna (2015)
* Donny Montell in Stockholm (2016)
* Fusedmarc in Kyiv (2017)
* Ieva Zasimauskaitė in Lisbon (2018)
* Jurij Veklenko in Tel Aviv (2019)
* The Roop in Rotterdam (2021)
* Monika Liu in Turin (2022)
* Monika Linkytė in Liverpool (2023)
* Silvester Belt in Malmö (2024)