Eurovizijos Atranka: Heat Three Reviews!

Lithuania is again staging one of the most prolonged and bonkers national selection of the whole season, Euroizijos Atranka! We missed Heat 1 & 2! But don't worry those acts will be reviewed in due course!

But for now read my review and ranking of Heat Three from Euroizijos Atranka:

Vidas Bareikis – Pusvalanduko – Right from the outset this act is intent on being a mixture of all of the more successful ‘joke acts’ that have graced Eurovision, but this is done very, very badly. This song is a dire attempt at a joke act and if this act actually wins in the final, it will be a very disappointing end to Eurovizijos Atranka, if it is able to beat out the other quality entries in the selection. Seeing as this came sixth in the semi-final, I doubt it will pose a threat to the quality songs in the selection.

E.G.O -Shake The World – I can see why this scored 0 points in the semi. This is a bad attempt at a FO&O style song, even the backdrop and moves are very reminiscent of the Melfest alums. The guy in the tan jacket seems to be compensating the energy levels of the other two boys as he looks like he could jump out of his skin throughout the performance. Also reminiscent of Lighthouse X and we know how that turned out! Harmonies weren’t up to ESC standard and especially after O’G3NE last year harmony standard has increased! Glad it didn’t qualify!

Zivile Gedvilaite – Melody – This feels like a solid entry, a good pop-ballad, Zivile does this justice as does the background and music, although this does feel quite like a filler song for the contest, this could get lost in the crowd of songs, within the final. Solid entry that will rely on running order for it to stand out, I do feel it is in danger as it qualified 5th place.

Valdas Lacko – Dying Inside – Unfortunately this is not Valdas’ year again, this song is a mixture of a lot of different songs that doesn’t work at all. And it appears the jury and public agreed awarding him 4 points collectively. Thus relegating his entry putting him in 10th position. a deserved position. Nothing more to say. Probably more deserving of a lower place.

Donata – Powerful – This is such as hypocritical song as the title suggest this song should be powerful and strong but instead it is weak and limp compared to other songs in the selection, this song however is probably less deserving of 0 points compared to E.G.O and Valdas, but so far 3rd last. Not looking like a strong semi so far!

Joyce – Breathe – This song is strange, there is nothing adamantly wrong with it, but I dislike it, I could put it on the interesting instrumental or the mixing of the harmonies but something in this song just doesn’t work unfortunately as Joyce is a solid vocalist. Perhaps the slight enunciation issues bug me as well. Considering the rise in native language Joyce perhaps should have considered Lithuanian?

ELEY – This Is My Life – Again another solid entry, if we disregard the lyrical content which is utter tripe and nothing we haven’t heard before in a ‘be who you want to be song’ the singer and instrumentation is good and the staging. ELEY’s vocals were great on the track but unfortunately it failed to qualify, unfairly placing 9th. Deserved a qualification spot, even sixth I would have been happy with. Robbed.

Milda Martinkenaite – Hurricane – This track is the power that Donata lacked. Milda has an outstanding voice, the instrumentation is strong and assured and the lyrics are good. But again, a good song gets left behind placing 7th just outside the qualifying six. I would swap Milda for Vidas any day of the week. I cannot see how Vidas actually managed to qualify over the quality entry of Milda!

Silvija Pankunaite & GeraiGerai – More Than You Know – once again I don’t quite understand how this entry placed so high? I am confused by this song the harmonies don’t quite work for me honestly. The instrumental of this song is good but the overall package doesn’t quite stack up for me, sorry.

Gabrielius Vagelis – The Distant – Finally we are back to one of the better entries of the selection, the instrumental is strong and the vocals are good and Gabrielius brings it to the stage. A great qualifier one of the most agreed with by me! Overall I can see this doing well in the final and I wouldn’t be surprised if it pushed for top 3 in the final!

Greta Zazza – Broken Shadows – This song won the semi for a reason! This is one of the most well-produced songs in the entire national final! Greta can with a pop-banger last year with “Like I Love You” and now she has returned with a brilliantly produced pop ballad. Greta’s star power in Lithuania is sure to get her to the final and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see her winning or next in line to win.

Agne Michalenkovaite – Going On – This is a total banger! Agne has brought what we thought Greta was going to bring this year a danceable, uptempo, pop song which is sure to get the viewers in Vilnius moving. This is sure to be a fan favourite for Lithuania! Again I would not be mad if this song claimed the win at the end! I feel Agne would bring it in Lisbon!

My Semi Final 3 Ranking:

1) Agne Michalenkovaite – Going On

2) Greta Zazza – Broken Shadows

3) Milda Martinkenaite – Hurricane

4) Gabrielius Vagelis – The Distant

5) Zivile Gedvilaite – Melody

6) ELEY – This Is My Life

7) Donata – Powerful

8) Vidas Bareikis – Pusvalanduko

9) Joyce – Breathe

10) Donata – Powerful

11) E.G.O -Shake The World

12) Valdas Lacko – Dying Inside

Admittedly third was quite a weak heat, compared to the previous two. But I would have been happy if MY top 6 qualified but sadly that didn’t happen and a couple of acts I dislike have made it through. Also, from the outset I do question some of the judging on the show, as they seem to be going very harsh on the contestants which seems very uncalled for!

Lithuania was represented by the duo Fusedmarc, in Kyiv where they sang “Rain of Revolution” in semi-final 2, after being relegated to the bottom of rankings many viewers, the duo did surprisingly better than expected coming 17th out of 18. Watch their performance below!