Jurij Veklenko
Jurij Veklenko, Lithuania's 2019 Eurovision Song Contest representative, is a renowned Lithuanian pop musician. He rose to fame during his successful participation in several TV shows such as 'Lithuania’s Got Talent', 'The Voice of Lithuania' and winning the popular TV show 'We Are One Blood'. He will perform 'Run With The Lions' in Tel Aviv.Jurij has tried his luck in the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest more than once and has twice performed as a backing vocalist at the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest (with Andrius Pojavis in Sweden in 2013, and again in Austria for Monika Linkyte and Vaidas Baumila in 2015). This year Jurij has decided to pull out all the stops and appear as the lead vocalist at Lithuania's national selection with the song Run With The Lions and it paid off with victory.
Born on 6 July 1990 in the Lithuanian port city of Klaipėda, Jurij grew up in a family of musicians. So from his childhood days he has always been accompanied by music. While being an eighth-grade student at high school, he joined a church choir, where his love and interest for music gained strength.
After moving to Lithuania's capital Vilnius, the young artist submerged himself in musical activities, participated in various music shows and later joined the Rollics (Rolikai) band. In 2017, after a break, Jurij appeared on stage with his first song as a solo performer. Alongside his artistic career, he got his dream job with an IT company, where he currently works. Jurij says that IT and music make up for a perfect combination, where monotony is being replaced by music and vice versa.
At the end of 2018, Jurij met the writers of Run with the Lions and decided to try his luck in Lithuania's national selection for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. Throughout the selection in early 2019, he topped the chart and gained the highest points from both the jury and the viewers.
