Lithuania: Always 'On Fire'! 🇱🇹

13 August 2021 at 17:00 CEST

The Roop (Lithuania 2021) Jurga Urbonaite

Known as the ‘Land of Storks’ (their national bird, celebrated on March 25 each year), Lithuania has been delivering an eclectic set of contributions to expectant Eurovision fans everywhere since the mid 1990s.

Watch: How to Eurovision – Lithuania 🇱🇹

Lithuania has participated in the ‘Eurovizijos dainų konkursas’ on 21 occasions since their debut in 1994 when Ovidijus Vyšniauskas failed to score any points with his ballad Lopšinė mylimai (Lullaby For My Beloved).

Somewhat ironically, Lithuania’s best entry is LT United’s We Are The Winners, finishing 6th in 2006. The band re-recorded the song for the FIFA World Cup (held later that year in Germany) in case any other nation wanted to use it as their anthem… Lithuania hadn’t qualified for the tournament.

Watch: LT United – We Are The Winners (2006)

Donny Montell took the country top 10 once again in 2016 with his track I’ve Been Waiting For This Night, picking up douze points from Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom’s televotes, as well as Ukraine’s jury. It was Donny’s second time representing his nation (Love is Blind, 2012, 14th place) and he hasn’t ruled out a third attempt.

Watch: Donny Montell – I’ve Been Waiting For This Night (2016)

This year, The Roop scooped a record points haul of 220 (finishing in 8th place) with their dance floor filler Discoteque; the follow-up to their hotly tipped On Fire which was due to compete in the 2020 Contest before its cancellation.

Lithuania remains the only Baltic nation yet to win the Contest. That said, Lithuania does have the best track record for qualifying; they’ve made the most appearances at the Grand Final since the introduction of the Semi Finals – a total of 10 appearances compared to Baltic neighbours Estonia (7) and Latvia (6).

Watch: The Roop – Discoteque (2021)

This gives the country a solid base to build on, and with reinvigorated selection show Pabandom iš Naujo! (We Go Again!) providing a wealth of talent and watched by thousands of fans across the continent, surely that elusive victory (and inevitable LT United reprise) is just around the corner?

Watch: Twosome – Playa (Pabandom iš Naujo! 2020)

What’s your favourite Lithuanian entry of all time? Let us know via the official Eurovision Song Contest Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook channels.