Ticket to Tel Aviv: Meet Jurij Veklenko from Lithuania

Jurij Veklenko was crowned as winner of Eurovizijos dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka, Lithuania’s national selection in February of this year. Jurij is already known to the Eurovision community; he has tried his luck at the national selection contest more than once and has twice performed as a backing vocalist at the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest. The first time he was on stage he accompanied Andrius Pojavis in Sweden in 2013, and then he took the stage again in Austria for Monika Linkyte and Vaidas Baumila in 2015. This year, Jurij has decided to pull out all the stops at Lithuania's national selection with the song Run With The Lions and it paid off with his victory.

Who is Jurij Veklenko?

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 a start at 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. Throughout the selection in early 2019, the song topped the local charts.

READ MORE: Jurij Veklenko’s participant profile

You can follow Jurij Veklenko on the following social media platforms:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• YouTube

Jurij Veklenko's song

Jurij will sing Run with the Lions in Tel Aviv. The song was written and composed by Eric Lumiere, Ash Hicklin and Pele Loriano.

LISTEN: Stream or download Run With The Lions via your favourite music service

Lithuania at Eurovision 2018

Last year, Ieva Zasimauskaitė finished 12th in the Grand Final. Ieva received 181 points for her song When We're Old.

Lithuania currently has the longest national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. Eurovizijos dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka usually begins in January and runs for longer than 3 months!

READ MORE: Lithuania's country page

What do you think of Jurij Veklenko's song for the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest? Let us know in the comments!