Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019
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Lithuania| Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 2019 | ||||
| Country | Lithuania | |||
| Selection process | "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka | |||
| Selection date | 23 February 2019 | |||
| Competing entry | ||||
| Song | "Run with the Lions" | |||
| Artist | Jurij Veklenko | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Placement | ||||
| Semi-final result | Failed to qualify (11th) | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
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Lithuania was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Run with the Lions", written by Ashley Hicklin, Eric Lumiere, and Pele Loriano. The song was performed by Jurij Veklenko. The Lithuanian broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) organised the national final "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka (Eurovision Song Contest national selection) in order to select the Lithuanian entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel. The national final took place over seven weeks and involved 49 competing entries. The results of each show were determined by the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public vote. In the final, eight artists and songs remained and "Run with the Lions", performed by Jurijus, was selected as the winner.
Lithuania was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 16 May 2019. Performing during the show in position 12, "Run with the Lions" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Lithuania placed eleventh out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 93 points.
Prior to the 2019 contest, Lithuania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest nineteen times since its first entry in 1994.[1] The nation's best placing in the contest was sixth, which it achieved in 2006 with the song "We Are the Winners", performed by LT United. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Lithuania, to this point, had managed to qualify to the final nine times. In the 2018 contest, "When We're Old" performed by Ieva Zasimauskaitė qualified to the final, where the song scored 181 points and placed 12th.
For the 2019 contest, the Lithuanian national broadcaster, Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT), broadcast the event within Lithuania and organised the selection process for the nation's entry. Other than the internal selection of their debut entry in 1994, Lithuania has selected their entry consistently through a national final procedure. LRT confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest on 8 August 2018.[2] On 10 October 2018, LRT announced the organization of "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka, which would be the national final to select Lithuania's entry for Tel Aviv.[3]
Before Eurovision
"Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka
"Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka (Eurovision Song Contest national selection) was the national final format developed by LRT in order to select Lithuania's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The competition involved a seven-week-long process that commenced on 5 January 2019 and concluded with a winning song and artist on 23 February 2019. The seven shows were hosted by Gabrielė Martirosianaitė and Giedrius Masalskis and were broadcast on LRT televizija, LRT Lituanica, and LRT Radijas, as well as online via the broadcaster's website lrt.lt.[4]
Format
The 2019 competition involved 49 entries and consisted of seven shows. The first to fourth shows were the heats, consisting of 11 to 13 entries each. The top six entries from each heat proceeded in the competition, with the remaining 24 entries participating in the fifth and sixth shows, which were the competition's semi-finals. Here, 12 entries participated in each show and the top four proceeded to the final. In the final, the winner was selected from the remaining eight entries.[5] A monetary prize of €5,000 was also awarded to the winning songwriters by the Lithuanian Copyright Protection Association (LATGA) in order to encourage further development of the song in an aim to achieve international success.[6]
The results of each of the seven shows were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and public televoting. The ranking developed by both streams of voting was converted to points from 1-8, 10 and 12 and assigned based on the number of competing songs in the respective show. The public could vote through telephone and SMS voting. Ties in all shows were decided in favour of the entry that received the most points from the jury.[7]
Competing entries
On 10 October 2018, LRT opened two separate submission forms: one for artists and another for songwriters to submit their songs. Artists that applied to compete with a song were required to indicate which song they wanted to compete with on their application. The submission deadline for both applications concluded on 10 December 2018.[3] On 14 December 2018, LRT announced the 49 artists selected for the competition. Among the artists were previous Lithuanian Eurovision contestant Erica Jennings, who represented Lithuania in 2001 as part of SKAMP, Sasha Song, who represented the nation in 2009, and Jurgis Did, who represented the nation in 2010 as part of InCulto.[8] The final changes to the list of 49 competing acts were later made with the addition of the group 120 to the list of performers, the addition of the song "Light On" for Monika Marija, and the withdrawal of singers Algirdas Daumantas Ciūnys, Emilija Valiukevičiūtė, Linas Jakštys, and Sasha Song and Dovilė.
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 120 | "Nėra abejonių" | Deivydas Zvonkus, Dovydas Laukys, Šarūnas Januškevičius |
| Aldegunda | "I Want Your Love" | Gailė Asačiovaitė |
| Alen Chicco | "Your Cure" | Faustas Venckus, Tomas Alenčikas |
| Antikvariniai Kašpirovskio Dantys | "Mažulė" | Martynas Enčius |
| Banzzzai | "I Don't Care" | Martynas Puchovičius, Paulius Šinkūnas |
| Cheri | "Again" | Viktorija Vyšniauskaitė, Vitalij Puzyriov |
| Dagna Kondrotaitė | "The Rush" | Liutauras Janušaitis, Lionel Lombard |
| Donata and Bing Bang | "Doing the Loop" | Lise Cabble, Christopher Wortley, DWB |
| Edgaras Lubys | "To the Sky" | Edgaras Lubys |
| Elizabeth Olshey | "Never Enough (Of Your Love)" | Konstantin Beyrer, Elizabeth Olshey, Šarūnas Vaidachovičius |
| Emilija Gogolytė | "Riddle" | Sara Sangfelt, Ian Curnow, Ina Reni Alexandrow |
| Filtered Tools | "Survival" | Donatas Sabaliauskas, Eglė Tamulionienė |
| Gabriela Ždanovičiūtė | "Home Is in Your Heart" | Agnete Johnsen, Thomas Reil, Jeppe Reil, Christopher Wortley |
| Gabrielė Rybko | "Lay It Down" | Laurell Barker, Georgie Dennis, Cameron Warren |
| Gebrasy | "Acceptance" | Audrius Petrauskas, Alex Lipnevic, Jevgenij Podskokov |
| Giedrius Nakas | "Klaidos" | Giedrius Nakas |
| Glossarium | "Anyone" | Tadas Kaminskas, Lukas Gubanovas, Saulius Šivickas |
| Gražvydas Sidiniauskas | "Another Movie" | Andreas Sjo Engen, Janieck Devy, Radboud Miedema, Fabrizio Levita |
| Henry and Tommy Modric | "Neverpart" | Tomas Sinickis |
| Indrė Juodeikienė | "Bad Option" | Nácha, Rajan Muse, Koos Kamerling |
| Junà | "Strength of a Woman" | Donatas Montvydas, Gytis Valickas-Echoes, Glenda "Gizzle" Proby |
| Jurgis Brūzga | "Ctrl Alt Delete" | Kasparas Meginis, Edgaras Žaltauskas, Jurgis Brūzga, Andrius Kairys |
| Jurgis Did and Erica Jennings | "Sing!" | Jurgis Didžiulis, Erica Jennings |
| Jurijus | "Run with the Lions" | Ashley Hicklin, Eric Lumiere, Pele Loriano |
| Justina Žukauskaitė | "Hit Me Harder" | Vytautas Karpauskas, Justina Žukauskaitė |
| Kali | "Don't B3long" | Karolis Talutis, Arvydas Kriščikas |
| La forza | "Leisk tave paguosti" | Stanislovas Stavickis |
| Laimingu Būti Lengva | "Pasaulio vidury" | Audrius Pakšys |
| Lukas Bartaška | "River of Hope" | Lukas Bartaška, Giedrius Misiūnas |
| Mannazz | "Blind Bird" | Kamilė Kielaitė-Sienkievič, Dominykas Zalieckas |
| Matas Ligeika | "You Came Here to Fly" | Matas Ligeika, Gintarė Liseckaitė |
| Migloko | "Rožės" | Artūras Bieliauskas, Miglė Vilčiauskaitė |
| Monika Marija | "Criminal" | Benny Jansson, Monika Marija Paulauskaitė, Thomas Karlsson, Mahan Moin |
| "Light On" | Rachel Suter, Monika Marija Paulauskaitė, Martin Wiik, Glen Eriksson | |
| Original Copy | "Power of Sounds" | Ieva Ščerbinskaitė |
| Paola Hart | "I'll Be Alright" | Vitalij Rodevič, Paulina Paulauskaitė |
| Queens of Roses | "Runaway" | Edgaras Koldaras, Artiomas Penkevičius |
| Rūta | "Paradox" | Rūta Statkevičiūtė, Forest Blakk |
| Saulės kliošas | "Laiko mašina" | Alvydas Mačiulskas, Laurynas Šarkinas, Justė Starinskaitė |
| Simona | "This Day Begins with Love" | Kęstutis Jablonskis, Raimundas Margalikas |
| Sofija Eitutytė | "My 7th Life" | Florian Buba, Charlie Mason, Rike Boomgaarden, Marcus Brosch |
| Soliaris and Foreign Souls | "Song of My Life" | Viktoras Alechnovicius, Artūras Daunys, Algimantas Minalga, Arminas Bagdzevičius |
| Šarūnas Mačiulis | "Traukinys" | Šarūnas Mačiulis |
| Tiramisu | "The Smell of Your Eyes" | Martyna Rudelytė, Egidijus Lisovoj |
| Twosome | "1000" | Paulius Šinkūnas, Justinas Stanislovaitis |
| Valdas Lacko | "Dare" | Niklas Bergqvist, Simon Johansson, Malin Bergqvist |
| Valerija Iljinaitė | "Scars Are Beautiful" | Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Charlie Mason, John Matthews, Kaspars Ansons |
| Voldemars Petersons | "Dancing with the Stars" | Ashley Hicklin, Becky Jerams, Christopher Wortley |
| Živilė Gedvilaitė | "Learn from Your Love" | Anna Timgren, Alex Mullarkey |
Jury members
The jury panel consisted of three members in the heats and the first semi-final, four members in the second semi-final, and seven members in the final.
| Jury member | Heats | Semi-finals | Final | Occupation(s) | ||||
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Arnoldas Lukošius |  |
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musician |
| Darius Užkuraitis | |
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LRT Opus director |
| Deivydas Zvonkus | |
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composer |
| Giedrė Kilčiauskienė | |
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singer, vocalist for the band Pieno lazeriai |
| Ieva Narkutė | |
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singer |
| Jonas Nainys | |
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DJ, radio host, producer |
| Julija Ritčik | |
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singer, representative of LATGA |
| Jurga Šeduikytė | |
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singer |
| Leonas Somovas | |
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producer |
| Mykolas Katkus | |
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public relations specialist, lead singer of the band Tha Station |
| Ramūnas Zilnys | |
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music reviewer |
| Rasa Bubulytė | |
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singer |
| Sigutė Stonytė | |
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opera singer, vocal teacher |
| Simona Albavičiūtė-Bandita | |
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radio and television presenter |
| Vilius Alesius | |
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member of the band Skamp, representative of LATGA |
| Vytautas Bikus | |
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composer, council member of AGATA |
| Vytautas Rumšas Jr. | |
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actor, director |
Shows
Heats
The four heats of the competition aired between 5 January and 2 February 2019, and featured the 49 competing entries. The top six entries advanced to the semi-finals from each heat, while the bottom entries were eliminated.
Before the broadcast of the fourth heat, Gabrielė Rybko was disqualified due to breaking the twenty-eighth selection rule of the competition in regards to the fairness of the televote. However, her recorded performance was still part of the show.[13]
| R/O | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Points | ||||||
| 1 | Matas Ligeika | "You Came Here to Fly" | 5 | 473 | 4 | 9 | 8 |
| 2 | Simona | "This Day Begins with Love" | 0 | 157 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 3 | Filtered Tools | "Survival" | 4 | 267 | 2 | 6 | 9 |
| 4 | Rūta | "Paradox" | 0 | 341 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 5 | Šarūnas Mačiūlis | "Traukinys" | 3 | 686 | 8 | 11 | 6 |
| 6 | Aldegunda | "I Want Your Love" | 3 | 828 | 12 | 15 | 3 |
| 7 | Gabriela Ždanovičiūtė | "Home Is in Your Heart" | 1 | 223 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| 8 | Migloko | "Rožės" | 12 | 639 | 7 | 19 | 2 |
| 9 | Twosome | "1000" | 7 | 633 | 6 | 13 | 4 |
| 10 | Mannazz | "Blind Bird" | 10 | 792 | 10 | 20 | 1 |
| 11 | Gebrasy | "Acceptance" | 8 | 257 | 1 | 9 | 7 |
| 12 | Glossarium | "Anyone" | 6 | 603 | 5 | 11 | 5 |
| R/O | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Points | ||||||
| 1 | Tiramisu | "The Smell of Your Eyes" | 0 | 824 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| 2 | Giedrius Nakas | "Klaidos" | 4 | 198 | 0 | 4 | 11 |
| 3 | Justina Žukauskaitė | "Hit Me Harder" | 2 | 474 | 4 | 6 | 9 |
| 4 | Lukas Bartaška | "River of Hope" | 8 | 592 | 6 | 14 | 4 |
| 5 | Paola Hart | "I'll Be Alright" | 8 | 224 | 0 | 8 | 6 |
| 6 | Valdas Lacko | "Dare" | 0 | 295 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
| 7 | Emilija Gogolytė | "Riddle" | 6 | 880 | 10 | 16 | 2 |
| 8 | Edgaras Lubys | "To the Sky" | 10 | 1,007 | 12 | 22 | 1 |
| 9 | Donata and Bing Bang | "Doing the Loop" | 1 | 517 | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| 10 | Gražvydas Sidiniauskas | "Another Movie" | 5 | 260 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| 11 | Junà | "Strength of a Woman" | 12 | 407 | 2 | 14 | 3 |
| 12 | Banzzzai | "I Don't Care" | 0 | 250 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 13 | Original Copy | "Power of Sounds" | 3 | 603 | 7 | 10 | 5 |
| R/O | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | |
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| Votes | Points | ||||||
| 1 | Laimingu Būti Lengva | "Pasaulio vidury" | 0 | 149 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 2 | Voldemars Petersons | "Dancing with the Stars" | 2 | 227 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| 3 | La forza | "Leisk tave paguosti" | 0 | 146 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 4 | Sofija Eitutytė | "My 7th Life" | 3 | 302 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| 5 | Antikvariniai Kašpirovskio Dantys | "Mažulė" | 6 | 906 | 7 | 13 | 4 |
| 6 | Dagna | "The Rush" | 4 | 739 | 6 | 10 | 7 |
| 7 | Jurgis Brūzga | "Ctrl Alt Delete" | 5 | 663 | 5 | 10 | 6 |
| 8 | Kali | "Don't B3long" | 2 | 308 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| 9 | Cheri | "Again" | 8 | 409 | 3 | 11 | 5 |
| 10 | 120 | "Nėra abejonių" | 0 | 548 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 11 | Monika Marija | "Criminal" | 10 | 978 | 8 | 18 | 2 |
| 12 | Jurijus | "Run with the Lions" | 12 | 1,533 | 12 | 24 | 1 |
| 13 | Jurgis Did and Erica Jennings | "Sing!" | 8 | 1,077 | 10 | 18 | 3 |
| R/O | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | |
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| Votes | Points | ||||||
| 1 | Valerija Iljinaitė | "Scars Are Beautiful" | 2 | 242 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| 2 | Indrė Juodeikienė | "Bad Option" | 1 | 375 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| 3 | Alen Chicco | "Your Cure" | 4 | 745 | 8 | 12 | 6 |
| 4 | Queens of Roses | "Runaway" | 7 | 580 | 4 | 11 | 7 |
| 5 | Živilė Gedvilaitė | "Learn from Your Love" | 7 | 643 | 5 | 12 | 5 |
| 6 | Elizabeth Olshey | "Never Enough (Of Your Love)" | 0 | 669 | 6 | 6 | 8 |
| 7 | Gabrielė Rybko | "Lay It Down" | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| 8 | Saulės kliošas | "Laiko mašina" | 10 | 527 | 3 | 13 | 4 |
| 9 | Soliaris and Foreign Souls | "Song of My Life" | 7 | 694 | 7 | 14 | 3 |
| 10 | Monika Marija | "Light On" | 12 | 1,416 | 12 | 24 | 1 |
| 11 | Henry and Tommy Modric | "Neverpart" | 8 | 838 | 10 | 18 | 2 |
Semi-finals
The two semi-finals of the competition took place on 9 and 16 February 2019 and featured twelve competing entries each. The top four entries from each semi-final advanced to the final, while the bottom eight were eliminated.
On 21 February 2019, Monika Marija withdrew one of her two songs "Criminal", which placed third in the second semi-final, after clarifying that she only wanted to compete with her other song "Light On" in the final.[14][15] The song "Your Cure", performed by Alen Chicco, which placed fifth in the second semi-final, replaced the withdrawn song and advanced to the final.[16][17]
- Key
Qualifier Entry withdrawn
| R/O | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | |
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| Votes | Points | ||||||
| 1 | Emilija Gogolytė | "Riddle" | 1 | 1,694 | 10 | 11 | 5 |
| 2 | Henry and Tommy Modric | "Neverpart" | 7 | 1,171 | 7 | 14 | 4 |
| 3 | Saulės kliošas | "Laiko mašina" | 5 | 535 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| 4 | Edgaras Lubys | "To the Sky" | 4 | 994 | 6 | 10 | 7 |
| 5 | Glossarium | "Anyone" | 0 | 506 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| 6 | Migloko | "Rožės" | 7 | 665 | 3 | 10 | 6 |
| 7 | Twosome | "1000" | 0 | 286 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 8 | Lukas Bartaška | "River of Hope" | 2 | 1,410 | 8 | 10 | 8 |
| 9 | Junà | "Strength of a Woman" | 10 | 786 | 4 | 14 | 3 |
| 10 | Monika Marija | "Light On" | 12 | 3,192 | 12 | 24 | 1 |
| 11 | Jurgis Brūzga | "Ctrl Alt Delete" | 10 | 815 | 5 | 15 | 2 |
| 12 | Cheri | "Again" | 4 | 442 | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| R/O | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Points | ||||||
| 1 | Original Copy | "Power of Sounds" | 3 | 335 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| 2 | Živilė Gedvilaitė | "Learn from Your Love" | 0 | 231 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 3 | Šarūnas Mačiūlis | "Traukinys" | 0 | 1,209 | 5 | 5 | 9 |
| 4 | Paola Hart | "I'll Be Alright" | 2 | 224 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| 5 | Alen Chicco | "Your Cure" | 6 | 1,415 | 6 | 12 | 5 |
| 6 | Aldegunda | "I Want Your Love" | 1 | 1,191 | 4 | 5 | 8 |
| 7 | Soliaris and Foreign Souls | "Song of My Life" | 4 | 413 | 2 | 6 | 7 |
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| 9 | Antikvariniai Kašpirovskio Dantys | "Mažulė" | 10 | 1,979 | 8 | 18 | 2 |
| 10 | Jurijus | "Run with the Lions" | 12 | 4,097 | 12 | 24 | 1 |
| 11 | Mannazz | "Blind Bird" | 5 | 628 | 3 | 8 | 6 |
| 12 | Jurgis Did and Erica Jennings | "Sing!" | 7 | 2,020 | 10 | 17 | 4 |
Final
The final of the competition took place on 23 February 2019 and featured the remaining eight entries that qualified from the semi-finals. "Run with the Lions", performed by Jurijus, was selected as the winner after gaining the most points from both the jury vote and the public vote.[18] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, interval acts included Moniqué and Mantas performing the song "Ateities žmogus", Ieva Zasimauskaitė performing the 2018 Lithuanian Eurovision entry "When We're Old", and Carousel performing the 2019 Latvian Eurovision entry "That Night".[19]
| R/O | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | |
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| Votes | Points | ||||||
| 1 | Alen Chicco | "Your Cure" | 6 | 2,980 | 6 | 12 | 5 |
| 2 | Junà | "Strength of a Woman" | 3 | 691 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| 3 | Henry and Tommy Modric | "Neverpart" | 5 | 1,186 | 5 | 10 | 6 |
| 4 | Jurgis Brūzga | "Ctrl Alt Delete" | 4 | 936 | 4 | 8 | 7 |
| 5 | Jurgis Did and Erica Jennings | "Sing!" | 7 | 14,912 | 7 | 14 | 4 |
| 6 | Monika Marija | "Light On" | 10 | 20,977 | 10 | 20 | 2 |
| 7 | Antikvariniai Kašpirovskio Dantys | "Mažulė" | 8 | 15,699 | 8 | 16 | 3 |
| 8 | Jurijus | "Run with the Lions" | 12 | 24,694 | 12 | 24 | 1 |
Preparation
Jurij Veklenko traveled to Switzerland to work on a revamped version of "Run with the Lions" with composers Eric Lumiere and Pele Loriano following his win during the Lithuanian national final.[20] The revamped version was released on 3 April 2019.[21][22]
Promotion
Jurij Veklenko made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Run with the Lions" as the Lithuanian Eurovision entry. On 6 April, Veklenko performed during the Eurovision in Concert event, which was held at the AFAS Live venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and hosted by Edsilia Rombley and Marlayne.[23] On 14 April, Veklenko performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London, United Kingdom, and hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell.[24] On 21 April, Veklenko performed during the Eurovision Pre-Party Madrid event, which was held at the Sala La Riviera venue in Madrid, Spain, and hosted by Tony Aguilar and Julia Varela.[25]
