Well another weekend has passed full of Eurovision related fun. Slovenia has released their entry (review of which you will find here) and before we know it we’ll all be glued to our phones reading all about the rehearsals in Malmö. Before we get there however, there’s still quite a few bumps and turns we have to get through. And boy was this heat a bump. I dare say it nearly made me lose control of the wheel and fly out of the curve. And not in a good way. 8 acts competed and another 2 have made it to the final! Some of you may have witnessed this blessed event live on Saturday night. Others may have chosen to watch Eesti Laul (final review coming soon) or MGP Heat 2 instead, in which case I applaud you. You’ve saved yourself a lot of grief.
Nevertheless Tomas has gotten through all 8 acts from Saturday night and has written down his thoughts on them below!
Quick reminder of the line up:
- Andrius Pojavis – Sing Me A Hug
- Eley – Rock My Body
- Deividas Velma – Blood On Your Hands
- Aistè – We Will Rule The World
- Žalvarinis – Gaudė Vėjai
- Paula Urbana – It Is What It Is
- Thomas G – Us
- Multiks – Vėjas Galvoje
Andrius Pojavis – Sing Me A Hug
First one in and already I’m struggling. Honestly I have literally no idea what he was singing about. I kept wondering if he was singing about a hug or a hook. I think the lyric is “You fit in perfectly in my hook” which really doesn’t make any sense. Then I figured oh he must sing “you fit in perfectly in my hug”, since that’s in the song title. But that makes even less sense. It was all just very weird. Vocally he was not very good either. It almost felt a little like an open mic thing, or perhaps a karaoke night with lots of alcohol and a shisha. There is no stand out moment in the song, nor the live performance. Good thing he was already barefoot and in pyjamas. Saves him time for when he gets home.
Eley – Rock My Body
Okay… This is actually quite cute. I mean it’s by no means a winner and it’s not the the most creative song or act but I don’t hate it. I liked the idea of the staging and the neon colored lighting. Not the biggest fan of her outfit but she looked good nonetheless. I feel as if this song is a nice edition to the contest but it’s all just a tad bit underwhelming, a bit too tame.
I needed more from this. If you’re gonna go disco pop banger, you need to go all out! More sass, more choreo, bigger notes! Also what was with that miserable little fountain on stage? I needed it to rain on her making her soaking wet and THEN do the crazy hair dance break! This could have been the girl banger we were waiting for but unfortunately it’s end of story for her. She won’t be rocking any bodies in Malmö.
Deividas Velma – Blood On Your Hands
A very dramatic start but unfortunately the song is a major let down. I was expecting a lot from his look but somehow the song didn’t match the styling. He’s giving Adam Lambert emo glamrock. But all I got was an underproduced pop ballad. A couple seconds in and I was sure he was doing a cover of “Always Remember Us This Way” by Lady Gaga. The performance in itself was all bit ‘been there, done that’. When will people learn that having interpretive dancers on stage doesn’t add anything to the package?
My favorite part of the performance was the ending. No I’m not being rude! No really, hear me out: the way the song ended abruptly and he was just staring into the camera, and no one clapped yet because everyone was confused and thought someone had accidentally turned the music off. Lovely stuff! He didn’t make it, did he? Thought not.
Aistè – We Will Rule The World
I am absolutely in shock at this. It’s making me contemplate my life choices, such as: why am I spending my Sunday afternoon listening to this? Nothing about this performance made any sense at all. Why on earth did they decide to go with 70-ies disco outfits and choreo when literally NOTHING in this entire song was disco? Where was the beat? Where was the soul? And where was the funk and the crazy keyboard elements? Why was she dressed like an ABBA tribute act when the song was giving b-rated Disney movie? And don’t even get me started on the styling of the dancers.
Surely this was a joke! I just know that someone dared her to go on Eurovizija and make a complete fool out of herself and this was all just a part of a bet. That is the only possible explenetation. How in Gods name did this manage to qualify? I’m in utter disbelief! I’m surprised she even got a cheer from the audience.
Žalvarinis – Gaudė Vėjai
This was actually not bad at all. It definitely stands out in this heat. I like that they combined a classic rock and roll song with traditional elements. It’s a combo you don’t see much, and I didn’t hate it. However I wasn’t crazy about it either. The verses were definitely better than the chorus, which to me was lacking a hook. Maybe it’s also because I had no idea what they were singing about. But it wasn’t very memorable and I found myself losing interest after a while. I think this song could do with a revamp. And perhaps they could make the traditional elements to the song more prominent. Sort of like what Gåte did in MGP. It’s not going on my playlist but seeing what came before this, I’m not surprised that it qualified. I just worry for the 3 songs to come…
Paula Urbana – It Is What It Is
Six down, three to go… It’s getting dark outside and honestly so is my mood. This one once again started off very promising but never really fully convinced me. It felt as if it was trying to be contemporary and artsy but never really succeeded at it. Remember that song “Easy Please Me” by Katy B? That’s what it reminded me off. Only that song had the hook and the sass that this is missing. I like Paulas’ voice and she sells the song well for what it’s worth.
But once again I was left wanting more. I hate when songs hint towards a climax and then end up disappointing you. When the second chorus hit I was hoping to have a better and stronger production, sort of like a sonic explosion. Unfortunately it never came. The ending kind of made up for it a little but not enough for me to really fall in love with it. Still out of this weak line up it was by far the best song. Should have qualified.
Thomas G – Us
I don’t know what it is but it almost starts to feel as if one person wrote every single song in this national selection. With the exception of one or two acts they all just sound the same. It’s so lackluster and mid. I feel for this guy because he is obviously very young and inexperienced. I wish Lithuania would give us more singer songwriters instead of just plucking some rejected second hand songs out of thin air and handing them out to whoever wants to give it a shot.
As with many of this years EurovizijaLT entries there is nothing really bad about this song. But it’s just so boring. Nothing happens. There isn’t a single aspect of it that stands out or makes it memorable. On top of that the artists performing these songs are hardly charismatic. Thomas looks very good and he has really beautiful eyes but he’s no Justin Timberlake is he? Vocally he sounded decent, but not great. Surely Lithuania has bigger talent than this to offer if they would just bother to look.
Multiks – Vėjas Galvoje
Thank the Lord we’re down to the last song! Let’s hope we go out on a bang! Well it’s not exactly a bang but at least we’re starting off with a fun melody. Maybe it’s because I just had dinner and I’m feeling a bit more energetic now, but I’m enjoying this! It’s nothing special, but it’s a nice change to what we’ve heard earlier. I like the little guitar riff during the chorus, it’s very catchy. Unlike some of the other acts, this guy actually has some charisma. He’s selling the song as much as he can and is making use of the entire stage which makes it all much more enjoyable. It’s by no means a winner but at least we finished on a high (well just a tiny high, a little bump if you will).
That is it for our review of EurovizijaLT Heat 2. Let us know in the comments down below what you thought! Did you enjoy the show? Do you agree with Tomas’ opinions and were you happy with the results? Tune in this week as we’ll be covering heat 3 of MGP and of course the remaining 5 songs competing in UMK! Great stuff!
