This evening saw the first of three semi-finals in Lithuania. Eleven acts competed for the three available places in the final. The qualifying songs were determined by a combination of a public phone vote and a jury vote.
1) Kafka, Ruta & Kivi – Tonight – The first song of the evening is a good ballad of the type that would be found on a High School Musical soundtrack.
2) Mino – Angela – Mino’s song is in Lithuanian. It’s an underplayed rock song that promises to explode into life at any moment, but never does.
3) Monika Linkyte – Give Away – Monika’s song sounds like an updated cover of a 1970’s Jackson 5 song.
4) Gabriele – Girl – the fourth song is a pop song of the variety that has been heard many times before, something that can be a positive or negative influence on the final result.
5) Avenue Acoustic – Aklomis Myliu Tavo Varda – In contrast to the previous song, this one sounds more original. This can also prove to be good or bad when the votes are in. as with a lot of original songs, it’s messy and without direction.
6) Simantas – Won’t You Come Back? – The first soul song of the evening has a sax solo, something that is less dangerous now in the days of backing tracks. It does it starts well, but is labouring by the end, becoming slightly boring.
7) Onsa – Will You Be My Wife – Onsa had the support of five female backing singers on stage with him. I wonder which one he was singing to! After a gentle start, it gets funky.
8) Daina Bileviciute – Myliu Gyventi – This is the most up-tempo song of the eleven. This would help it stand out in a semi-final consisting mostly of ballads and mid-tempo songs.
9) Sasha Song & Nora – Say ‘yes’ to life – After a successful visit to Moscow for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, Sasha is trying again with a soul song. A good choice as his voice is well suited to the genre.
10) Urte – Angelai – Urte’s song is a very beautiful, piano based ballad. It’s the most emotional song of the night so far. It achieves this not by going for the intense power, but by creating a feeling of emptiness in the heart of the singer.
11) Aiste Pilvelyte – Melancoli – Melancoli is a song in the power ballad mould. Like the song before, it’s emotional, but pulls at the heartstrings in a different way.
After all the points had beenb awarded, the final results were:
1st – Aiste Pilvelyte – 22 points
2nd – Sasha Song & Nora – 22 points
3rd – Monika Linkyte – 15 points
4th – Kafka, Ruta & Kivi – 12 points
5th – Gabriele – 10 points
6th – Mino – 9 points
7th – Urte – 9 points
8th – Avenue Acoustic – 9 points
9th – Imantas – 6 points
10th – Onsa – 4 points
11th – Daina Bileviciute – 0 points
Therefore, Aiste Pilvelyte, Sasha Son and Nora, and Monika Linkyte will compete in the final on 4th March.
