Country Lithuania Selected entrant InCulto | Selection process Eurovizija 2010 | |
Selection date(s) Semi-finals
13 February 2010
20 February 2010
27 February 2010
Final
4 March 2010 Selected song "Eastern European Funk" Semi-final result Failed to qualify (12th, 44 points) | ||
Lithuania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, with the Lithuanian entry selected by a national final - Eurovizijos dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka 2010 - organised by Lithuanian broadcaster LRT. On 4 March the final of Eurovizija 2010 was held, where it was decided by a joint jury and televoting decision that InCulto would represent Lithuania at the Contest in Oslo, Norway with the song "Eastern European Funk".
Contents
Possible withdraw
In December 2009 it was announced that LRT would formally withdraw from the 2010 Contest owing to problems in finding the required funds to send a Lithuanian entry to the Contest. A total of 300,000 litas (€90,000) was required by LRT to send a Lithuanian delegation to the contest in Oslo, Norway. However funding was given by Lithuanian company Teo LT which allowed a Lithuanian participation. According to Nerijus Ivanauskas, deputy director of Teo LT, "it was decided to support LRT for two reasons: the international image of Lithuania and Teo LT digital development".
Eurovizija 2010
On 6 January LRT revealed the first details of the national final. Performers must be Lithuanian or living in Lithuania to be eligible to participate. Songwriters however can be foreign. Songs could be submitted to LRT until 24 January, and on 1 February LRT announced 36 names that will compete in three semi-finals, beginning on 13 February, leading up to the final on 4 March.
Semi-finals
From each semi-final three acts will qualify through jury and televoting, each giving 1-8, 10 and 12 points to their ten highest songs. The nine qualifying acts from the semi-finals will be joined by three other songs not to progress to the final.
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final was held on 13 February. 11 acts competed for three spots in the final. Donata Virbilaitė was to perform during the semi-final with the song "Nupirkta pasaka", however the song was withdrawn before the show.
Sasha Son & Nora, Aistė Pilvelytė and Monika Linkytė qualified to the final. Sasha Son & Nora were the favourites with the jury, however Aistė Pilvelytė was the clear favourite with the televoting, receiving more than 4 times move votes than the runner-up.
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final was held on 20 February. 11 more acts competed during this semi-final. Merūnas was to perform with the song "Rosa" during this semi-final, but withdrew beforehand due to medical issues.
AGAMA, Ruslanas Kirilkinas and Donatas Montvydas progressed to the semi-final, with Donatas Montvydas getting full marks from both jury and televoting. However, on 22 February Donatas Montvydas, the winner of the semi-final 2, had been disqualified after it was revealed that his song, "Running Fast", had been performed before 1 October 2009, breaking fundamental Eurovision rules. They were replaced by Amberlife in the final, who came fourth.
Semi-final 3
The third semi-final was held on 27 February, with 12 acts competing. InCulto, Evelina Sašenko and Merūnas were selected by the professional jury and public televote to progress to the final, with InCulto winning with full marks from the televoters but only 6 points from the juries. On 1 March the three jury wildcard entries were selected from this semi-final: Ramūnas Difartas, Jūratė Miliauskaitė and Eden joined the semi-final winners in the final.
Final
The final of Eurovizijos 2010 was held on 4 March. Nine semi-final qualifiers and three jury wildcards will compete in the contest, with jury and televoting deciding the winner. The line-up was complete on 1 March, with the announcement of the three wildcards, all selected from the third semi-final.
InCulto was the winner of the final with the song "East European Funk", receiving full marks from both the jury and televoting.
At Eurovision
Lithuania competed in the second semi-final of the contest, on 27 May.