Lithuania was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song "Love or Leave", written by Julija Ritčik, and performed by the band 4Fun. The Lithuanian participating broadcaster, (LRT), organised the national final in order to select its entry for the contest. The national final took place over six weeks and involved three different competitive streams: entries performed by newcomers, semi-established artists, and established artists. In the final, eleven artists and songs remained, and the winner was selected over two rounds of public voting. In the first round, the top three were selected to qualify to the superfinal. In the superfinal, "Love or Leave" performed by 4Fun was selected as the winner with 23,888 votes.
As one of the ten highest placed finishers in 2006, Lithuania automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing during the show in position 9, Lithuania placed twenty-first out of the 24 participating countries with 28 points.
Background
Prior to the 2007 contest, (LRT) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Lithuania seven times since its first entry in 1994. Its best placing in the contest was sixth, achieved with the song "We Are the Winners" performed by LT United. This was also the only time Lithuania has managed to qualify to the final following the introduction of semi-finals in .
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, LRT organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. Other than the internal selection of its debut entry in 1994, the broadcaster has selected its entry consistently through a national final procedure. LRT confirmed its intentions to participate at the 2007 contest on 23 October 2006 and announced the organization of , which would be the national final to select its entry for the contest.
Before Eurovision
(Eurovision Song Contest national selection) was the national final format developed by LRT in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. The competition involved a six-week-long process that commenced on 27 January 2007 and concluded with a winning song and artist on 3 March 2007. The six shows took place at the LRT studios in Vilnius and were hosted by Rolandas Vilkončius and Gabrielė Bartkutė. The shows were broadcast on LTV and LTV2 as well as online via the broadcaster's website lrt.lt.
Format For the 2007 competition, entries competed in three different subgroups with different numbers participating in each group: newcomers (12), semi-established artists (13), and established artists (10). A separate heat was held for each group, resulting in four entries from newcomers, seven entries from semi-established artists, and eight entries from established artists advancing in the competition. LRT was to select a wildcard act out of the remaining non-qualifying acts from the heats, however, four wildcards were ultimately awarded due to problems with the presentation of the voting results in the first two heats. The fourth and fifth shows were the competition's semi-finals, where the remaining twenty-three entries participated and the top five from each semi-final proceeded to the final. LRT also selected a wildcard act for the final out of the remaining non-qualifying acts from the semi-finals. In the final, the winner was selected from the remaining eleven entries over two rounds of voting: the first round results selected the top three entries, while the second round determined the winner.
The results of the heats and the semi-finals were determined by the combination of votes from a three-member jury panel and public televoting. Each jury member had an equal stake in the final result and the public televote had a weighting equal to the votes of four jury members. Ties were decided in favour of the entry that received the most votes from the public. In the final, the results were determined solely by public televoting. The public could vote through telephone and SMS voting.
Competing entries LRT opened a submission period on 23 October 2006 for artists and songwriters to submit their entries with the deadline on 15 December 2006. A live audition featuring the 65 submissions received took place on 5 and 6 January 2007 in front of a jury panel that consisted of LT United (music group), Zita Kelmickaitė (musicologist), Jonas Vilimas (LTV music producer) and Vilma Kuzmienė (psychologist). On 17 January 2007, LRT announced the 37 artists selected for the competition. The final changes to the list of 37 competing acts were later made with the withdrawal of singers Artas and Vilija Matačiūnaitė. LRT broadcast two introductory shows on 13 and 20 January 2007 that covered the live auditions and introduced the competing artists. Jury members +Jury members by show Jury member Heats Semi-finals Final Occupation(s) 1 2 3 1 2 Aidas Puklevičius rowspan="11" screenwriterAndrius Mamontovas musicianArnoldas Lukošius keyboardistDarius Užkuraitis musicologist, Opus 3 directorDonalda Meiželytė presenter Edita Mildažytė journalistIlona Balsytė actressLinas Adomaitis musicianRūta Vanagaitė journalistVytenis Pauliukaitis directorŽeraldas Povilaitis composer, producer
Shows Heats The three heats of the competition aired on 27 January, 3 February, and 10 February 2007. The first heat featured the newcomers, while the second heat featured the semi-established artists, and the third heat featured the established artists. In the first heat, the top four entries advanced to the semi-finals, while the top seven entries in the second heat advanced, and the top eight entries in the third heat advanced. Due to technical issues with the voting presentation in the first two heats, four of the entries originally announced to have been eliminated received a wildcard and also proceeded to the semi-finals.
+ Heat 1 – 27 January 2007 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points 1 Pokeris "Man reikia meilės" 21 262 8 29 7 2 Kupido "Hero of Today" 2 429 28 30 6 3 Mini-Me "Like You" 27 448 32 59 3 4 Marta "Stay Away" 22 173 4 26 9 5 Alien Run Amuck "A Cool Guy With Long Hair" 16 290 16 32 5 6 Dykaja Zemlia "It's Time to Say Goodbye" 2 400 24 26 8 7 Slapjack "Lust and Sexy Shadows" 30 761 40 70 1 8 Edgaras Kapočius "I Will Survive Without You" 5 264 12 17 10 9 Jolita "Air" 6 67 0 6 12 10 Barbė-Q "Feel Your Lips" 12 393 20 32 4 11 Sweetness Theory "Save Me" 21 1,164 48 69 2 12 Angelina "Tavo pirktos gėlės" 10 168 0 10 11 + Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 "Man reikia meilės" 10 1 10 21 2 "Hero of Today" 1 1 2 3 "Like You" 8 7 12 27 4 "Stay Away" 7 10 5 22 5 "A Cool Guy With Long Hair" 3 5 8 16 6 "It's Time to Say Goodbye" 2 2 7 "Lust and Sexy Shadows" 12 12 6 30 8 "I Will Survive Without You" 2 3 5 9 "Air" 4 2 6 10 "Feel Your Lips" 5 4 3 12 11 "Save Me" 6 8 7 21 12 "Tavo pirktos gėlės" 6 4 10
+ Heat 2 – 3 February 2007 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points 1 Edita "Wherever I Go" 18 72 0 18 10 2 Ashtrey "The Green Sun" 24 377 24 48 3 3 Ingrida Paukštytė "Let's Pray" 0 227 12 12 11 4 Mėsa "Bad Salad Ballad" 16 450 32 48 3 5 Žydrė "It Was Good to Be With You" 12 363 20 32 7 6 Nerri "Breaking Free" 22 242 16 38 6 7 Natas "The Fall" 23 207 8 31 8 8 Stringaj "Just Leave" 12 422 28 40 5 9 Igors "There's No Matter" 1 129 0 1 13 10 Super Kolegos "PiaR" 5 199 4 9 12 11 U-Soul "At Your Door" 13 454 40 53 2 12 Helada "Būk arti" 21 162 0 21 9 13 Edita and Erika "Something About Love" 7 564 48 55 1 + Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 "Wherever I Go" 6 2 10 18 2 "The Green Sun" 4 8 12 24 3 "Let's Pray" 0 4 "Bad Salad Ballad" 10 1 5 16 5 "It Was Good to Be With You" 10 2 12 6 "Breaking Free" 12 6 4 22 7 "The Fall" 3 12 8 23 8 "Just Leave" 5 7 12 9 "There's No Matter" 1 1 10 "PiaR" 5 5 11 "At Your Door" 7 3 3 13 12 "Būk arti" 8 7 6 21 13 "Something About Love" 2 4 1 7
+ Heat 3 – 10 February 2007 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points 1 Rūta Ščiogolevaitė "If I Ever Make You Cry" 24 909 32 56 3 2 Aistė Pilvelytė "Emotional Crisis" 13 403 20 33 6 3 Rasa Kaušiutė "Stranger" 4 184 8 12 10 4 Nacija "Fly Up Together" 12 81 4 16 9 5 Dove and Gerda "Each Day of My Life" 20 265 16 36 5 6 Augustė "Fate" 26 938 40 66 2 7 4Fun "Love or Leave" 36 3,351 48 84 1 8 The Road Band "Auksinis ruduo" 10 205 12 22 8 9 Saulės kliošas "Tell Me Why" 23 689 28 51 4 10 Onsa "Stay Here" 6 420 24 30 7 + Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 "If I Ever Make You Cry" 8 8 8 24 2 "Emotional Crisis" 5 4 4 13 3 "Stranger" 1 2 1 4 4 "Fly Up Together" 4 3 5 12 5 "Each Day of My Life" 7 6 7 20 6 "Fate" 10 10 6 26 7 "Love or Leave" 12 12 12 36 8 "Auksinis ruduo" 3 5 2 10 9 "Tell Me Why" 6 7 10 23 10 "Stay Here" 2 1 3 6 Semi-finals The two semi-finals of the competition aired on 17 and 24 February 2007 and featured all remaining entries in the competition. The top five entries advanced to the final from each semi-final, while the bottom entries were eliminated. On 25 February 2007, LRT announced that "The Fall" performed by Natas had received the wildcard and also proceeded to the final.
+ Semi-final 1 – 17 February 2007 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points 1 4Fun "Love or Leave" 32 1,954 48 80 1 2 Edita and Erika "Something About Love" 0 326 4 4 12 3 U-Soul "At Your Door" 6 458 20 26 7 4 Barbė-Q "Feel Your Lips" 6 340 0 6 10 5 Aistė Pilvelytė "Emotional Crisis" 16 1,289 40 56 2 6 Slapjack "Lust and Sexy Shadows" 23 531 24 47 4 7 Onsa "Stay Here" 10 328 8 18 9 8 Sweetness Theory "Save Me" 15 762 32 47 4 9 Stringaj "Just Leave" 7 366 12 19 8 10 Natas "The Fall" 30 374 16 46 6 11 Ashtrey "The Green Sun" 24 659 28 52 3 12 The Road Band "Auksinis ruduo" 5 277 0 5 11 + Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 "Love or Leave" 12 12 8 32 2 "Something About Love" 0 3 "At Your Door" 2 2 2 6 4 "Feel Your Lips" 5 1 6 5 "Emotional Crisis" 7 6 3 16 6 "Lust and Sexy Shadows" 10 7 6 23 7 "Stay Here" 1 4 5 10 8 "Save Me" 3 5 7 15 9 "Just Leave" 3 4 7 10 "The Fall" 8 10 12 30 11 "The Green Sun" 6 8 10 24 12 "Auksinis ruduo" 4 1 5
+ Semi-final 2 – 24 February 2007 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points 1 Rūta Ščiogolevaitė "If I Ever Make You Cry" 34 1,399 48 82 1 2 Augustė "Fate" 24 593 20 44 5 3 Mini-Me "Like You" 16 991 32 48 3 4 Alien Run Amuck "A Cool Guy With Long Hair" 16 299 8 24 7 5 Edita "Wherever I Go" 6 71 0 6 10 6 Žydrė "It Was Good to Be With You" 6 358 16 22 8 7 Ingrida Paukštytė "Let's Pray" 2 211 4 6 10 8 Dove and Gerda "Each Day of My Life" 21 617 24 45 4 9 Mėsa "Bad Salad Ballad" 10 935 28 38 6 10 Saulės kliošas "Tell Me Why" 32 1,134 40 72 2 11 Nerri "Breaking Free" 7 350 12 19 9 + Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 "If I Ever Make You Cry" 10 12 12 34 2 "Fate" 8 8 8 24 3 "Like You" 6 5 5 16 4 "A Cool Guy With Long Hair" 4 6 6 16 5 "Wherever I Go" 2 4 6 6 "It Was Good to Be With You" 3 1 2 6 7 "Let's Pray" 2 2 8 "Each Day of My Life" 7 7 7 21 9 "Bad Salad Ballad" 5 4 1 10 10 "Tell Me Why" 12 10 10 32 11 "Breaking Free" 1 3 3 7
Final The final of the competition took place on 3 March 2007 and featured the remaining eleven entries that qualified from the two semi-finals. The final was the only show in the competition to be broadcast live; all other preceding shows were pre-recorded earlier in the week before their airdates. The winner was selected over two rounds of public televoting. In the first round, the top three entries advanced to the superfinal. In the superfinal, "Love or Leave" performed by 4Fun was selected as the winner. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, interval acts included several entries that would participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007: Dmitry Koldun performing "Work Your Magic" (), Bonaparti.lv performing "" (), Olivia Lewis performing "Vertigo" (), Guri Schanke performing "" (), and The Jet Set performing "Time to Party" ().