Lithuania was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "When We're Old", written by Vytautas Bikus. The song was performed by Ieva Zasimauskaitė. 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 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. The national final took place over nine weeks and involved 50 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, six artists and songs remained and "When We're Old", performed by Ieva Zasimauskaitė, was selected as the winner.
Lithuania was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 8 May 2018. Performing during the show in position 6, "When We're Old" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 12 May. It was later revealed that Lithuania placed ninth out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 119 points. In the final, Lithuania performed in position 4 and placed 12th out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 181 points.
Background
Prior to the 2018 contest, Lithuania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 18 times since its first entry in 1994. 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 , Lithuania, to this point, had managed to qualify to the final eight times. In the 2017 contest, "Rain of Revolution", performed by Fusedmarc, failed to qualify for the final.
For the 2018 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 2018 Eurovision Song Contest on 14 August 2017. On 17 October 2017, LRT announced the organization of "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka, which would be the national final to select Lithuania's entry for Lisbon.
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 2018. The competition involved a nine-week-long process that commenced on 6 January 2018 and concluded with a winning song and artist on 11 March 2018. The nine shows were hosted by Mantas Stonkus and Ugnė Skonsmanaitė and were broadcast on LRT televizija, LRT Lituanica, and LRT Radijas, as well as online via the broadcaster's website lrt.lt.
Format The 2018 competition involved 50 entries and consisted of nine shows. The first four shows consisted of 12 or 13 entries each, and resulted in the elimination of 26 entries all together. The remaining 24 entries participated in the fifth and sixth shows, consisting of 12 entries each. Six entries advanced from each show, while a public online repechage vote selected an additional two entries to advance among the 12 eliminated acts. The seventh and eighth show were the competition's semi-final, where seven entries participated in each show and the top three proceeded to the final. In the final, the winner was selected from the remaining six entries.
The results of each of the nine 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 but the final were decided in favour of the entry that received the most points from the jury. In the final, a tie would be decided in favour of the entry that received the most votes from the public.
Competing entries On 17 October 2017, 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 1 December 2017. On 15 January 2018, LRT announced the 50 artists selected for the competition. Among the artists was previous Lithuanian Eurovision contestant Erica Jennings, who represented Lithuania in 2001 as part of Skamp. The final changes to the list of 50 competing acts were made with the addition of Silvija Pankūnaitė to the list of performers and the replacement of Monika Marija for the withdrawal of Erica Jennings.
Artist Song Songwriter(s) Agnė Michalenkovaitė "Going On" Paulius Jasiūnas, Justina Adeikytė Audrius Petrauskas "In My Bones" Ashley Hicklin, Michael Schulte Aušra Difartė "Someday" Aušra Difartė, Ramūnas Difartas Benas Malakauskas "My Memories" Benas Malakauskas Dainotas Varnas "Merrygoround" Kasparas Meginis, Edgaras Žaltauskas, Dainotas Varnas Dangė "Netikra laimė" Dangė Šamonskienė Donata "Powerful" Michael James Down, Will Taylor E.G.O. "Shake the World" Karolis Šliažas, Vaida Kalkauskaitė ELEY "This Is My Life" Eglė Jakštytė, Justinas Štaras, M. Muzaitė El Fuego "I Do Believe" Paulius Bagdanavičius, Andrius Kairys Elizabeth Olshey "Bejausmis" Elžbieta Oleškevič, Edvinas Pechovskis Elvina Milkauskaitė "So Long My Love, My Lover" Aminata Savadogo, Christopher Wortley, Vallo Kikas Emilija Valiukevičiūtė "Bye Bye" Emilija Valiukevičiūtė, Jerome Thomas Evaldas Vaikasas "Blind" Paulius Jasiūnas, Justina Adeikytė Gabrielius Vagelis "The Distant" Gabrielius Vagelis GeraiGerai and Silvija Pankūnaitė "More Than You Know" Vilius Tamošaitis, Silvija Pankūnaitė Germantė Kinderytė "Turn It Up" Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson, Oskar Nyman, Joel Isaksson, Renee Pozzi Godo "Fire Fountain" Goda Sasnauskaitė, Jokūbas Tulaba Greta Zazza "Broken Shadows" Jonas Thander, Charlie Mason Ieva Zasimauskaitė "When We're Old" Vytautas Bikus Joyce "Breath" Evelina Jocytė, Stepan Bitus Juozas Martin "Don't Give Up" Juozas Martinkėnas Jurgis Brūzga "4Love" Jurgis Brūzga, Tomas Dičiūnas, Kasparas Meginis, Edgaras Žaltauskas, Andrius Kairys Justin 3 "Born to Be Wild One" Justinas Stanislovaitis, Mario Kernn Justina Žukauskaitė "Love Doesn't Lie" Vytautas Karpauskas, Delphi Freeman Kotryna Juodzevičiūtė "That Girl" Ashley Hicklin, Marcel Závodi, Sofia Martha Maria Anessiadis, Glen Faria, Alan Roy Scott LJ "Over Now" Vytautas Diškevičius Lukas Norkūnas "Tegu" Lukas Norkūnas Marija "This Love" Tim Larsson, Tobias Lundgren, Christian Fast, Hayley Aitken Marius Petrauskas "Kol meilė gyva" Paulius Jasiūnas, Povilas Scerbavičius Meda Meškauskaitė "Blood Roses" M. Franck, Jon Are Kulsveen, Aidan O'Connor Mia "Arrows" Laurell Barker, Rickard Bonde Truumeel, Greig Watts Milda Martinkėnaitė "Hurricane" Georgios Kalpakidis, Thomas Reil, Jeppe Reil, Maria Broberg Milda Rasilavičiūtė "Thinking About You" Jonas Talandis, Milda Rasilavičiūtė Monee "Standing Here" Deivydas Zvonkus, Elena Jurgaitytė, Viktorija Lakštutė Monika Marija "The Truth" Erica Jennings, Vytautas Bikus Natalja Chareckaja "Serious" Natalija Chareckaja Ofelija "Butterfly" Liepa Maknavičiūtė, Filip Koscak Paula "1 2 3" Gytis Valickas, Paula Valentaitė, Donatas Montvydas, Oskar Nyman, Joel Isaksson, Sveinn Rúnar Sigurðsson, Renee Pozzi Rasa Kaušiūtė "The Silence" Samuel Bugia Garrido, Matthew Vassallo Rugilė Daujotaitė "Love Is the Flower of Life" Rugilė Daujotaitė, Edwin Oranje, Sjoerd Limberger, Randy Meinderts-Hendriks Rūta Kotryna "Ghost" Mia Milan, Christopher Wortley, Marcus Lindberg Rūta Loop "Positive Thoughts" Rūta Žibaitytė, Paulius Vaicekauskas Saulės kliošas "Įkvėpk ir nepaleisk (Man gaila)" Alvydas Mačiulskas, Paulius Volkovas, Laurynas Šarkinas, Justė Starinskaitė Silvija Pankūnaitė "Real" Andreas Björkman, Adriana Pupavac, Aidan O’Connor The Roop "Yes, I Do" Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Robertas Baranauskas, Vainius Šimukėnas, Mantas Banišauskas Twosome "Hello" Justinas Stanislovaitis, Paulius Šinkūnas Valdas Lacko "Dying Inside" Niklas Bergqvist, Simon Johansson, Nikos Sofis Vidas Bareikis "Pusvalanduko" Vidas Bareikis Živilė Gedvilaitė "Melody" Rūta Ščiogolevaitė-Damijonaitienė Jury members The jury panel consisted of four members in the elimination shows and the semi-finals, and seven members in the final. +Jury members by show Jury memberElimination showsSemi-finals Final Occupation(s) 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2Aistė Pilvelytė singer Aleksandras Pogrebnojus costume artist and designerArnoldas Lukošius musicianBeata Nicholson presenterDalia Ibelhauptaitė director, playwrightDarius Užkuraitis LRT Opus directorDovilė Filmanavičiūtė singer-songwriterGerūta Griniūtė television and radio presenterGiedrė Kilčiauskienė singerLeonas Somovas producerMilda Adomaitienė music teacherMonika Linkytė singer-songwriter Ramūnas Zilnys music reviewerSasha Song singer-songwriterTomas Sinickis musicianVaidas Baumila singerVaidas Stackevičius producer, head of the "M.P.3" music agencyViktoras Diawara singer, producerVytautas Rumšas Jr. actor Shows
Elimination shows The six elimination shows of the competition aired from the LRT studios in Vilnius between 6 January and 17 February 2018. The first four shows featured the 50 competing entries, while the fifth and sixth show each featured 12 of the 24 remaining entries in the competition. The top six entries advanced from each show, while the bottom entries were eliminated. + Show 16 January 2018 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points 1 Justin 3 "Born to Be Wild One" 4 197 2 6 10 2 Monee "Standing Here" 1 184 1 2 11 3 Germantė Kinderytė "Turn It Up" 0 748 10 10 5 4 Godo "Fire Fountain" 10 732 8 18 2 5 Lukas Norkūnas "Tegu" 8 282 4 12 4 6 Meda Meškauskaitė "Blood Roses" 0 91 0 0 13 7 Benas Malakauskas "My Memories" 3 512 6 9 6 8 Milda Rasilavičiūtė "Thinking About You" 6 561 7 13 3 9 Dangė "Netikra laimė" 0 110 0 0 12 10 Natalja Chareckaja "Serious" 7 172 0 7 8 11 Aušra Difartė "Someday" 5 242 3 8 7 12 Evaldas Vaikasas "Blind" 2 369 5 7 9 13 Ieva Zasimauskaitė "When We're Old" 12 1,086 12 24 1 + Show 220 January 2018 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points 1 Juozas Martin "Don't Give Up" 8 202 4 12 5 2 Justina Žukauskaitė "Love Doesn't Lie" 0 61 0 0 11 3 Elvina Milkauskaitė "So Long My Love, My Lover" 2 143 3 5 9 4 LJ "Over Now" 1 74 1 2 10 5 Rūta Kotryna "Ghost" 5 126 2 7 8 6 Saulės kliošas "Įkvėpk ir nepaleisk (Man gaila)" 12 435 6 18 1 7 Twosome "Hello" 10 643 8 18 2 8 Paula "1 2 3" 6 678 12 18 3 9 Audrius Petrauskas "In My Bones" 7 244 5 12 6 10 Elizabeth Olshey "Bejausmis" 3 643 10 13 4 11 Mia "Arrows" 4 541 7 11 7 12 Emilija Valiukevičiūtė "Bye Bye" 0 49 0 0 12 + Show 327 January 2018 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points 1 Vidas Bareikis "Pusvalanduko" 7 444 5 12 6 2 Donata "Powerful" 0 54 0 0 12 3 Agnė Michalenkovaitė "Going On" 7 526 10 17 2 4 GeraiGerai and Silvija Pankūnaitė "More Than You Know" 8 496 7 15 4 5 Eley "This Is My Life" 3 73 1 4 9 6 E.G.O. "Shake the World" 0 67 0 0 11 7 Živilė Gedvilaitė "Melody" 2 621 12 14 5 8 Joyce "Breath" 4 175 2 6 8 9 Valdas Lacko "Dying Inside" 1 399 3 4 10 10 Milda Martinkėnaitė "Hurricane" 5 405 4 9 7 11 Gabrielius Vagelis "The Distant" 10 476 6 16 3 12 Greta Zazza "Broken Shadows" 12 502 8 20 1