Lithuania in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

Lithuania in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Lithuania
Participating broadcasterLietuvos nacionalinis radijas ir televizija (LRT)
Participation summary
Appearances4
First appearance2007
Last appearance2011
Highest placement3rd: 2008
Participation history
External links
Lithuania's page at JuniorEurovision.tv Edit this at Wikidata
For the most recent participation see
Lithuania in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2011

Lithuania has sent four entries to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, first entering at the 2007 Contest in Rotterdam. Lithuania briefly returned in 2010 and 2011 however again withdrew from competing after the contest held in Yerevan, and have yet to make their return to the contest.

History

The national selection process occurred during the show Mažųjų žvaigždžių ringas, in which young singers aged 10–15 would take part with self-written songs. The 2007 Lithuanian entry was Lina Jurevičiūtė, a.k.a. Lina Joy, with the song "Kai miestas snaudžia", who finished 13th in the contest.[1] The 2008 entry was Eglė Jurgaitytė with "Laiminga diena", which ended third for Lithuania at the 2008 Contest in Limassol.[2]

First withdrawal and return

After two years of participating, LRT withdrew from the contest in 2009 due to financial reasons but they returned in 2010.[3] That year LRT sent Bartas with the song "Oki Doki". It placed 6th out of 14 participants.[4]

They also participated in 2011 and sent Paulina Skrabytė with the song "Debesys",[5] which placed 10th.

Second withdrawal and potential return

In 2012, the country withdrew again due to expenses and has not returned to the contest since. On 19 November 2015, it was announced that the Baltic countries, including Lithuania, had expressed interest in taking part in the 2016 contest.[6] The return however did not materialise. On 28 February 2018, the Lithuanian broadcaster LRT declared that they would not return to contest in the near future. LRT executive TV producer and Head of Delegation for the adult contest Audrius Giržadas stated that "this contest has become a clone of the main Eurovision Song Contest and has nothing to do with childhood, little girls go on stage with clipped hairs, glued eyelashes and bare belly, copying Beyoncé and Christina Aguilera – this is not an event that we would like to participate in."[7] Giržadas confirmed that broadcaster would not be returning to the contest in 2021, citing low ratings during their time in the contest and the cost of participation.[8] However, in November 2023, LRT stated on that the country would not be returning to the contest in 2024, but would broadcast both the 2023 and 2024 editions and assess their ratings for a potential return in 2025.[9] This is yet to be finalised.

Participation overview

Bartas (center) in Minsk (2010)
Table key
3 Third place
Year Artist Song Language Place Points
2007 Lina Joy "Kai miestas snaudžia" Lithuanian 13 33
2008 Eglė Jurgaitytė "Laiminga diena" Lithuanian 3 103
2010 Bartas "Oki Doki" Lithuanian 6 67
2011 Paulina Skrabytė "Debesys" Lithuanian 10 53

Commentators and spokespersons

The contests are broadcast online worldwide through the official Junior Eurovision Song Contest website junioreurovision.tv and YouTube. In 2015, the online broadcasts featured commentary in English by junioreurovision.tv editor Luke Fisher and 2011 Bulgarian Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant Ivan Ivanov.[10] The Lithuanian broadcaster, LRT, sent their own commentators to the contest in order to provide commentary in the Lithuanian language. Spokespersons were also chosen by the national broadcaster in order to announce the awarding points from Lithuania.

For the first time since their last participation in 2011, LRT decided to broadcast Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023 live on LRT televizija with the same commentator as the adult contest, Ramūnas Zilnys [lt]. Previously, in 2019 and 2020, the contest was broadcast live on TVP Wilno to cater for the Polish speaking audience in the Švenčionys, Šalčininkai and Vilnius regions of the country.

The table below list the details of each commentator and spokesperson since 2007.

Year Channel Commentator Spokesperson Ref.
2007 LTV Darius Užkuraitis [lt] Indrė Grikšelytė
2008 Lina Joy
2009 No broadcast Did not participate N/A
2010 LTV Darius Užkuraitis Bernardas Garbačiauskas
2011 Dominykas Žvirblis
[11]
2012–2022 No broadcast[a] Did not participate N/A
2023 LRT televizija Ramūnas Zilnys [lt]
[14][15]
2024 LRT Plius
[16]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ In 2019 and 2020, the contest was broadcast live on TVP Wilno to cater for the Polish speaking audience in the Švenčionys, Šalčininkai and Vilnius regions of the country.[12][13]

References

  1. ^ "Results of the Final of Rotterdam 2007". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 29 May 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Results of the Final of Lemesos 2008". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 29 May 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  3. ^ Bakker, Sietse (2010-07-28). "Talents from 14 nations to gather at Junior Eurovision 2010". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  4. ^ "Results of the Final of Minsk 2010". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 30 May 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Paulina wins in Lithuania!". Junioreurovision.tv. 20 September 2011.
  6. ^ Granger, Anthony (19 November 2015). "JESC'15: The Baltic States Are Interested In Participating In Junior Eurovision". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  7. ^ Dauskurdienė, Miglė (28 February 2018). "Klausiate – atsakome. Kodėl LRT nebedalyvauja vaikų "Eurovizijoje"?" [You are answering. Why is LRT no longer taking part in children's "Eurovision"?] (in Lithuanian). LRT. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  8. ^ Granger, Anthony (2021-06-29). "Lithuania: LRT Will Not Participate in Junior Eurovision 2021". Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  9. ^ Granger, Anthony. "Lithuania: LRT Considering Junior Eurovision Return from 2025". Eurovoix.
  10. ^ Fisher, Luke James (21 November 2015). "Tonight: Junior Eurovision ng Contest 2015!". Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Bulgaria 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  11. ^ The voting sequence of the 2011 Junior Eurovision Song Contest, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2021-05-25
  12. ^ Granger, Anthony (20 November 2019). "Lithuania: TVP Wilno to Broadcast Junior Eurovision 2019". eurovoix.com.
  13. ^ Granger, Anthony (2020-11-19). "Lithuania: TVP Wilno to Broadcast Junior Eurovision 2020". Eurovoix. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  14. ^ "# „Mažoji Eurovizija" – LRT". Lithuanian National Radio and Television (in Lithuanian). 2023-11-13. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  15. ^ Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023 - Sk 26 lapkr. | LRT Televizija | TV programa | TV24.LT (in Lithuanian), archived from the original on 2023-11-13, retrieved 2023-11-13
  16. ^ "LRT Plius | TV programa – Pusvalandis iki „Mažosios Eurovizijos" – Šeštadienis 2024.11.16 | TV24.LT" [LRT Plus | Program TV – Half an hour before "Junior Eurovision" – Saturday 2024.11.16 | TV24.LT]. TV24.LT (in Lithuanian). 2024-11-09. Archived from the original on 2024-11-27. Retrieved 2024-11-10.