days until the Eurovision Song Contest Final in Azerbaijan!
Lithuania: 1st semifinal impressions
The hosts: we have 2 hosts this time - Darius Užkuraitis who has been commenting ESC in Lithuania ever since I can remember and Liepa Rimkevičienė who has been an on and off host for LRT for a couple of years now. After some difficulties in the beginning, the hosts managed to cope with nerves and everything went smooth from then on.
The stage: nothing really impressive, but knowing the budget of LRT that is probably expected.
The songs:
01. The Independent - Baby
The first act of the night managed to set some good tone to the whole evening. The first thing which the viewers should notice is that the screening will be in B&W. This was a cool rock'n'roll song, but for my taste, the vocals needed to be much tighter than they were. The jury agreed the guys did not give their all during the performance and wished for me. The points at that time thought to be average (mostly 8's), but it turned out they finished 2nd with the jury tonight.
02. Kamilė Kielaitė - Try
The girl surely can sing, but the song leaves wanting for more. For an international viewer this might sound just like the song Lithuania usually goes for, but not this time. The blonde singer wore a lovely dark dress and there was no sign language included in the ballad. The jury complimented Kamilė's vocals, but agreed that the song is not exactly right for Eurovision.
03. Multiks - Star
The band wants to label themselves as a new wave act. This is not exactly that. Probably wannabe new wave would do. The song is an uptempo piece with a rather popular sound right now, but something about this performance was just odd. The leading singer of Multiks has an interesting tone to his voice, but at times it was not on point. The jury was of the similar opinion adding that their courage is commendable.
04. Valdas Maksvytis - Dar Laiko Yra
Now this is when Eurovision really kicked in. The chorus was met with a usual badaboom sound. ogether with Valdas there were 3 female dancers minding their own business and 2 backing vocalists. Although the audience seemed to enjoy the act, the jury was not exactly enthusiastic. Vaidas got some of the lowest scores of the night.
05. Chill Out, Have No Doubt - Until The End
The first thing which comes to my mind remember the act was a very strong vocal by the female vocalist. On stage with her was also a female backing vocalist, a male keyboard player, a female violinist and a male rapper (for whom the guys behind me cheered loudly). The song itself sounded like something taken straight from the club music compilation. The jury did not comment on this (not sure why) and went straight to voting and the votes were rather average.
06. The Artrace - Fly LT
Labeled as the cutest guys in the competition by my lady friend, the duo started with one part singing and the other one playing the violin. The latter dropped the violin towards the middle and started singing/rapping. An interesting composition I may say, but as the jury noted as well, it is slightly too messy for a big impact in Eurovision. One juror noted, however, that he would definitely go to their concert.
07. Indigo - Sugrįžk
The vocalist surely can remind of Beth Ditto at first glance and while the song could be right on the same shelf with the ones by The Gossip, the vocalist certainly lacked power. The vocals were good, but there was something that did not connect entirely. The same exact opinion was that of the jury, which gave this act modest points.
08. Laisva - Nutolk
A former reality show contestant took the stage alone and sung a heartfelt ballad. The vocals seemed strained at times and the song itself did not seem to do much for anyone. The jury included. This fared modestly as well.
09. Beissoul - Why
The act is considered one of the favourites of the whole preselection and probably rightfully so, because this looked like the most thought through performance of the night. Strong vocals and not over-choreographed act looked really good although the lead vocalist should think again about the styling as it did not really fit the song. The jury was really impressed with the vocals although it was not exactly satisfied with the song. Despite that, Beissoul won the jury voting tonight is one shoe in the final on March 3rd.
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