The Lithuanian Eurovision national selection show ‘Pabandom iš naujo!’ got underway this weekend with the first of the elimination heats.
Leva Stasiulevičiūtė returned again to host this year, joined by Giedrius Masalskis and Richardas Jonaitis.
In the elimination heats only the top 6 out of the 11 acts progress to the finals. The successful acts were selected by 50/50 combination of jury and public televoting.
Heat 1 Results:
1. Erica Jennings – 'Back to Myself'
2. Augustė Vedrickaitė - 'Before you’re 6 ft under’
3. Urtė Šilagalytė – 'Running Chords’
4. Joseph June – ‘Deadly’
5. Mary Mo – 'Get Up'
6. Elonas Pokanevič – ‘Someday'
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7. Sun Francisco – 'Dream Again'
8. Voldemars Petersons & the Break Hearters – ‘UP’
9. Viktorija Faith – 'Walk Through The Water’
10. Aldegunda - ‘Holiday’
11. Gabrielė Goštautaitė – ‘Over'
The Dublin born, Erica Jennings, stole the show. She represented Lithuania as part of SKAMP at Eurovision 2001. She had co-written the song 'You Got Style' which finished in 13th place. Tonight she delivered with a bop, 'Back to Myself'. It was the jury favourite of the night along with Augustė.
Coming in second in the results tonight was show opener Augustė Vedrickaitė with 'Before you’re 6 ft under’. Augustė delivered a strong performance.
In third place is Urtė Šilagalytė with 'Running Chords’ giving us a performance with the most drama and one of the more polished overall packages out of the night. It was the televoters favourite of the night.
Notable performances that unfortunately didnt make it to the semi-final include ‘Pabandom iš naujo!’ returnee Voldemars Petersons supported by back up band the Break Hearters with ‘UP’. Sporting a white short wig and Peter Pan inspired outfit, Voldemars ended up at the bottom of the jury result.
Also missing out on the semi-final was Aldegunda with ‘Holiday’. It sounds very familiar to Britney Spears' 'Womanizer' unfortunately the performance wasn't as energetic.
Heat 2 of 'Pabandom iš naujo!’ 2022 will be on January 15 in Europe and January 16 in Australia.
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