Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Lithuania confirmed its participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia. Lithuania was represented by Sasha Son at the contest, singing "Pasiklydęs žmogus" in its English version, "Love", after he won the Lithuanian national final, Lietuvos Dainų Daina.
Before Eurovision
Possible boycott
Shortly after the 2008 South Ossetia war in Georgia, the Estonian Minister of Culture suggested a possible boycott of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Russia. A similar feeling was felt at the Lithuanian public broadcaster, Lietuvos radijas ir televizija, who supported Georgia in the conflict and believed that "Russia continues to showcase power and ignores international rules." In the end, no Lithuanian boycott occurred.Lietuvos Dainų Daina
Lietuvos Dainų Daina was the new Lithuanian national selection for Eurovision.Format
Lietuvos Dainų Daina featured a total of six shows: three quarter-finals held on 10, 17 and 24 January 2009; two semi-finals held on 31 January and 7 February 2009; and a final held on 14 February 2009. LRT also selected two wildcard acts for the semi-final round out of the remaining non-qualifying acts from the quarter-finals.The results of each of the shows were determined by regional televoting, which saw the televotes of 10 regions of Lithuania being converted into 1-8, 10 and 12 points.
Competing entries
Only Lithuanian artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries, and songs were encouraged to be performed in Lithuanian. LRT received more than 60 submissions. However, only 36 songs were chosen to compete at the selection. Ruslanas Kirilkinas later withdrew from the contest, and was replaced by Vita Rusaitytė.| Artist | Song | Composer |
| Alanas | "Geras jausmas" | Alanas, Rūta Mėlynė |
| Asta Pilypaitė & Onsa | "Labas" | Onsa |
| Augustė | "Not the Best Time" | Augustė |
| Aurelija Slavinskaitė | "Part of Me" | Artūras Bilaišis, Dan Danavan |
| Biplan | "Ar lauksi manęs?" | Maksas Melmanas |
| BIX | "Gyvenimo valsas" | Saulius Urbanovičius, Gintautas Gascevičius, Aurimas Povilaitis |
| Darius Pranckevičius & Violeta Valskytė | "Nelytėta viltis" | Darius Pranckevičius |
| Donatas Montvydas | "From the Distance" | Donatas Montvydas |
| Egidijus Sipavičius | "Per mažai" | S. Stavicka, Aras Žvirblys, Neilas Sainius Babonas |
| Fuego | "Žvaigždžių milijonai" | Virginija Paulauskienė, Ažuolas Paulaskas, Arvydas Martinėnas |
| Indraya | "Svetima" | Indraya, Marijus Basanovas, Alanas Chošnau |
| Jonas Čepulis & Skirmantė | "Uosilėli žaliasai" | Jonas Čepulis, Henrikas Rudauskas |
| Kamilė | "No Way to Run" | Kamilė Kielaitė, Marius Matulevičius |
| Kastaneda | "Aš tik šoumenas" | Lukas Pačkauskas, Donatas Baumila |
| Linas Adomaitis | "Tavo spalvos" | Linas Adomaitis, Tomas Ivanauskas |
| Milana | "Ar tu mane matei" | M Gabana, Justinas Chachlauskas |
| Milanno & Karina Krysko | "Kelias pas tave" | Milanno, Aras Vėberis, Arvydas Skirutis |
| Natalija & Deivydas Zvonkai | "Mes gyvenam gerai" | Deivydas Zvonkus |
| Rosita Čivilytė & Donatas Montvydas | "Dainų daina" | Rūta Lukoševičiūtė, Rosita Čivilytė, Donatas Montvydas |
| Rūta Ščiogolevaitė | "Redemption" | Rytis Zemkauskas, Paulius Zdanavičius, Rūta Ščiogolevaitė |
| Sasha Son | "Pasiklydęs žmogus" | Sasha Son, Viktorija Matulevicienė, Dina Grigonytė |
| Saulės Kliošas | "Saulė" | Saulės Kliošas |
| Siela | "Euforija" | Aurelijus Sirgedas |
| Širdelės | "Visko per mažai" | Žilvinas Liulys |
| ŠokoLedas | "Plastmasinė širdis" | Kristina Karalytė |
| Soliaris, Greta & SEL | "Noriu žinot" | Marijus Adomaitis, Mindaugas Lapinskis, Egidijus Dragūnas |
| Stano | "Viskas pasakyta" | Stano |
| Taja | "Vėjai keturi" | Taja |
| Urtė Šilagalytė | "The Elegant Blues" | Dalius Pletniovas |
| Vilius Tarasovas | "Aš tik tavim tikiu" | Mindaugas Lapinskis |
| Violeta Tarasovienė | "Aš būsiu šalia" | Mindaugas Lapinskis |
| Vita Rusaitytė | "Dar pabūkim drauge" | Vita Rusaitytė |
| YVA | "Į dangų" | Deivydas Zvonkus |
| 69 danguje | "Meilės simfonija" | Stano |
Quarter-final 1
The first quarter-final was held on 10 January 2009, with the songs revealed on 7 January 2009. Twelve songs competed and the top six advanced to the semi-finals.| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
| 1 | Jonas Čepulis & Skirmantė | "Uosilėli žaliasai" | 49 | 7 |
| 2 | Alanas | "Geras jausmas" | 35 | 9 |
| 3 | Violeta Tarasovienė | "Aš būsiu šalia" | 74 | 3 |
| 4 | Milana | "Ar tu mane matei" | 30 | 12 |
| 5 | Vilius Tarasovas | "Aš tik tavim tikiu" | 64 | 4 |
| 6 | Augustė | "Not the Best Time" | 41 | 8 |
| 7 | Darius Pranckevičius & Violeta Valskytė | "Nelytėta viltis" | 78 | 2 |
| 8 | Kamilė | "No Way to Run" | 33 | 10 |
| 9 | Sasha Son | "Pasiklydęs žmogus" | 92 | 1 |
| 10 | Vita Rusaitytė | "Dar pabūkim drauge" | 33 | 10 |
| 11 | 69 danguje | "Meilės simfonija" | 62 | 5 |
| 12 | Egidijus Sipavičius | "Per mažai" | 56 | 6 |
Quarter-final 2
The second quarter-final was held on 10 January 2009, with the songs revealed on 12 January 2009. Twelve songs competed and the top six advanced to the semi-finals.After the show, the winner of the semi-final, "Lietuva" performed by Deivis, was disqualified after it was revealed that the song was partly a plagiarism of the song "There She Goes" by The La's. As such, it did not qualify for the semi-finals. It was later replaced "The Elegant Blues" performed by Urtė Šilagalytė, who came seventh in the semi-final.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
| 1 | Biplan | "Ar lauksi manęs?" | 44 | 9 |
| 2 | Rūta Ščiogolevaitė | "Redemption" | 81 | 3 |
| 3 | Linas Adomaitis | "Tavo spalvos" | 71 | 4 |
| 4 | Soliaris, Greta & SEL | "Noriu žinot" | 53 | 8 |
| 5 | YVA | "Į dangų" | 54 | 6 |
| 6 | BIX | "Gyvenimo valsas" | 56 | 5 |
| 7 | Kastaneda | "Aš tik šoumenas" | 35 | 12 |
| 9 | Urtė Šilagalytė | "The Elegant Blues" | 54 | 7 |
| 10 | Taja | "Vėjai keturi" | 44 | 10 |
| 11 | Siela | "Euforija" | 38 | 11 |
| 12 | Rosita Čivilytė & Donatas Montvydas | "Dainų daina" | 95 | 2 |
Quarter-final 3
The third quarter-final was held on 24 January 2009, with the songs revealed on 18 January 2009. Twelve songs competed and the top six advanced to the semi-finals.After the show, it was revealed that one of the qualifiers, "Trapus žmogus" performed by Rūta Lukoševičiūtė, was disqualified due to plagiarism. She was replaced by Saulės kliošas with "Saulė", who came 7th in the televote.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
| 1 | Saulės Kliošas | "Saulė" | 46 | 7 |
| 2 | Donatas Montvydas | "From the Distance" | 106 | 1 |
| 3 | Širdelės | "Visko per mažai" | 43 | 8 |
| 4 | Indraya | "Svetima" | 20 | 12 |
| 5 | Natalija & Deivydas Zvonkai | "Mes gyvenam gerai" | 40 | 9 |
| 6 | Milanno & Karina Krysko | "Kelias pas tave" | 55 | 6 |
| 7 | Fuego | "Žvaigždžių milijonai" | 90 | 2 |
| 8 | Stano | "Viskas pasakyta" | 35 | 10 |
| 9 | Asta Pilypaitė & Onsa | "Labas" | 75 | 4 |
| 10 | Aurelija Slavinskaitė | "Part of Me" | 59 | 5 |
| 11 | ŠokoLedas | "Plastmasinė širdis" | 29 | 11 |
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final was held on 31 January 2009. Ten songs that qualified from the quarter-finals competed and the top five advanced to the final.| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
| 1 | Rosita Čivilytė & Donatas Montvydas | "Dainų daina" | 53 | 7 |
| 2 | Vilius Tarasovas | "Aš tik tavim tikiu" | 20 | 10 |
| 3 | Darius Pranckevičius & Violeta Valskytė | "Nelytėta viltis" | 100 | 2 |
| 4 | Egidijus Sipavičius | "Per mažai" | 32 | 9 |
| 5 | Linas Adomaitis | "Tavo spalvos" | 82 | 3 |
| 6 | Milanno & Karina Krysko | "Kelias pas tave" | 58 | 5 |
| 7 | Sasha Son | "Pasiklydęs žmogus" | 109 | 1 |
| 8 | Violeta Tarasovienė | "Aš būsiu šalia" | 39 | 8 |
| 9 | BIX | "Gyvenimo valsas" | 57 | 6 |
| 10 | Aurelija Slavinskaite | "Part of Me" | 59 | 4 |
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final was held on 7 February 2009. Ten songs that qualified from the quarter-finals competed and the top five advanced to the final.| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
| 1 | Soliaris, Greta & SEL | "Noriu žinot" | 30 | 9 |
| 2 | YVA | "Į dangų" | 16 | 10 |
| 3 | Asta Pilypaite & Onsa | "Labas" | 40 | 8 |
| 4 | Rūta Ščiogolevaitė | "Redemption" | 88 | 3 |
| 5 | Donatas Montvydas | "From The Distance" | 95 | 2 |
| 6 | 69 danguje | "Meilės simfonija" | 110 | 1 |
| 7 | Urtė Šilagalytė | "The Elegant Blues" | 42 | 7 |
| 8 | El Fuego | "Žvaigždžiu milijonai" | 53 | 6 |
| 9 | Jonas Čepulis & Skirmantė | "Uosilėli žaliasai" | 68 | 5 |
| 10 | Saulės Kliošas | "Saulė" | 75 | 4 |
Final
The final was held on 14 February 2009, which all ten songs that qualified from the semi-finals competed. The winner was "Pasiklydęs žmogus" performed by Sasha Son, receiving the maximum number of points from all regions. Second-place went to Donatas Montvydas, with 69 danguje coming third.| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
| 1 | Saules kliošas | "Saulė" | 19 | 9 |
| 2 | 69 Danguje | "Meilės simfonija" | 76 | 3 |
| 3 | Rūta Ščiogolevaitė | "Redemption" | 72 | 4 |
| 4 | Donatas Montvydas | "From The Distance" | 100 | 2 |
| 5 | Jonas Čepulis & Skirmantė | "Uosilėli žaliasai" | 31 | 8 |
| 6 | Darius Pranckevičius & Violeta Valskytė | "Nelytėta viltis" | 39 | 7 |
| 7 | Milanno & Karina Krysko | "Kelias pas tave" | 48 | 6 |
| 8 | Sasha Son | "Pasiklydęs žmogus" | 120 | 1 |
| 9 | Linas Adomaitis | "Tavo spalvos" | 62 | 5 |
| 10 | Aurelija Slavinskaitė | "Part of Me" | 13 | 10 |
Controversy
After the first semi-final, the regional televoting method used during the show was commented upon, with the non-qualifying artists finding the results "weird and not right". Alanas, who failed to qualify to the final, said that she found the voting "very bizarre", and that she would like to know how many people voted for her. Augustė, who also failed to qualify, called it "nonsense", commentating on the difference in the number of votes cast in Vilnius in comparison to smaller towns in Lithuania: "I don't understand how can we compare points of Vilnius and of some small city in Lithuania. In Vilnius we need thousands of votes to get 12 points. Meanwhile in a small city a hundred votes can be enough".Jonas Vilimas, executive producer of Lietuvos Dainų Daina, said that every city has a right to express their opinion, and that this method is more objective. As such the voting method will remain for the rest of the shows.
At Eurovision
Lithuania competed in one of the two semi-finals after Jeronimas Milius came 16th in the semi-final of the 2008 contest.During the second semi-final, which took place on 14 May 2009, performed 14th, following Greece and preceding Moldova Lithuania qualified to the final, placing 9th in the semi-final and scoring 66 points. On the night of the final, Lithuania performed 1st, preceding Israel Sasha Son came 23rd with 23 points.
Split results
- In the Final Lithuania came 23rd with 23 points: the public awarded Lithuania 20th place with 38 points and the jury awarded 20th place with 31 points.
Points awarded by Lithuania[Eurovision [Song Contest 2008]]
Semi-final 2
Final
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |