Lithuania has decided: The Roop to Eurovision 2020 after winning Pabandom iš Naujo
Lithuania has decided! The Roop will represent Lithuania at Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam with the song "On Fire"
We Go Again! The final of the Lithuanian Pabandom iš Naujo 2020 took place tonight, after three heats, two Semifinals and 36 songs.
Eight finalists had qualified to this evening's final. And after 2½ hours of performances, intervals and voting, the 21st Lithuanian Eurovision representative was selected: The Roop with On Fire. The Roop won both the jury and televotes.
On Fire is written by Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Robertas Baranauskas and Mantas Banišauskas.
The show's presentation was guided by Lithuanian presenters Gabrielė Martirosian and Giedrius Masalskis.
Pabandom iš Naujo – Result
The Roop
For the second time, the band The Roop tried their luck in the Lithuanian selection for Eurovision. This time with success with the song On Fire.
The band consists of Vaidotas Valiukevičius (vocals, keyboards), Robertas Baranauskas (drums) and Mantas Banišauskas (guitar) – based in Vilnius, Lithuania. The band is characterized as a mix of energy and feel. Their musical style is rock / pop rock / soft rock/ dance rock / indie.
The Roop's debut album To Whom It May Concern was released in 2015, and their second album Ghosts was released in 2017.
The choreography in the song begins with "I am on fire". This phrase is symbolized by the fingers moving overhead, followed by movements: I exercise, focus, widen my path, clean my dust and move forward.
The band's vocalist, Vaidotas Valiukevičius, writes all of his songs based on personal experience, and the song "On Fire" is no exception:
– The song tells you that no matter how old you are, where you live, what conditions you grow up in, what environment you are in, there can always be fire. That fire is igniting something better to do.
– I have repeatedly been told that I am too old to do something and there are certainly many people who cross their thirties and step on their brakes. I keep saying "don't stop" to myself and I repeat the same for the group. And that snowball is rolling. I say this to both my relatives and to Lithuania, let us be brave, move forward and not underestimate ourselves, as we often do.
– We from Lithuania and Europe can show us who we are. With athletes, we have already proven it. Now is the time to do the same with music.
Follow The Roop:
- Facebook: @TheRoopBand
- Instagram: @TheRoopBand
- Homepage: theroop.com
Pabandom iš Naujo 2020
A total of six shows have been aired for this season's Lithuanian selection. The first three shows were elimination heats, where half of the songs were eliminated. The two Semi-finals selected the eight finalists:
- 11 January 2020: Heat 1
- 18 January 2020: Heat 2
- 25 January 2020: Heat 3
- 1 February 2020: Semi-final 1
- 8 February 2020: Semi-final 2
- 15 February 2020: Final
Lithuania in Eurovision Song Contest
Lithuania has been taking part of Eurovision Song Contest 20 times since its debut in 1994.
The debuting year 1994 Lithuania ended last, and the best result is from 2006 where LT United performed the iconic song "We Are The Winners (of Eurovision)". It didn't win though, but went 6th. Since the introduction of the Semi-finals in 2004, Lithuania has been in Eurovision every year and qualified for the Grand Final 9 out of 16 times.
With both Estonias victory in 2001 ("Everybody") and Latvias victory in 2002 ("I Wanna"), Lithuania is the only Baltic country that haven't won Eurovision Song Contest.
