![Arunas Valinskas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Arunas_Valinskas.jpg)
Arūnas Valinskas (born 28 November 1966 in
Lazdijai
Lazdijai () is a small town in Lithuania located about east of the border with Poland.
History
It was established by Sigismund II Augustus in 1570 and granted Magdeburg Rights by Sigismund III Vasa in 1587.
During World War II, Lazdijai was unde ...
) is a
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
n
showman
Showman can have a variety of meanings, usually by context and depending on the country.
Australia
Travelling showmen are people who run amusement and side show equipment at regional shows, state capital shows, events and festivals througho ...
,
TV producer
A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon a ...
, TV show host and politician. As the leader of the
National Resurrection Party
National Resurrection Party ( lt, Tautos prisikėlimo partija; sometimes translated as ''Rising Nation Party'' or ''National Revival Party'') was a centre-right political party in Lithuania.
History
Founded in 2008. The party was headed by a form ...
, he was elected to the
Seimas
The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendmen ...
, Lithuanian parliament, in the
2008 Lithuanian parliamentary election. Valinskas is married to a Lithuanian singer and TV show host
Inga Valinskienė and has two sons Arūnas and Šarūnas. In 2002 he was granted a master's degree in law at
Vilnius University
Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgow and ...
.
Career as entertainer
In the 1990s, Valinskas began his acting and hosting career. He is the creator of several famous TV shows in
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
such as ''Taip ir Ne'' (
Litpolinter TV), ''Arena'' (
BTV), ''Dviračio šou'' (both
BTV and
LNK), and popular
reality-competition shows such as ''
Miss Captivity Pageant The Miss Captivity Pageant was a Lithuanian television program produced by Arūnas Valinskas that aired in 2002, the program was a beauty contest
A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physic ...
'' (
LNK) and ''Kelias į žvaigždes'' (
LNK) and ''Žvaigždžių vartai'' (
TV3). He has hosted many concerts and shows including ''Šeši nuliai – milijonas'' (
LNK). In 2012 he came back to
show business
Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produc ...
with restored TV show ''Taip ir Ne''.
Many Litnuanian stars, including Radži, Berneen, Vilija Matačiūnaitė, Vudis became known after appearing in his shows.
Political career
Valinskas founded the
National Resurrection Party
National Resurrection Party ( lt, Tautos prisikėlimo partija; sometimes translated as ''Rising Nation Party'' or ''National Revival Party'') was a centre-right political party in Lithuania.
History
Founded in 2008. The party was headed by a form ...
in 2008 before the election to the Seimas. He was the
Speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
of the
Seimas
The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendmen ...
from 17 November 2008 to 15 September 2009. Valinskas declared as a candidate for the
2009 Lithuanian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Lithuania on 17 May 2009. A run-off would have been held on 7 June 2009, but was not necessary as Dalia Grybauskaitė was elected with 69 percent of the vote, with voter turnout just over the 50% threshold for ...
s, but withdrew before the election. In 2011 National Resurrection Party merged to the
Liberal and Centre Union
The Liberal and Centre Union ( lt, Liberalų ir centro sąjunga, LiCS) was a conservative-liberal political party in Lithuania active between 2003 and 2014.
It was a member of the Liberal International and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats f ...
.
Controversies
Feuds
Disagreements between an
LNK journalist at the time Rūta Janutienė and Arūnas Valinskas originated in 2008, when during a live broadcast Janutienė openly questioned Valinskas' wealth and income declaration as well as his debt in a sarcastic demeanor, and she asked whether Valinskas is "running for
Seimas
The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendmen ...
ithuanian Parliamentbecause of bankruptcy?" To this he responded by saying: "It is probably you who is going bankrupt if you're hosting such shows that don't fit you. You're short of money, perhaps?" This discussion escalated drastically between the two until the politician pointed out that Janutienė criticized his wife―Inga Valinskienė―for having "a prostitute-like image" in a magazine, and raised a rhetorical question: "Where is it worse being a prostitute―in a photo or in journalism?" Valinskas also accused her of working for the
President of Lithuania
The President of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentas) is the head of state of Lithuania. The officeholder has been Gitanas Nausėda since 12 July 2019.
Powers
The president has somewhat more executive authority tha ...
Rolandas Paksas
Rolandas Paksas (; born 10 June 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who was the sixth President of Lithuania from 2003 to 2004. He was previously Prime Minister of Lithuania in 1999 and again from 2000 to 2001, and he also served as Mayor of Vilniu ...
who faced impeachment and thus had to step down back in 2004.
In 2020, a Polish-Lithuanian politician and an activist for Polish minorities
Valdemar Tomaševski sued Valinskas after the latter suggested executing him and others alike by shooting, saying: "Tomaševski is an absolute
Colorado beetle
The Colorado potato beetle (''Leptinotarsa decemlineata''), also known as the Colorado beetle, the ten-striped spearman, the ten-lined potato beetle, or the potato bug, is a major pest of potato crops. It is about long, with a bright yellow/o ...
pestwho is antistate despite getting financial support from the Lithuanian State Budget. Such as he should be
executed by shooting, for no particular reason. One a year. Start with him
omaševski" However, the Lithuanian Prosecutor's Office stated that the thoughts expressed by Valinskas are not a crime. Valinskas later responded to the outburst by saying: "This
he statement about execution by shootingwas just a scenic humorous statement by using
subjunctive mood
The subjunctive (also known as conjunctive in some languages) is a grammatical mood, a feature of the utterance that indicates the speaker's attitude towards it. Subjunctive forms of verbs are typically used to express various states of unreality ...
without any encouragement to take actual measures. It was a vivid expression of my opinion about this 'political figure'."
References
External links
Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valinskas, Arunas
1966 births
Living people
Television talk show hosts
Television producers
Speakers of the Seimas
Kabarettists
Lithuanian television presenters
Vilnius University alumni
People from Lazdijai
21st-century Lithuanian politicians