Love Is Blind (Donny Montell Song)

Lithuania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Lithuanian entry was selected through a national selection, organised by the Lithuanian broadcaster LRT. Donny Montell represented Lithuania with the song "Love Is Blind", which qualified from the second semi-final and went on to place 14th in the final, scoring 70 points.

Before Eurovision

Participation

On 11 September 2011, LRT confirmed Lithuania's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan, although the broadcaster struggled with financial problems. Additionally, the Lithuanian head of Delegation, Audrius Girzadas, has not excluded the possibility of selecting next year's national representative in Eurovision internally, given the financial difficulties LRT is going through.

Eurovizija atranka Lietuvoje

''Eurovizija atranka Lietuvoje'' (Eurovision selection in Lithuania) was the national final format developed by LRT in order to select Lithuania's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. The competition involved a five-week-long process that commenced on 4 February 2012 and concluded with a winning song and artist on 3 March 2012. The five shows took place at the LRT studios in Vilnius and were hosted by Liepa Rimkevičienė and Darius Užkuraitis. The shows were broadcast on LRT televizija as well as online via the broadcaster's website ''lrt.lt''. The final was also streamed online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website ''eurovision.tv''.

Format

The format of the competition involved thirty-six entries competing in five shows. The first four shows were the semi-finals consisting of nine entries each. The top three entries advanced per semi-final, while two wildcards were selected out of the eliminated entries to advance in the competition at the conclusion of the fourth show: one was selected based on the positive reactions received in the mobile application ''„Balsuok!“'' and an additional one was selected by online voting through a voting platform on the Akvilė website. The fifth show, held on 3 March 2012, was the final where the winner was selected from the remaining fourteen entries over two rounds of voting: the first round selected the top three entries and the second round selected the winner. Monetary prizes were also awarded: the winner was awarded 15,000 LTL, the second-placed act was awarded 10,000 LTL, and the third-placed act received 5,000 LTL.

The results of the semi-finals and the first round of the final were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a five-member jury panel and public televoting. During all shows, the jury panel with varying members from show to show provided feedback and assigned scores to each entry ranging from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) immediately after the artists conclude their performances. The ranking developed by both streams of voting was converted to points from 1-8, 10 and 12 and assigned based on the number of competing songs in the respective show. The public could submit their votes through telephone and SMS voting. Ties were decided in favour of the entry that received the most votes from the jury. For the second round of the final, the results were determined by the jury panel only.

Competing entries

On 14 October 2011, LRT opened the submissions for artists and songwriters to submit their entries. The submission deadline concluded on 2 January 2012. On 5 January 2012, LRT initially announced 47 artists selected for the competition, however, only 36 artists ultimately participated in the national final.

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final of the competition aired on 4 February 2012 and featured the first set of thirty-six competing entries. The members of the jury consisted of Vladimiras Prudnikovas, Rosita Čivilytė, Merūnas Vitulskis, Raigardas Tautkus and Saulius Urbonavičius. Three entries advanced to the final, while six were eliminated.

Semi-final 2

The second semi-final of the competition aired on 11 February 2012 and featured the second set of thirty-six competing entries. The members of the jury consisted of Vladimiras Prudnikovas, Karolis Ramoška, Merūnas Vitulskis, Raigardas Tautkus and Saulius Urbonavičius. Three entries advanced to the final, while six were eliminated. Sati was later announced to have received the Akvilė wildcard to advance to the final.

Semi-final 3

The third semi-final of the competition aired on 18 February 2012 and featured the third set of thirty-six competing entries. The members of the jury consisted of Vladimiras Prudnikovas, Arnoldas Lukošius, Raigardas Tautkus, Laurynas Šarkinas and Saulius Urbonavičius. Three entries advanced to the final, while six were eliminated.

Semi-final 4

The fourth semi-final of the competition aired on 25 February 2012 and featured the fourth set of thirty-six competing entries. The members of the jury consisted of Vytautas Miškinis, Rosita Čivilytė, Raigardas Tautkus, Aras Vėberis and Laurynas Šarkinas. Three entries advanced to the final, while six were eliminated. Greta Šmidt was later announced to have received the ''„Balsuok!“'' wildcard to advance to the final.

Final

The final of the competition was broadcast live on 3 March 2012 and featured the remaining fourteen entries that qualified from the semi-finals. The members of the jury consisted of Vytautas Miškinis, Rosita Čivilytė, Vladimiras Prudnikovas, Laurynas Šarkinas and Artūras Novikas. In the first round, "Happy" performed by Monika, "Love Is Blind" performed by Donny Montell and "Home" performed by DAR advanced to the second round, the superfinal. In the superfinal, "Love Is Blind" performed by Donny Montell was selected as the winner after gaining the most points from the jury vote.

At Eurovision

Lithuania competed in the second half of the second semi-final on 24 May. In the running order draw, determined on 20 March 2012, Lithuania got a wildcard (allowing it to choose the singing position) and opted to perform last. In the semi-final Lithuania placed 3rd with 104 points, and qualified for the final. The public awarded Lithuania 3rd place with 128 points and the jury awarded 10th place with 55 points.

Montell eventually advanced to the finals and performed fourth. The song finished in 14th place with 70 points which was an improvement for the country since last year's participation where they finished 19th. The public awarded Lithuania 14th place with 68 points and the jury awarded 14th place with 82 points.

Voting

Points awarded to Lithuania

Points awarded by Lithuania

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2012

2012
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012
Eurovision