Luktelk

"" (; ) is a song by Lithuanian singer-songwriter Silvester Belt. It was released on 11 January 2024, through OpenPlay, and was written by Džesika Šyvokaitė, Elena Jurgaitytė, and Belt. The song represented Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, where it placed 14th with 90 points.

Background and composition

"Luktelk" was composed and written by Silvestras Beltė, Džesika Šyvokaitė, and Elena Jurgaitytė. According to a press release given out by Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT), the songwriters composed the song specifically to enter the Eurovision Song Contest, with Belt stating that he wanted to show a "fun side of Lithuania – we are not always sad and closed... we want to show them at Eurovision". He also admitted that he wanted to make the song easily accessible to non-Lithuanians, adding "consonants hatresemble other words in other languages".

In an analysis by ''Wiwibloggs''' Ruxandra Tudor, the song is described to have "multiple layers of meaning"; particularly, it addresses the desire to party despite feelings of pain. To Belt, the song addressed the feeling of being "stuck in this kinda Matrix loop" and existentialism. Belt stated that due to monotonous daily tasks a human does, "we can’t tell anymore whether we are in a dream, or in another dimension". Despite this, he makes a call to "wake up tomorrow and... dance" despite feelings of not wanting to.

Promotion

To promote "" before Eurovision 2024, Belt announced his intent to participate in various Eurovision pre-parties throughout the months of March and April 2024, including ''Melfest WKND 2024'' on 8 March, ''Pre-Party ES 2024'' on 30 March, the ''Barcelona Eurovision Party 2024'' on 6 April, the ''London Eurovision Party 2024'' on 7 April, and ''Eurovision in Concert 2024'' on 13 April. He also released an orchestral version of the song on 25 April to the official YouTube channel of the contest.

Critical reception

The song met a favourable review with music critics. In a ''Wiwibloggs'' review containing several reviews from several critics, the song was rated 8.17 out of 10 points, earning fourth out of the 37 songs competing in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 on the site's annual ranking. Another review conducted by ''ESC Bubble'' that contained reviews from a combination of readers and juries rated the song fourth out of the 15 songs "Luktelk" was competing against in its the Eurovision semi-final. Jon O'Brien, a writer for ''Vulture'', ranked the song second overall, declaring it an "existential banger... hatdoubl sup as a theorem on the illusion of reality". ''ESC Beat'''s Doron Lahav ranked the song sixth overall, praising the song's hook and declaring, "this is the right way to create an electronic music song". Erin Adam, writer for ''The Scotsman'', gave the song a heavily positive review, rating it nine out of 10 points.

Eurovision Song Contest 2024

was the national final format organised by Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) to select the Lithuanian representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. For 2024, the competition saw 40 entries compete across five semi-finals, held between 13 January and 10 February 2024, and a final on 17 February 2024. A 50/50 combination of jury and public vote determined the ranking in each phase, with the top two entries from each semi-final qualifying for the final. The top three entries from the final then moved on to a final televoting round, selecting the winner.

Beltė was officially announced to compete in ''Euroviizja.LT'' on 19 December 2023. "" was drawn to compete in the first semi-final, qualifying by finishing first out of the eight entries in the semi-final. In the final, the song moved on to the superfinal, along with two other entries, namely "Impossible" by Shower and "Simple Joy" by The Roop. The song eventually won the superfinal and the Lithuanian spot for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 took place at the Malmö Arena in Malmö, Sweden, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 7 and 9 May and the final on 11 May 2024. During the allocation draw on 30 January 2024, Lithuania was drawn to compete in the first semi-final, performing in the first half of the show. Belt was later drawn to perform in the third position in the semi-final, after 's Teya Dora and before 's Bambie Thug.

For its Eurovision performance, Povilas Varvuolis was appointed as the creative director. Before the contest, LRT stated that they planned to make minimal changes from the performance. The performance featured Belt wearing a red leather outfit, with four backing dancers wearing black masks also accompanying Belt. The red lighting from the national final performance remained the same, but blue lighting was also occasionally added. "" finished fourth, scoring 119 points and securing a position in the grand final.

Belt performed a repeat of his performance in the grand final on 11 May. The song was performed seventh in the final, after 's Eden Golan and before 's Nebulossa. After the results were announced, Belt finished in 14th with 90 points, with a split score of 32 points from juries and 58 points from public televoting. No sets of the maximum 12 points were given by either group. The most a country gave regarding the former was seven by and , and the most regarding the latter was eight, given by and the . In response to performing after Golan and the country of Israel, whose performance was heavily booed, Belt wrote that his final performance was a "traumatic experience", wishing that "it all ended after the first semi". In later interviews, he stated that attending Eurovision felt like "a strange atmosphere... but we tried to distance ourselves from it".

Awards and nominations

Track listing

Digital download/streaming
# "Luktelk" – 2:41
Digital download/streaming – Remixes
# "Luktelk - Sped Up" – 2:20
# "Luktelk - Slowed Down" – 2:59

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2024

2024 singles
2024 songs
Eurovision songs of 2024
Eurovision songs of Lithuania
Silvester Belt songs
Songs in Lithuanian
Songs written by Jessica Shy
Songs written by Silvester Belt