Lithuania confirmed its participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia. Lithuania was represented by Sasha Son at the contest, singing „Love“ in its English version, „Love“, after he won the Lithuanian national final, Lietuvos Dainų Daina.

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 (Lithuanian Song of Songs) was the national final format developed by LRT in order to select Lithuania’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. The competition involved a six-week-long process that commenced on 10 January 2009 and concluded with a winning song and artist on 14 February 2009. The six shows took place at the LRT studios in Vilnius and were hosted by Audrius Giržadas and Livija Gradauskienė. The shows were broadcast on LRT televizija as well as online via the broadcaster’s website lrt.lt.

Format

The format of the competition involved thirty-six entries competing in six shows. The first three shows were the quarter-finals consisting of twelve entries each. The top six entries advanced per heat, while LRT selected two wildcards out of the eliminated entries to advance in the competition at the conclusion of the third show. The fourth and fifth shows were the semi-finals consisting of ten entries each and the top five entries advanced per semi-final. The sixth show, held on 14 February 2009, was the final where the winner was selected from the remaining ten entries.

The results of each of the six shows were determined by the regional televoting. The public could submit their votes through telephone and SMS voting, with the rankings developed by the votes of the ten regions of Lithuania being converted to points from 1-8, 10 and 12 and assigned based on the number of competing songs in the respective show.

Competing entries

On 31 October 2008, LRT opened the submissions for Lithuanian artists and songwriters to submit their entries. Songs performed in Lithuanian were preferred. The submission deadline concluded on 3 November 2008. On 6 November 2008, LRT announced the 36 artists selected for the competition. Among the artists was previous Lithuanian Eurovision contestants Linas Adomaitis, who represented Lithuania in 2004 as part of Linas and Simona. On 5 January 2009, the final changes to the list of 36 competing acts were made with the addition of Vita Rusaitytė to the list of performers and the withdrawal of the Ruslanas Kirilkinas.

Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)
69 danguje	„Meilės simfonija“	Stano
Alanas	„Geras jausmas“	Alanas, Rūta Mėlynė
Asta Pilypaitė and 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 and Violeta Valskytė	„Nelytėta viltis“	Darius Pranckevičius
Deivis	„Lietuva“	Dovydas Norvilas
Donatas Montvydas	„I Remember Last Time“	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 and 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 and Karina Krysko	„Kelias pas tave“	Milanno, Aras Vėberis, Arvydas Skirutis
Natalija and Deivydas Zvonkai	„Mes gyvenam gerai“	Deivydas Zvonkus
Rosita Čivilytė and Donatas Montvydas	„Dainų daina“	Rūta Lukoševičiūtė, Rosita Čivilytė, Donatas Montvydas
Rūta Lukoševičiūtė	„Trapus žmogus“	Rūta Lukoševičiūtė, Marius Matulevičius
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 and 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

Quarter-finals

Three quarter-finals aired on 10 January, 17 January and 24 January 2009, with each quarter-final featuring twelve of the thirty-six competing entries. In each show six entries advanced in the competition, while six were eliminated. Two wildcard entries were subsequently announced: Soliaris, Greta and SEL from quarter-final 2 were announced to have received one of the wildcards to advance to the semi-finals on 5 February 2009; and Jonas Čepulis and Skirmantė from quarter-final 1 received the second wildcard on 7 February 2009.

Following the second quarter-final, Deivis was disqualified as his song „Lietuva“ was partly a plagiarism of the song „There She Goes“ by The La’s; he was replaced by Urtė Šilagalytė, who had originally placed seventh. Following the third quarter-final, Rūta Lukoševičiūtė was disqualified as her song „Trapus žmogus“ was partly a plagiarism of the song „Written in the Skies“ performed by Elton John; she was replaced by Saulės kliošas, who had originally placed seventh.

Quarter-Final 1 – January 10th

1	Uosileli žaliasai	The green ash	Jonas Cepulis & Skirmante	49	7th	SF
2	Geras jausmas	Good feeling	Alanas	35	9th	–
3	Aš busiu šalia	I’ll be near	Violeta Tarasoviene	74	3rd	SF
4	Ar tu mane matei	Have you seen me	Milana	30	12th	–
5	Aš tik tavim tikiu	I only believe in you	Vilius Tarasovas	62	4th=	SF
6	Not the best time	Not the best time	Auguste	41	8th	–
7	Nelyteta viltis	The untouched hope	Violeta & Darius	78	2nd	SF
8	No way to run	No way to run	Kamile	33	10th=	–
9	Pasiklydes žmogus	Lost man	Sasha Son	92	1st	SF
10	Dar pabukim drauge	Let’s stay together	Vita Rusaityte	33	10th=	–
11	Meiles simfonija	Love symphony	69 danguje	62	4th=	SF
12	Per mažai	Too little	Egidijus Sipavicius	56	6th	SF

Quarter-Final 2 – January 17th

1	Ar lauksi manes	Will you wait for me	Biplan	44	9th=	–
2	Redemption	Redemption	Ruta Sciogolevaite	81	3rd	SF
3	Tavo spalvos	Your colours	Linas Adomaitis	71	4th	SF
4	Noriu žinoti	I want to know	Soliaris, Greta & Sel	53	8th	W
5	I dangu	To the sky	Yva	54	6th=	SF
6	Gyvenimo valsas	Waltz of life	Bix	56	5th	SF
7	Aš – tik šoumenas	I’m – just a showman	Kastaneda	35	12th	–
8	Lietuva	Lithuania	Deivis	120	1st	DQ
9	The elegant blues	The elegant blues	Urte	54	6th=	W
10	Vejai keturi	Four winds	Taja	44	9th=	–
11	Euforija	Euphoria	Siela	38	11th	–
12	Dainu daina	Song of songs	Rosita Civilyte & Donatas Montvydas	95	2nd	SF

Quarter-Final 3 – January 24th

1	Saule	Sun	Saules Kliošas	46	7th	SF
2	I remember last time	I remember last time	Donatas Montvydas	106	1st	SF
3	Visko per mažai	It’s too little	Širdeles	43	8th	–
4	Tobula	Perfect	Indraya	20	12th	–
5	Mes gyvenam gerai	We are living well	Natalija & Deivydas Zvonkai	40	9th	–
6	Kelias pas tave	The road to you	Karina & Milanno	55	6th	SF
7	Žvaigždžiu milijonai	Millions of stars	El Fuego	90	2nd	SF
8	Viskas pasakyta	Everything is said	Stano	35	10th	–
9	Labas	Hello	Asta Pilypaite & Onsa	75	4th	SF
10	Part of me	Part of me	Aurelija	59	5th	SF
11	Plastmasine širdis	The plastic heart	Šoko-Ledas	29	11th	–
12	Trapus žmogus	The fragile man	Ruta Lukoševiciute	77	3rd	DQ

Semi-finals

Two semi-finals aired on 31 January and 7 February 2009, with each featuring ten of the remaining twenty entries that qualified from the quarter-finals. From each show five entries advanced to the final, while five were eliminated.

Semi-Final 1 – January 31st

1	Dainu daina	Song of songs	Rosita Civilyte & Donatas Montvydas	53	7th	–
2	Aš tik tavim tikiu	I only believe in you	Vilius Tarasovas	20	10th	–
3	Nelyteta viltis	The untouched hope	Violeta & Darius	100	2nd	F
4	Per mažai	Too little	Egidijus Sipavicius	32	9th	–
5	Tavo spalvos	Your colours	Linas Adomaitis	82	3rd	F
6	Kelias pas tave	The road to you	Karina & Milanno	58	5th	F
7	Pasiklydes žmogus	Lost man	Sasha Son	109	1st	F
8	Aš busiu šalia	I’ll be near	Violeta Tarasoviene	39	8th	–
9	Gyvenimo valsas	Waltz of life	Bix	57	6th	–
10	Part of me	Part of me	Aurelija	59	4th	F

Semi-Final 2 – February 7th

1	Noriu žinoti	I want to know	Soliaris & Greta	30	9th	–
2	I dangu	To the sky	Yva	16	10th	–
3	Labas	Hello	Asta Pilypaite & Onsa	40	8th	–
4	Redemption	Redemption	Ruta Sciogolevaite	88	3rd	F
5	I remember last time	I remember last time	Donatas Montvydas	95	2nd	F
6	Meiles simfonija	Love symphony	69 danguje	110	1st	F
7	The elegant blues	The elegant blues	Urte	42	7th	–
8	Žvaigždžiu milijonai	Millions of stars	El Fuego	53	6th	–
9	Uosileli žaliasai	The green ash	Jonas Cepulis & Skirmante	68	5th	F
10	Saule	Sun	Saules Kliošas	75	4th	F

Final

The final of the competition was broadcast live on 14 February 2009 and featured the remaining ten entries that qualified from the semi-finals. „Pasiklydęs žmogus“ performed by Sasha Son was selected as the winner after receiving maximum points from all televoting regions.

Final – 14 February 2009

Draw	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Saulės kliošas	„Saulė“	19	9
2	69 danguje	„Meilės simfonija“	76	3
3	Rūta Ščiogolevaitė	„Redemption“	72	4
4	Donatas Montvydas	„I Remember Last Time“	100	2
5	Jonas Čepulis and Skirmantė	„Uosilėli žaliasai“	31	8
6	Darius Pranckevičius and Violeta Valskytė	„Nelytėta viltis“	39	7
7	Milanno and 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

Detailed Regional Televoting Results

Draw	Song	Aly tus	Kau nas	Klai pėda	Marija mpolė	Pane vėžys	Šiau liai	Tau ragė	Tel šiai	Ut ena	Vil nius	Total
1	„Saulė“	2	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	19
2	„Meilės simfonija“	7	8	8	8	7	8	8	8	7	7	76
3	„Redemption“	8	7	7	7	8	7	6	6	8	8	72
4	„I Remember Last Time“	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	100
5	„Uosilėli žaliasai“	3	3	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	5	31
6	„Nelytėta viltis“	4	4	5	3	4	4	4	4	4	3	39
7	„Kelias pas tave“	5	5	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	48
8	„Pasiklydęs žmogus“	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	120
9	„Tavo spalvos“	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	6	6	62
10	„Part of Me“	1	1	1	4	1	1	1	1	1	1	13

Gallery

Controversy

After the first semi-final, the regional televoting system 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 he found the voting „very bizarre“, and that he would like to know how many people voted for him. 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.