“Lithuania and Estonia Qualify for Eurovision Final, Lithuania Song Written by Latvian”

On Thursday evening, the second selection semi-final of the “Eurovision” song contest was held in Liverpool – 16 countries competed for entry to the grand final, including our neighbors Lithuania and Estonia. Both neighboring countries qualified for the final, and the Lithuanian one – with a song written by a Latvian.

From the second semi-final, the following countries qualified for the Eurovision final: Albania, Cyprus, Estonia, Belgium, Austria, Lithuania, Poland, Australia, Armenia and Slovenia.

Although Latvia could not vote in this semi-final, many kept their fingers crossed for the representative of Lithuania, Monika Linkītis. She performed the song “Stay” created by two Latvian guys – Krista Indrishonokas and Jānis Jačmenkina.

Linkīte contacted our musicians on the Internet, and when she came to Latvia, the song was written literally in a day and a half. However, in Lithuania, the local selection even turned into a scandal – the jury was convinced that another artist should be sent. Read more about it here.

Estonia, on the other hand, sent 20-year-old Alik Milova, a young singer already well known to Estonians, to the competition. 42% of viewers of the local show voted for her song “Bridges” in the national selection.

In addition to neighboring countries, Albania, Australia, Armenia, Cyprus, Romania, Austria, Denmark, San Marino, Belgium, Slovenia, Iceland, Georgia, Greece, Poland competed in the second semi-final.

As you know, this year the final of the “Eurovision” is going to Latvia once again – in the competition of 15 songs, our “Sudden Lights” failed to please the foreigners in three minutes. Several music professionals expressed the opinion to the portal “Delfi” that it might be time to change the principles by which Latvia decides on its representative. Maestro Raimonds Paul’s harsh opinion can be read here, while Guntar Rach’s analysis can be read in this article.

The final of the competition is expected on Saturday, May 13, it can be watched live on Latvian Television pl. 22. In the final, 20 countries that have passed the semi-finals and the so-called big five – Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain – will delight us with their performances. This year, Ukraine did not need a semi-final either.

We remind you that the contest takes place in Liverpool, England. Although the Ukrainians won Eurovision last year, the European Broadcasting Association decided not to hold the contest there this year due to security concerns.