This year, Eurovision.lt fans are more desperate than ever - and this is not the first time that their highly supported participants have not made it to the finals due to the jury's decision. At the end of January we wrotethat many were extremely outraged by the jury's vote, which left the audience favorites, the group "Black Biceps", in the third semi-final and the door to the final was slammed against them.
Commission criticized for double standards
Last week was also full of emotions and disappointments. Liepa, who was considered the favorite for the fourth semi-final, gave a lot of hope. Her song "Ar mylėtum?" exceeded 240 thousand views on the "Youtube" platform. The semi-final was very promising, and the final result was shocking - Liepa with the song "Ar mylėtum?" remained without a ticket to the "Eurovizija.lt" final. True, the opinions of the audience and the jury coincided on one issue - they unanimously elected the group "Katarsis" as the winners of that evening.
The audience awarded Liepa Mondeikaitė's song second place, while the jury was convinced that her song should have been in fourth place. Internet users are convinced that Liepa was "punished" by the jury on purpose, because everyone was convinced that her performance and style were very similar to that of two-time Eurovision winner Loreen from Sweden.
"Liepa's performance is similar to Loreen? And haven't they forgotten what the performance of the singer "AmoraLu" is similar to? Wow, this performance is very similar to the Eurovision performance of the Latvian singer Aminata in 2015. So isn't it double standards when Liepa is punished, while other performances are bursting with "originality". I have no complaints about the catharsis," - arrows of criticism are flying at the commission of the fourth "Eurovizija.lt" semi-final.
"I was disappointed with our committee and this is not the first time, people's votes are worthless... Šaunuolė Liepa, great song!" - comments fan Vida after Liepa's performance.
The criticism panel also did not spare Kotryna Juodzevičiūtė, who once participated in the Lithuanian Eurovision selections.
"Very angry!!! I will say this much to the commission from my side - it's a shame!! We, pop artists, are always second-rate to them! It doesn't matter if it's Eurovision or the MAMA awards!!! Very angry!!! Not appreciated! Nothing, we will tear ourselves apart," the singer did not hide her disappointment on her personal account on the social network Facebook.
The song "Do you love me?" would be guaranteed a TOP10 spot for Lithuania
It would be funny if it weren't so sad - the Lithuanian jury saw similarities to Loreen's performances, but Swedish netizens didn't. They are convinced that the jury simply stole Liepa and deprived her of the opportunity for Lithuania to take a very high place in the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel.
Liepa's performance and song were evaluated by Eurovision fan and judge from Sweden Henrik Larsson at the request of the audience. Already watching the beginning of Liepa's performance, Henrik did not hide his surprise and admiration for the song.
"Lithuania, the commission made a very big mistake. This song could easily have been in the Eurovision TOP10. July was simply stolen," said a Eurovision YouTuber from Sweden, who did not hide his surprise.
Let us remind you that this YouTuber, after seeing Silvestres Belt's performance at the national selection, was sure that he would represent Lithuania.
Fans organized a petition
Fans are not giving up and are taking all possible initiatives. One of them is a petition calling for Liepa to be brought back to the Eurovision.lt final. Petition was also prepared for the group "Black Biceps", but so far only 34 people have signed it. Meanwhile petition Nearly 300 people have signed a petition to bring Liepa back to the finals of the competition so far.
"The only song worthy of a European verdict. It's a complete lie that the song is similar to Loreen. And if it is similar - so what?! Loreen has not patented her techno pop style and this kind of music is represented by many people in Eurovision and beyond," comments Domantas, who signed the petition.
Petitions can be signed until February 15, when the Lithuanian Eurovision.lt final will take place.
We would like to remind you that one of the points of the "Eurovizija.lt" rules provides that "the organizer of the contest has the right, but is not obliged, to provide an opportunity for an eliminated Artist to return to the Contest."
The only question that remains is whether this petition will be important for the LRT, which is supported by the state budget, and whether viewers' opinions will be interesting at all?
