Director Oskaras Koršunovas shared a strong and emotionally engaging message on social media about Lithuania's Eurovision representatives, the band Katarsis. According to him, Katarsis' performance and musical direction perfectly reflect the contemporary European spirit, and the band's work deserves not only national but also international recognition.
"Here, with "Catharsis", such a Lithuanian problem has manifested itself again. We are incapable of evaluating ourselves. We are only good at belittling ourselves. This keeps happening, but we have not learned," writes Koršunovas.
He also remembers other cases when significant works went unnoticed in Lithuania, but received international recognition abroad.
"I remember when we showed "Sun and Sea" in Lithuania and there was no reaction. And only after the Golden Lion in Venice did it start. I've experienced that more than once," the director notes.
Koršunovas praises "Katarsis" as a modern rock band, playing an alternative, post-punk-like style: "Oh, that "Katarsis" is a good modern rock band, playing a bit of post-punk, alternative and rock art and looking accordingly, is obvious here."
In his opinion, the group's choice to represent Lithuania is a rare case where the national commission and voters showed musical insight and courage: "We should only be happy that the voters in the commission in Lithuania had enough insight to select this group."
Speaking about their performance on stage, Koršunov emphasized not only their artistic maturity, but also their emotional stability: "They performed well on stage in every sense. Despite all the negativity, they remained calm and firm, because they created everything themselves and believe in it, because they are artists."
The director also noted a personal connection with the band leader: "Lukas' eyes remind me of my eyes in my youth."
Koršunovas hopes that there is still room for artistic value and relevance in the Eurovision evaluation system: "If Eurovision has not completely degraded and if some artistic criteria and political sense still remain, then "Catharsis" will occupy a high place."
