LITHUANIA 2021

The Lithuanian Final was held on February 6th at the LRT TV Studios in Vilnius, hosted by Ieva Stasiuleviciute & Vytautas Rumšas. Before the final there two heats and a semi final. The winner was chosen by a 50/50 mix of televoting and jury. Going to Rotterdam are The Roop, who were to be the Lithuanian representatives last year, with their song "Discoteque".

The group are all wearing different outfits in a very lurid shade of yellow however the aesthetic is more memorable than off putting. The singer is front and centre with a dancer either side and then the two instrumentalists either side of them. There is a lot of movement going on but is all done is a very organised way which gives a sense or controlled chaos. The back ground uses three main colour pallets, White for the verse, purple for the chorus and a strobing chequerboard effect for the dance routine after the chorus.

We start in almost darkness with the main singer, Vaidotas, in silhouette doing a rather sinister whispery spoken intro. It is also here we hark back to their "On Fire" routine with a nod to the 'hand on the head' dance move from last years' entry. The lights then come on and we see the other two members of the Roop on either side of the stage. The first verse is quite unsteady as the camera sweeps round the stage causing confusion, which marries up with the lyrics, also Vaidotas's dancing is also very unbalanced. Just before the chorus they are joined by the male and female dancer. The chorus is highly choreographed and mirrors the staccato nature of the lyrics. the instrumental goes back to the chaotic and frenetic style before This then repeats with a longer instrumental part with what can only be described as 'fingerography' before the very last chorus.

Obviously the group were supposed to be the Lithuanian representatives last year and were one of the favourites. The song kind of fits in with the whole 80s nostalgia motif that has infiltrated music but I would also say this lends itself a fair bit more to the 70s - in particular the name of the track, the dance moves, the outfits and strobing brightly coloured background makes me think of the "Saturday Night Fever" OST. This song has enough different about it to make if different rom "On Fire" but structurally you can see and hear that it feel like one of their songs. The use of earwormy instrumentals, the ebb and flow of the backing track as well as the way the whole group seems to get their personality across.

Although this is pretty much a ready-to-go performance and song there are some small issues which may need looking at. Usually I would pick up on the prominent use of backing vocals. This year, being slightly different, the rules on backing vocals have changed and pre-recorded vocals are allowed. However this doesn't mean that it's 'OK'. There are points where the backing vocals are too prominent and it would be nice to hear as much of the live voices as possible. I don't want this year's Eurovision ruined by songs or singers where they are basically drowned out or where acts are accused of hiding behind or effectively miming to parts of the song.

This is a great song, and even more great as a Eurovision song. This works well as a radio friendly number but also as a stage show. The band know what they are doing and understand the purpose of the song. The stage show looks immense but also well managed and also have that aspect of having lyrics to singalong to and a dance routine to join in with. Hey, they even have a colour scheme that you can fashion yourself with too! This is easily an early front runner and could well be up at the top of the scoreboard in May

ARTIST - The Roop
SONG - Discoteque
WRITING CREDITS - M. Banišauskas, R. Baranauskas, Laisvūnas Černovas, Kalle Lindroth, Vaidotas Valiukevičius, Ilkka Wirtanen