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Eurovision Song Contest 2005
Participating broadcaster	Lietuvos radijas ir televizija (LRT)
Country	Lithuania
National selection
Selection process	"Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka
Selection date(s)	Semi-finals: 8 January 2005 15 January 2005 22 January 2005 29 January 2005 5 February 2005 12 February 2005 19 February 2005 Final: 26 February 2005
Selected artist(s)	Laura and the Lovers
Selected song	"Little by Little"
Selected songwriter(s)	Bobby Ljunggren William "Billy" Butt
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Failed to qualify (25th)
Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2004 • 2005 • 2006►

Lithuania was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Little by Little", composed by Bobby Ljunggren, with lyrics by William "Billy" Butt, and performed by Laura and the Lovers. The Lithuanian participating broadcaster, Lietuvos radijas ir televizija (LRT), organised the national final "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka in order to select its entry for the contest. The national final took place over eight weeks and involved 49 competing entries. The results of each show were determined entirely by a public vote. In the final, twenty entries remained and "Little by Little" performed by Laura and the Lovers was selected as the winner with 5,465 votes.

Lithuania competed in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 19 May 2005. Performing during the show in position 2, "Little by Little" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Lithuania placed twenty-fifth (last) out of the 25 participating countries in the semi-final with 17 points.

Background

Prior to the 2005 contest, Lietuvos radijas ir televizija (LRT) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Lithuania five times since its first entry in 1994. Its best placing in the contest was thirteenth, achieved in 2001 with the song "You Got Style" performed by Skamp. In 2004, "What's Happened to Your Love?" performed by Linas and Simona failed to qualify to the final.

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, LRT organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. Other than the internal selection of its debut entry in 1994, the broadcaster has selected its entry consistently through a national final procedure. LRT confirmed its intentions to participate at the 2005 contest on 4 November 2004 and announced the organization of "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka, which would be the national final to select its entry.

Before Eurovision

"Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka

"Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka (Eurovision Song Contest national selection) was the national final format developed by LRT in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2005. The competition involved an eight-week-long process that commenced on 8 January 2005 and concluded with a winning song and artist on 26 February 2005. The eight shows were hosted by Jurga Šeduikytė and Rolandas Vilkončius and were broadcast on LTV and LTV2 as well as online via the broadcaster's website lrt.lt.

Format

The 2005 competition involved 49 entries and consisted of eight shows. The first seven shows were the semi-finals held during the programme Lietuvos dainų dešimtukas. Six to eight entries participated in each semi-final resulting in the top two or three that proceeded to the final. Three entries advanced if the semi-final had more than six entries, while two entries advanced if the semi-final had six or less entries. LRT also selected a wildcard act for the final out of the remaining non-qualifying acts from the semi-finals. In the final, the winner was selected from the remaining twenty entries. The results of each of the eight shows were determined solely by public televoting through telephone and SMS voting.

Competing entries

LRT opened a submission period on 4 November 2004 for artists and songwriters to submit their entries with the deadline on 10 December 2004. On 13 January 2005, LRT announced the 54 entries selected for the competition from 60 submissions received. The final changes to the list of 54 competing acts were later made with the withdrawal of the songs "Who You Are" performed by Diana, "Veins" performed by No Hero, "When the Night Comes" performed by Smoggaz and "Gloria" performed by Ubalda as well as the disqualification of "You" performed by Justė Kriauzaitė due to the song being a remake of "Ben" by Michael Jackson.

Shows

Semi-finals

The seven semi-finals of the competition took place at the LRT studios in Vilnius between 8 January and 19 February 2005 and featured the 49 competing entries. In each of the first to fourth and sixth semi-finals the top three advanced to the final, while the top two entries of the fifth and seventh semi-finals advanced to the final. On 22 February 2005, LRT announced that "Now You Know" performed by Reda Striškaitė had received the wildcard and also proceeded to the final.

Final

The final of the competition took place on 26 February 2005 at the Kaunas Sports Hall in Kaunas and featured the remaining twenty entries that qualified from the semi-final. "Little by Little" performed by Laura and the Lovers was selected as the winner after gaining the most votes from the public. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Skamp (who represented Lithuania in 2001) and Marie N (who won Eurovision for Lithuania in 2002) performed as the interval acts.

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom), and the ten highest placed finishers in the 2004 contest are required to qualify from the semi-final on 19 May 2005 in order to compete for the final on 21 May 2005; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final. On 22 March 2005, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order for the semi-final and Lithuania was set to perform in position 2, following the entry from Austria and before the entry from Portugal. At the end of the semi-final, Lithuania was not announced among the top 10 entries and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Lithuania placed twenty-fifth (last) in the semi-final, receiving a total of 17 points.

The semi-final and final were broadcast in Lithuania on LTV with commentary by Darius Užkuraitis. LTV appointed Rolandas Vilkončius as its spokesperson to announce the Lithuanian votes during the final.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Lithuania and awarded by Lithuania in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Latvia in the semi-final and the final of the contest.

Points awarded to Lithuania

Points awarded to Lithuania (Semi-final)

Score	Country
12 points
10 points
8 points	Latvia
7 points
6 points
5 points	Ireland
4 points	United Kingdom
3 points
2 points
1 point

Points awarded by Lithuania

Points awarded by Lithuania (Semi-final) Score Country 12 points  Latvia 10 points  Moldova 8 points   Switzerland 7 points  Denmark 6 points  Norway 5 points  Estonia 4 points  Croatia 3 points  Belarus 2 points  Israel 1 point  Poland

Points awarded by Lithuania (Final) Score Country 12 points  Latvia 10 points  Moldova 8 points   Switzerland 7 points  Russia 6 points  Croatia 5 points  Norway 4 points  Denmark 3 points  Israel 2 points  Malta 1 point  Greece

References

1. "Lithuania Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
2. ^ "Lithuania sticks to formula for Eurovision". doteurovision.com. 9 December 2004. Archived from the original on 9 December 2004. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
3. "Lietuva "Eurovizijoje" 2005-tieji". eurodiena.lt (in Lithuanian). 28 May 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
4. Phillips, Roel (26 February 2005). "Lithuania selects tonight". Esctoday. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
5. "AIŠKĖJA VIS DAUGIAU PRETENDENTŲ Į EUROVIZIJĄ". lrt.lt (in Lithuanian). Archived from the original on 24 March 2005. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
6. "EUROVIZIJOS NACIONALINIO TURO FINALE - DAR 3 ATLIKĖJAI". lrt.lt (in Lithuanian). 24 March 2005. Archived from the original on 24 March 2005. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
7. "Į "Euroviziją 2005" pretenduoja pusšimtis Lietuvos atlikėjų". DELFI (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 22 January 2023.
8. Phillips, Roel (13 January 2005). "Lithuania: LRT launches Eurovision website". Esctoday. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
9. Bakker, Sietse (18 December 2004). "LRT reveals list of majority submitted entries". Esctoday. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
10. Bakker, Sietse (22 January 2005). "Eurovision 2023 Lithuania: Three more singers withdraw - ESCToday.com". Esctoday. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
11. "LITHUANIAN SEMI-FINALS 2005".
12. Phillips, Roel (22 February 2005). "Lithuania: Wild card for Reda Striskaite". Esctoday. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
13. "LITHUANIAN NATIONAL FINAL 2005".
14. "EUROVIZIJOS FINALE PER LTV - ĮSPŪDINGAS ŠOU". lrt.lt (in Lithuanian). Archived from the original on 24 March 2005. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
15. Bakker, Sietse (22 March 2005). "TODAY: The draw for running order". Esctoday. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
16. "Semi-Final of Kyiv 2005". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
17. Philips, Roel (17 May 2005). "The 39 spokespersons!". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 19 December 2005. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
18. ^ "Results of the Semi-Final of Kyiv 2005". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
19. "Results of the Grand Final of Kyiv 2005". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.

• Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005
• 2005 in Lithuanian television