Lithuania 2022: Monika Liu with ‘Sentimentai’

Lithuania haven’t really been doing ‘upsets’ these last few editions of Pabandom Is Naujo and this year is no exception with Monika Liu unsurprisingly winning:

I was keen for this to win Pabandom after taking what money was on offer but the tables can turn now as I’m really not a fan of this.

Bowl cut and sparkly dress give off drag queen vibes and this styling needs to be binned, there’s something incredibly pretentious about this and the vibe it gives off- it’s not a performance to invest in as a casual viewer. It’s nice to hear Lithuanian which is quite melodic here but the composition behind holds little interest on it’s own. Away from Lithuanian diaspora, this will do badly on the televote side.

Juries should tolerate this a bit more, with Monika giving a fine if slightly pastiche of a performance but midtempo jazzy numbers have a definite ceiling there- probably above the objectively ‘bad’ performances and songs and below the rest.

That brings us to semi 1 where Lithuania find themselves- Latvia and Ukraine are here and a couple of diaspora nations but that’s the lot really and this is already behind considerably more countries than it’s ahead off from what we know and can assume. Lithuania will probably avoid embarrassment in the semi, but look set to sit out the final.

Personal Rating: 1/10

Competitive Rating: 3/10

Early Prediction: Semi 13th-17th