Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006
Lithuania was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "We Are the Winners", written by Andrius Mamontovas, Saulius Urbonavičius, and Viktoras Diawara, and performed by the group LT United. The Lithuanian participating broadcaster, Lithuanian National Radio and Television, 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 artists competing in two different competitive streams: newcomers and established artists. In the final, 16 entries remained and a public vote entirely selected "We Are the Winners" performed by LT United as the winner with 32,669 votes. Songwriter and group member Viktoras Diawara represented as part of the group SKAMP.
Lithuania competed in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 18 May 2006. Performing during the show in position 18, "We Are the Winners" was announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 20 May. This marked the first qualification to the final for Lithuania since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004. It was later revealed that Lithuania placed fifth out of the 23 participating countries in the semi-final with 163 points. In the final, Lithuania performed in position 14 and placed sixth out of the 24 participating countries, scoring 162 points.
Background
Prior to the 2006 contest, Lithuanian National Radio and Television had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Lithuania six times since its first entry in 1994. Its best placing in the contest was thirteenth, achieved with the song "You Got Style" performed by Skamp. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the, Lithuania, to this point, had never managed to qualify to the final. In, "Little by Little" performed by Laura and the Lovers 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 2006 contest on 5 October 2005 and announced the organization of "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka, which would be the national final to select its entry for the contest.
Before Eurovision
"Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka was the national final format developed by LRT in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The competition involved an eight-week-long process that commenced on 14 January 2006 and concluded with a winning song and artist on 4 March 2006. The eight shows took place 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 Lithuanian broadcaster overhauled the format of the national final from that of previous years. For the 2006 competition, entries initially competed in two different subgroups: newcomers, and established artists with more than one year of active stage experience or that had participated in the Lithuanian national final for at least two years. Entries from newcomers were higher in number and therefore three heats consisting of eight or 10 entries each were held during the programme Lietuvos dainų dešimtukas, resulting in the top four from each show advancing in the competition. The remaining 12 entries participated in the fourth show on 4 February, where half of the entries were eliminated, leaving six entries remaining in the group. The fifth to seventh shows were the competition's semi-finals, where the established artists and the remaining six newcomers participated together for the first time. Nine entries participated in each of the first two semi-finals and the top five proceeded to the final, while seven entries participated in the third semi-final and the top four proceeded to the final. LRT also selected two wildcard acts for the final out of the remaining non-qualifying acts from the semi-finals. In the final, the winner was selected from the remaining 16 entries.The results of the newcomers selection were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel consisting of three to five members and public televoting. The ranking developed by both streams of voting was converted to points from 1-8, 10 and 12 and assigned based on the number of competing songs in the respective show. In the semi-finals and the final, the results were determined solely by public televoting. The public could vote through telephone and SMS voting.
Competing entries
LRT opened a submission period on 5 October 2005 for artists and songwriters to submit their entries with the deadline on 11 December 2005. On 13 January 2005, LRT announced the 52 entries selected for the competition from 72 submissions received. Among the artists was previous Lithuanian Eurovision contestant Viktoras Diawara, who represented as part of Skamp. The final changes to the list of 52 competing acts were later made with the withdrawal of five songs: "Daydreaming" performed by Eleonora Sobrova, and "Remember" performed by Helada from the newcomers group, as well as "Day or Night" performed by Amberlife, "Escape We Tonight" performed by Mantas, and "Už lango šventė" performed by Egidijus Sipavičius from the established artists group.| Artist | Song | Songwriter |
| 4Fun | "Kitą dieną" | Julija Ritčik |
| Aistė Pilvelytė | "Just for Fun" | Rafael Artesero |
| Alanas Chošnau | "The Heat" | Eric L., Slavic L. Gravity, Alanas Chošnau |
| Aliukai | "Madona" | Nejolė Laukavičienė, Evaldas Melnikas |
| Antanas Nedzinskas | "Pop žvaigždė" | Aleksandras Makejevas |
| Artas | "Wonder Who Loves You" | Artūras Pitkauskas |
| Ashtrey | "Window to the World" | Ashtrey, Rita Naujokaitytė |
| Augustė | "Make Me Wanna Lose You" | Augustė Vedrickaitė |
| B'Avarija | "If My Dream Came True" | Deivydas Zvonkus, Juozas Liesis |
| Banglai | "I'm So Happy" | |
| Bugs Band | "Pajūrio samba" | Ričardas Runča |
| C–Stones and Favour | "Flirtin' on the Dance Floor" | Mads BB Krog |
| Colder | "Halo" | Vaidotas Valančius |
| Dove | "4 Ever" | Paulius Jasiūnas, U. Vaitiekus |
| Dovilė | "The Way to You" | Alvidas Kavaliauskas, Rūta Lukoševičiūtė |
| Edmundas Kučinskas | "Tavo ir mano dalia" | Edmundas Kučinskas, Paulius Stalionis |
| Eduardo Gimenez | "Geografias" | Eduardo Gimenez |
| Eglė Juodytė | "Not Good to Be Mad" | Eglė Juodytė |
| Eleonora Sobrova | "Daydreaming" | |
| Evelina Jocytė | "Take Me" | |
| Evelina Škėmaitė | "Let Me Be Your Star" | |
| Fate | "Baby You Are" | Tadas Čipsas, Ludvikas Čipsas |
| Flaer | "Iš lempos" | Adomas Stančikas |
| Giulija | "Grafiti" | Aras Žvirblis, Olegas Zotovas |
| Gravel | "Round and Round" | Tomas Sinickis, Miroslav Sinickis |
| Helada | "Remember" | |
| Highway | "It's a Longest Way" | Seržas Fino, Romanas Njejelovas |
| Hola | "All I Need" | |
| InCulto | "Welcome to Lithuania" | InCulto |
| Intro's | "Girl You Know" | |
| Jonas Čepulis | "I Don't Think" | Jonas Čepulis, Aurelijus Sirgedas |
| LT United | "We Are the Winners" | Andrius Mamontovas, Saulius Urbonavičius, Viktoras Diawara |
| Margarita Arta | "Thoughts" | |
| Milana | "Eternal Love" | |
| N.E.O. | "Alright" | Raigardas Tautkus |
| Nacija and Rasa Juzukonytė | "Pavasario lietus" | Aurelijus Globys |
| Natas | "Jūros liga" | Aurelijus Sirgedas |
| Nerri | "Again" | Neringa Žiliūtė |
| Onsa | "Time to Change" | Tautrimas Rupulevičius |
| Robertas Kupstas | "Falling in Love" | Stefano Ganopoulos |
| Rugiagėlių Berniukai | "Turn Around" | Haroldas Šlikas |
| Rūta Lukoševičiūtė | "Lithuanian Boy" | Stefano Ganopoulos |
| Saulės kliošas | "Back to the Future" | Saulės kliošas |
| Sėkmė | "Funny" | |
| Sinir Yok | "Give Me Your Heart" | Monika Miniotaitė, Oskars Vorobjovas-Pinta |
| Stringaj | "Cockroach Love" | Vilius Tamošaitis, Tadas Majeris |
| Super Kolegos | "Song About Love" | Mindaugas Dirda |
| The Road Band | "I Feel So Free" | Alexander Belkin, Julija Ritčik |
| Tribute | "Lifestyle" |
Newcomers selection
The newcomers selection of the competition aired from the LRT studios in Vilnius between 14 January and 4 February 2006. The three semi-finals featured the 28 entries from the newcomers and the top four advanced to the newcomers final from each semi-final; the bottom entries were eliminated.Two acts that were scheduled to perform in the first semi-final didn't appear; Eleonora Sobrova with "Daydreamer" was disqualified for not showing up, whilst Robertas Kupstas with "Falling In Love" was sick, so his performance was moved to the newcomers semi-final 2. In the second heat, Helada with "Remember" was involved in a car accident, forcing her to withdraw from the competition.
;Key
Qualified
Rescheduled
Disqualified/Withdrew
Semi-finals
The three semi-finals of the competition aired from the LRT studios in Vilnius on 11, 18, and 25 February 2006 and featured both the established artists and entries that qualified from the newcomers selection. In each of the first two semi-finals, the top five advanced to the final, while the top four entries of the third semi-final advanced to the final; the bottom entries were eliminated. On 27 February 2006, LRT announced the two entries that had received a wildcard to also proceed to the final.;Key
Qualifier
Wildcard qualifier
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
| 1 | Alanas Chošnau | "The Heat" | 1,905 | 2 |
| 2 | Dove | "4 Ever" | 1,195 | 6 |
| 3 | Gravel | "Round and Round" | 2,246 | 1 |
| 4 | Artas | "Wonder Who Loves You" | 1,886 | 4 |
| 5 | 4Fun | "Kitą dieną" | 83 | 9 |
| 6 | Giulija | "Grafiti" | 340 | 8 |
| 7 | B'Avarija | "If My Dream Came True" | 758 | 7 |
| 8 | Saulės kliošas | "Back to the Future" | 1,421 | 5 |
| 9 | Edmundas Kučinskas | "Tavo ir mano dalia" | 1,903 | 3 |
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
| 1 | Augustė | "Make Me Wanna Lose You" | 1,367 | 3 |
| 2 | The Road Band | "I Feel So Free" | 137 | 8 |
| 3 | Aliukai | "Madona" | 386 | 6 |
| 4 | C–Stones and Favour | "Flirtin' on the Dance Floor" | 1,228 | 4 |
| 5 | InCulto | "Welcome to Lithuania" | 2,638 | 1 |
| 6 | Robertas Kupstas | "Falling in Love" | 1,682 | 2 |
| 7 | Rūta Lukoševičiūtė | "Lithuanian Boy" | 244 | 7 |
| 8 | Nacija and Rasa Juzukonytė | "Pavasario lietus" | 1,135 | 5 |
| 9 | Highway | "It's a Longest Way" | 108 | 9 |
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
| 1 | N.E.O. | "Alright" | 898 | 3 |
| 2 | Bugs Band | "Pajūrio samba" | 117 | 7 |
| 3 | Dovilė | "The Way to You" | 605 | 5 |
| 4 | Eduardo Gimenez | "Geografias" | 174 | 6 |
| 5 | Aistė Pilvelytė | "Just for Fun" | 834 | 4 |
| 6 | LT United | "We Are the Winners" | 8,061 | 1 |
| 7 | Onsa | "Time to Change" | 1,143 | 2 |
Final
The final of the competition took place on 4 March 2006 at the Siemens Arena in Vilnius and featured the remaining 16 entries that qualified from the semi-finals. The final was the only show in the competition to be broadcast live; all other preceding shows were pre-recorded earlier in the week before their airdates. "We Are the Winners" performed by LT United was selected as the winner after gaining the most votes from the public. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, No Money, Žuvėdra, and Zdob și Zdub performed as the interval acts.| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
| 1 | C–Stones and Favour | "Flirtin' on the Dance Floor" | 1,689 | 11 |
| 2 | Artas | "Wonder Who Loves You" | 1,625 | 12 |
| 3 | Robertas Kupstas | "Falling in Love" | 2,681 | 8 |
| 4 | Augustė | "Make Me Wanna Lose You" | 1,959 | 10 |
| 5 | B'Avarija | "If My Dream Came True" | 765 | 15 |
| 6 | InCulto | "Welcome to Lithuania" | 16,451 | 2 |
| 7 | Dove | "4 Ever" | 1,361 | 13 |
| 8 | Onsa | "Time to Change" | 699 | 16 |
| 9 | N.E.O. | "Alright" | 2,735 | 7 |
| 10 | Saulės kliošas | "Back to the Future" | 1,084 | 14 |
| 11 | Aistė Pilvelytė | "Just for Fun" | 4,307 | 6 |
| 12 | Nacija and Rasa Juzukonytė | "Pavasario lietus" | 2,017 | 9 |
| 13 | LT United | "We Are the Winners" | 32,669 | 1 |
| 14 | Alanas Chošnau | "The Heat" | 9,249 | 3 |
| 15 | Gravel | "Round and Round" | 6,462 | 4 |
| 16 | Edmundas Kučinskas | "Tavo ir mano dalia" | 4,912 | 5 |
At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" and the 10 highest placed finishers in the are required to qualify from the semi-final on 18 May 2006 in order to compete for the final on 20 May 2006; the top 10 countries from the semi-final progress to the final. On 21 March 2006, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order for the semi-final and Lithuania was set to perform in position 18, following the entry from the and before the entry from.At the end of the semi-final, Lithuania was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. This marked the first qualification to the final for Lithuania since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004. It was later revealed that Lithuania placed fifth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 163 points. The draw for the running order for the final was done by the presenters during the announcement of the 10 qualifying countries during the semi-final and Lithuania was drawn to perform in position 14, following the entry from and before the entry from the. Lithuania placed sixth in the final, scoring 162 points. Despite achieving the nation's best result to date, the entry received mixed reactions and was one of the few Eurovision songs to get booed at the contest.
The semi-final and final were broadcast in Lithuania on LTV with commentary by Darius Užkuraitis. LRT appointed Lavija Šurnaitė as its spokesperson to announce the results of the Lithuanian televote during the final; 53,000 televotes were cast in Lithuania 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 in the semi-final and the final of the contest.Points awarded to Lithuania
| Score | Country |
| 12 points | |
| 10 points | |
| 8 points | |
| 7 points | |
| 6 points | |
| 5 points | |
| 4 points | |
| 3 points | |
| 2 points | |
| 1 point |
| Score | Country |
| 12 points | |
| 10 points | |
| 8 points | |
| 7 points | |
| 6 points | |
| 5 points | |
| 4 points | |
| 3 points | |
| 2 points | |
| 1 point |
Points awarded by Lithuania
| Score | Country |
| 12 points | |
| 10 points | |
| 8 points | |
| 7 points | |
| 6 points | |
| 5 points | |
| 4 points | |
| 3 points | |
| 2 points | |
| 1 point |
| Score | Country |
| 12 points | |
| 10 points | |
| 8 points | |
| 7 points | |
| 6 points | |
| 5 points | |
| 4 points | |
| 3 points | |
| 2 points | |
| 1 point |