On February 8, Lithuania held its fifth and final heat for Eurovizija.LT 2025. The show was hosted by Gabrielė Martirosian, Nombeko Augustė Khotseng, and Rimvydas Černiauskas. Nine songs competed for the final two spots in the national final, with scores determined by 50% jury vote and 50% televote. The jury included Monika Liu from Eurovision 2022.
The first performer was Donata with the song “Empower.” Donata’s vocals were strong, though the song lacked the lyrical and structural nuance that most modern audiences expect. By contrast, Donata was followed by Matas Ligeika, whose moody rock entry “Saule” called to mind the airy, plaintive solo work of Eddie Vedder and constantly surprised in the way that it evolved over its run time.
Next up was Lithuania’s 2018 Eurovision entrant Ieva Zasimauskaitė, whose ballad “Don’t You Ever Leave Me” was effectively staged though constantly teased an emotional climax that never quite arrived. On the opposite end of the ‘emotional authenticity’ scale, Matt Len grumbled “Not Alone” with affected vocals while dressed as a cowboy, whip in tow.
Ofelija then took the stage with “Širdelė,” a tender song well-suited to her vocal style, though lacking the immediacy required by a Eurovision entry. She was followed by husband-wife duo Sun Francisco, whose sharply lit performance of “Atsimerkt” did command attention though was over-egged with vocal runs. “Alright,” seventh on the night and sung by Justinas, offered a mix of musical theater, folksy orchestrations, and interpretative dance.
Sophie Ali was up next with “The Bluest Bell,” a cute number with arguably the best hook and best staging of the night. Set among a moonlit garden, the song might be compared to early Taylor Swift. And the final performance of the night belonged to Lion Ceccah, better known to Eurofans by their prior stage name Alen Chicco. Lion Ceccah is known for songs that border on performance art and “Drobė” was no different with a blend of powerful folk chanting, electrobeats, and a cacophonous digital interlude. Lion, never change.
After an interval in which former national final entrant Paulina Paukštaitytė performed her latest single “Pasilik praeity,” the votes were announced. The jury’s top 3 were Lion Ceccah, Matas Ligeika, and Sophie Ali, while the televote 3 were Lion Ceccah, Sophie Ali, and Ieva Zasimauskaitė. Combining the two, Lion Ceccah and Sophie Ali advanced to the national final. They will be joined by the top 2 from the first four heats and, in a special announcement also made tonight, two wildcards—Black Biceps from Heat 3 and Liepa from Heat 4. These wildcards had accrued the highest and third-highest televote totals of the heats but had failed to advance based on poor jury scores, prompting a large public backlash. They will now contend for the national final, to be held on February 15.