Vilija Mataciunaite's song for Eurovision isn't enough of an "Attention" stealer to give Lithuania a win.
Country: Lithuania
Song Title: "Attention"
Artist: Vilija Mataciunaite
Semi-Final: Second, Position 8
Last year's entry: "Something" - Andrius Pojavis (22th Place)
If there's one word I'd use to describe Lithuania's Eurovision entries, it's interesting. Unfortunately, I don't think I mean that in the good way. While their choices sometimes produce satisfying if frustrating results((I still argue Inculto's "Eastern European Funk" should have made the final)), a lot of times it's just frustrating. Last year, I was stunned Andrius Pojavis' meandering "Something" made it to the Grand Final. I'm still trying to figure out my thoughts on this year's entry, Vilija Mataciunaite's "Attention". Like Mike, I appreciate the dancehall influence in this track, but I also agreed it needed some work to really shine in the contest. Let's take a look at Vilija's performance from Eurovision in Concert to see if she listened to our suggestions:
http://youtu.be/XrUqVOeOqnY
I don't think I can hold out hope for this one, you guys. The melody line of this song requires a lot of precision (or some backing singers covering the sample-y parts) and breath control, and it feels like Vilija can barely keep up. She's not even doing the crazy choreography from the national final performance here and I can barely make out some of the lines. While I appreciate the influence from electronica and dancehall, I'm not sure it really suits the R&B core of the song here. I also agree with Mike that this song needs a much more complex stage performance than anything we've seen from Lithuania so far this year - the song doesn't lack energy, but this performance is a little bland - if there's nothing to grab the viewer's "Attention" in the semi-finals, there's no way they'll make the Grand Final.
I don't think Vilija's position in the lineup is going to giver her any boost, either. There's a lot of potentially attention-stealing ((fully intended.)) performances surrounding Lithuania - Austria and Poland both have entries with a strong visual presence that may linger in viewers' minds longer when it comes time to vote. Ultimately, I'm not confident we'll be seeing much of Vilija in May - there's a lot of potentially good elements here, but they're not being put to their best use.