LITHUANIA – Lithuanian national broadcaster revealed just now that THE ROOP in the 2021 national selection and confirmed that the band will take their 2020 prize of 20.3k Euros. In case the band accepts the offer they will have to submit a new song, something which is not making them very happy.
Gytis Oganauskas, Deputy Director-General of LRT commented:
“We are all saddened by this situation – the song “On Fire” was considered one of the main contenders to win the competition. The band has received a lot of sympathy both in Lithuania and abroad, but unfortunately we will not be able to appear on the big Eurovision scene. Eurovision is first and foremost a song contest, which is gaining popularity every year in Lithuania, stimulating the creation of new songs and performances, thus attracting many who wish to try their hand – music producers and performers. We were looking for a solution to not deprive them of this opportunity, and at the same time not to deprive The Roop.”
“As a result, we have made a somewhat non-standard decision: we will be preparing for a new national selection, and The Roop will be nominated to appear in its final. We appreciate and thank The Roop for taking a responsible approach to preparing for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. We understand that the group has already invested a lot of time and money in this, so we also decided to transfer to the group the voting funds that were to be used to prepare for the big Eurovision.”
The band is not exactly thrilled with the news and the Eurovision 2020 developments and they asked for time to think things over.
“We understand that a variant was found that would suit the LRT and the group. Will we be involved in the screening, albeit on an exclusive basis? We don’t know yet. It’s only been a month and a half since winning the song ‘On Fire‘. Everything is going very fast. Too fast. We need to think hard and make a decision much later,” says lead singer Vaidotas Valiukevičius.
The Roop is a group made of 3 guys from Lithuania, a country sitting at Europe’s geographical centre. Their musical style is described as a mix of rock, pop-rock, soft-rock, dance-rock, indie and pop.
