Silvester Belt, Lithuania's representative at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, is starting a tour of European cities, during which he will present his song "Luktelk" to foreign fans and media, which will be performed in Malmö in May. During the holiday weekend, a large audience danced and sang along to a Lithuanian song in Madrid, the capital of Spain. In the coming weeks, the artist plans three more performances and meetings with foreign Lithuanians.
For the first time, "Luktelk" performed live outside Lithuania at the beginning of March in Stockholm, on the eve of the finals of the Swedish national selection "Melodifestivalen". The song, which was the most listened-to single in Lithuania for seven weeks, was received extremely warmly by the audience of the host country of the competition.
Among the countries that listen to the Lithuanian Eurovision song the most is Spain, where two performances of Silvestre are scheduled. On Saturday evening, "Luktelk" was chanted by fans gathered in Madrid, and a week later, on April 6, the representative of Lithuania will take the stage at the Eurovision party in Barcelona.
According to the artist, the words of the song are already well known to the fans of the competition. Spectators watching the performance are especially numerous in those places that are repeated several times.
"It's good to hear how a full hall, where probably no one speaks Lithuanian, sings along. "Many people I met repeat that our language makes the song interesting and catchy, it makes them laugh," he said.
During these parties, artists not only meet fans and media, but also get to know each other. Silvestras emphasizes that there is a friendly and not a competitive atmosphere among the participants.
During the first outings, he already managed to communicate with representatives of Belgium, Poland, Switzerland, Ireland and Finland, as well as meet Olly Alexander, who is carrying the flag of the United Kingdom to Malmö, whose previous work in the group "Years & Years" is familiar not only to Silvestre, but also for a frequent Lithuanian listener.
Many of these performers will meet the representative of Lithuania again in Barcelona, and the next day they will continue their tour in London. A week later, on April 13, this year's Eurovision winners will travel to Amsterdam. It has been organized in the capital of the Netherlands since 2009 event Eurovision in Concert will take place in one of the city's main concert halls, AFAS Live, and is perhaps the most anticipated pre-Eurovision event.
The support of foreign Lithuanians is also important
As the time until the start of the big "Eurovision" melts away rapidly, preparations for Lithuania's performance are in full swing. The support of Lithuanians living abroad will be extremely important in the first semi-final on May 7, and in case of success, in the grand final on May 11.
The innovation introduced in last year's competition voting has been expanded this year. In the semi-final, in which Lithuania will appear, not only the countries participating in it and Sweden, the United Kingdom and Germany who have places in the final, but also viewers from countries not participating in the competition will be able to vote.
These votes will be combined into one "rest of the world" group. The organizers recently announced that this year the voting of non-participating countries will begin even 24 hours before the show, so Lithuanians around the world will have more time to express their support with their votes.
During his tour, Silvester Belt also plans to meet with several Lithuanian communities in Europe. According to him, the strong support of his compatriots inspires and encourages him to achieve the best result.
"We are intensively preparing to prepare the best possible Lithuanian performance," said the performer.
