The submission window for “Eurovizija.LT” officially closed today. The Lithuanian national broadcaster LRT announced that the country’s entry will be chosen on February 27th in the grand final, live from Vilnius, Lithuania.
The selection of Lithuania’s entry for Eurovision 2026 will once again take place through “Eurovizija.LT.” Lithuania, which confirmed its participation in Eurovision 2026 on July 8th, officially closed the song submission window today (Wednesday). Now, the process of filtering and evaluating the entries begins and is expected to conclude by November 25th. At least 30 songs will be chosen for the competition. According to the national broadcaster LRT, recordings of the show will begin on January 14th, with five or six semi-finals planned depending on the final number of performing artists.
Support for Artists and First Arena Final
LRT announced that each performing artist will receive €1,500 from the national broadcaster for song production and performance staging. It was also stated that the finalized song versions must be submitted to the broadcaster by December 23rd.
The Lithuanian Eurovision 2026 entry will be decided and revealed during the final event, scheduled to take place on February 27th at the “Twinsbet Arena” in Vilnius. This will mark the first time the “Eurovizija.LT” final will be held in an arena of this scale rather than in television studios.
Expected Changes in “Eurovizija.LT 2026”
In recent months, LRT announced several significant changes to the Lithuanian pre-selection format for the upcoming competition:
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The Super Final is Cancelled: The “Super Final” stage, which had been in place for the past two years, will be removed. Instead, there will be a single round of voting during the final, in which the winner will be chosen to represent Lithuania in Vienna.
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Tiebreak Rule Changed: Another change is the revised tiebreak rule – if there is a tie in scoring, it will break by te televotes instead of the juries for choosing the winner.
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Rescue Round: Every Saturday, two contestants from each semi-final will qualify directly to the final. Additionally, contestants who place third in their semi-final will have another chance to compete in an online “Rescue Round”. The winner of this round, determined by public votes, will earn a spot in the grand final.
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New Voting Method: This year, Lithuanian viewers will be able to cast their votes through a new dedicated mobile app (online voting), alongside SMS voting. This system replaces traditional phone voting and aims to enhance the audience participation experience.
Lithuania at Eurovision: Between Struggles and Isolated Successes
Lithuania’s choice to organize Eurovizija.LT as its national selection has produced mixed outcomes in the main contest. On one hand, Lithuania has remained relatively consistent in its placements; on the other, recent years have shown a decline in results. Silvester Belt finished in 14th place at Eurovision 2024 with “Luktelk”, a drop of three spots compared to the previous year. A year later, the band Katharsis with “Tavo Akys” placed 16th, another two-spot decline. Nevertheless, since adopting this format, Lithuania has seen an increase in songs performed in Lithuanian, presenting its culture more authentically and uniquely on the Eurovision stage.
Lithuania’s Eurovision journey has not been without setbacks – the country skipped the competition six times (1995–1998, 2000, and 2003). Though it has never won nor reached the top five, Lithuania achieved three top-ten finishes: 6th in 2006, 8th in 2021, and 9th in 2016. Over the course of its 25 participations, Lithuania managed to establish itself as a steady, reliable contender, even if not a frontrunner at the very top of the scoreboard.
Lithuania at Eurovision 2025:
“Tavo akys” (in English: “Your Eyes”) was the song performed by Katarsis, representing Lithuania at Eurovision 2025 in Basel, Switzerland. The song finished sixth in the second semi-final with 103 points, qualified for the final, and ultimately placed 16th with 96 points. This marks Lithuania’s longest streak of consecutive qualifications to the Eurovision final, as the country reached the final for the fifth year in a row.
Eurovision 2026: This will be Lithuania’s 26th participation in the contest. Lithuania debuted in 1994 and achieved its best result in 2006, when LT United finished sixth with “We Are The Winners”.
