LT United
Encyclopedia
LT United is a six-piece alternative-pop
musical group
created in 2006 for the sole purpose of representing Lithuania
in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006
. The group entered the Lithuanian pre-selection event with the song "We Are the Winners
", winning with almost twice as many votes as the runners-up, and finished 6th in the Eurovision Song Contest
final with 162 points.
musician
Andrius Mamontovas
decided it would be a good idea to enter the Eurovision Song Contest. The group consisted of six individuals who were already well-known in Lithuania, with all six having some form of musical or television
background. Along with Mamontovas, the other members were Marijonas Mikutavičius
, Victor Diawara, Saulius Urbonavičius, Arnoldas Lukošius
and Eimantas Belickas. Before joining LT United, Diawara had already represented Lithuania in the contest, finishing 13th in 2001 (see Eurovision Song Contest 2001
) as part of Skamp
. The group were described by Mamontovas on LT United's official website
as "the musical equivalent of [a] national basketball team
".
The group entered the Lithuanian pre-selection contest, dominating the scoring and receiving 32,669 points - almost double that of the second-placed Inculto
. After performing the song, the Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus
invited the group to perform at Lithuania's Independence Day. The group also became the Lithuanian ambassadors for the United Nations
' "Time To Help The Others" world development programme.
The music video
for the song was released for public viewing on March 23, 2006, and was directed
by Donatas Ulvydas. The video consisted of clips from their pre-selection performance, along with archive footage of the six members. The press release that accompanied the video stated that the use of archive material was to "prove the experience of each LT United member". The video received a large amount of airplay in Lithuania from March until the time of the contest in late May.
Prior to the Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals, LT United notably refused to perform the song, deciding to wait until the semi-final itself (although a rehearsal performance was released on their official website just before it). The group also contacted radio station
s across Europe
to request the song be removed from playlists until May 22 (the day after the final). Despite this, the song became well-known within the groups following the contest, with some disgruntled at the lyrics of the song (based around the statement "We are the winners, of Eurovision" - in fact, it appears 15 times in the lyrics -, annoying some who felt it was egotistical, although the song is clearly tongue-in-cheek
). This resulted in, upon their appearance in the semi-final, some booing them prior to and after their performance.
Despite that, their stage act (including Arnoldas Lukošius' dancing manically, and Saulius Urbonavičius singing into a megaphone
) and the song managed to gain 163 points, which proved to be enough to finish 5th in the semi-final. Upon the announcement of their qualification, loud boos were clearly heard from the crowd.
Their final performance would not differ much from that in the semi-final, and despite (less prominent) booing from the crowd present in Athens
, LT United managed to finish 6th with 162 points (with big points from the English
-speaking countries of Ireland
and the United Kingdom
, along with their Baltic
neighbours of Latvia
and Estonia
as well as from Iceland
). The 6th place is Lithuania's best contest finish to date (beating their aforementioned 2001 entrants Skamp by seven places). During the final, Lukošius' was likened to the British
comedian
Harry Hill
by BBC
commentator Terry Wogan
. Contest winners Lordi
also jokingly quoted the song's title in the post-final press conference.
After the contest, LT United released "We Are The Winners" as a single, with a World Cup 2006
version of the song also included on the release. This has resulted in some sarcastically noting that their nation Lithuania
didn't, and never have qualified for the World Cup. The single sold around 3,000 copies in Lithuania, and thus went gold. Furthermore, the song was performed by Robbie Williams
at a concert in the Belgian
capital Brussels
, after he made jokes about the contest and their song in particular.
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
musical group
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
created in 2006 for the sole purpose of representing Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006
Eurovision Song Contest 2006
The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece on 18 May and 20 May 2006 . The hosting national broadcaster of the contest was Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi . The Finnish band Lordi won the contest with the song "Hard Rock...
. The group entered the Lithuanian pre-selection event with the song "We Are the Winners
We Are the Winners
"We Are the Winners" was the 2006 entry into the Eurovision Song Contest for Lithuania, sung by Lithuanian all-star group LT United.The song, thematically reminiscent of Queen's "We Are the Champions", is a cheery tongue-in-cheek celebration of their supposedly inevitable victory at the Eurovision...
", winning with almost twice as many votes as the runners-up, and finished 6th in the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
final with 162 points.
History
LT United was created in early 2006 after the well-known Lithuanian rockRock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
Andrius Mamontovas
Andrius Mamontovas
Andrius Mamontovas is a Lithuanian rock musician, songwriter, actor, performer and record producer. He was one of the co-founders of the Lithuanian rock band Foje . He is also one of the masterminds of the LT United project.-Personal life:His father was Russian and mother Lithuanian...
decided it would be a good idea to enter the Eurovision Song Contest. The group consisted of six individuals who were already well-known in Lithuania, with all six having some form of musical or television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
background. Along with Mamontovas, the other members were Marijonas Mikutavičius
Marijonas Mikutavicius
Marijonas Mikutavičius is a popular Lithuanian singer, musician and songwriter, a television journalist, a comedian and a talk show host from Vilnius...
, Victor Diawara, Saulius Urbonavičius, Arnoldas Lukošius
Arnoldas Lukošius
Arnoldas Lukošius is a Lithuanian keyboardist, who has performed in a LT United band at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. He is named by his colleagues as a "Lithuania's first rock accordion player". Lukošius has been a member of the legendary Foje band...
and Eimantas Belickas. Before joining LT United, Diawara had already represented Lithuania in the contest, finishing 13th in 2001 (see Eurovision Song Contest 2001
Eurovision Song Contest 2001
The Eurovision Song Contest 2001 was the 46th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 12 May 2001 in the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was the first time in 36 years that Denmark hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, thanks to the Olsen Brothers' win the previous year in Stockholm...
) as part of Skamp
SKAMP
-About SKAMP:SKAMP blends pop, rock, Hip Hop, and reggae genres into a unique alternative sound. Skamp rose to fame in Lithuania in May 1998, with a cover of George Gershwin's Summertime. The song was an instant success in Lithuania and they have gone on to release 6 studio albums. The members have...
. The group were described by Mamontovas on LT United's official website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
as "the musical equivalent of [a] national basketball team
Lithuania national basketball team
The Lithuanian national basketball team is the representative for Lithuania in international men's basketball. Lithuania won bronze medals in three out of five Olympic tournaments it participated in....
".
The group entered the Lithuanian pre-selection contest, dominating the scoring and receiving 32,669 points - almost double that of the second-placed Inculto
Inculto
Inculto is a Lithuanian music group. It has the following members: Colombian-born Lithuanian Jurgis Didžiulis , Aurelijus Morlencas, Sergej Makidon, Jievaras Jasinskis and Laurynas Lapė.-Eurovision 2010:...
. After performing the song, the Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus
Valdas Adamkus
Valdas Adamkus was President of Lithuania from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2004 to 2009.In Lithuania, the President's tenure lasts for five years; Adamkus' first term in office began on February 26, 1998 and ended on February 28, 2003, following his defeat by Rolandas Paksas in the next...
invited the group to perform at Lithuania's Independence Day. The group also became the Lithuanian ambassadors for the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
' "Time To Help The Others" world development programme.
The music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the song was released for public viewing on March 23, 2006, and was directed
Music video director
A music video director is driven by a given music track. These are called music videos and are then used as promotional tools for popular music singles...
by Donatas Ulvydas. The video consisted of clips from their pre-selection performance, along with archive footage of the six members. The press release that accompanied the video stated that the use of archive material was to "prove the experience of each LT United member". The video received a large amount of airplay in Lithuania from March until the time of the contest in late May.
Prior to the Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals, LT United notably refused to perform the song, deciding to wait until the semi-final itself (although a rehearsal performance was released on their official website just before it). The group also contacted radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
s across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to request the song be removed from playlists until May 22 (the day after the final). Despite this, the song became well-known within the groups following the contest, with some disgruntled at the lyrics of the song (based around the statement "We are the winners, of Eurovision" - in fact, it appears 15 times in the lyrics -, annoying some who felt it was egotistical, although the song is clearly tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...
). This resulted in, upon their appearance in the semi-final, some booing them prior to and after their performance.
Despite that, their stage act (including Arnoldas Lukošius' dancing manically, and Saulius Urbonavičius singing into a megaphone
Megaphone
A megaphone, speaking-trumpet, bullhorn, blowhorn, or loud hailer is a portable, usually hand-held, cone-shaped horn used to amplify a person’s voice or other sounds towards a targeted direction. This is accomplished by channelling the sound through the megaphone, which also serves to match the...
) and the song managed to gain 163 points, which proved to be enough to finish 5th in the semi-final. Upon the announcement of their qualification, loud boos were clearly heard from the crowd.
Their final performance would not differ much from that in the semi-final, and despite (less prominent) booing from the crowd present in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, LT United managed to finish 6th with 162 points (with big points from the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
-speaking countries of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, along with their Baltic
Baltic countries
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
neighbours of Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
and Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
as well as from Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
). The 6th place is Lithuania's best contest finish to date (beating their aforementioned 2001 entrants Skamp by seven places). During the final, Lukošius' was likened to the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
Harry Hill
Harry Hill
Harry Hill , is a Perrier Award–winning English comedian, author and television presenter. A former medical doctor , Hill began his career in comedy with the popular radio show Harry Hill's Fruit Corner.-Personal life:Hill was born in Woking,...
by BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
commentator Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
. Contest winners Lordi
Lordi
Lordi is a Finnish hard rock/heavy metal band, formed in 1996 by the band's lead singer, songwriter and costume-designer, Mr. Lordi. The band is known for wearing monster masks and using pyrotechnics during concerts...
also jokingly quoted the song's title in the post-final press conference.
After the contest, LT United released "We Are The Winners" as a single, with a World Cup 2006
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
version of the song also included on the release. This has resulted in some sarcastically noting that their nation Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
didn't, and never have qualified for the World Cup. The single sold around 3,000 copies in Lithuania, and thus went gold. Furthermore, the song was performed by Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...
at a concert in the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
capital Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, after he made jokes about the contest and their song in particular.