Will We Ever Return to Eurovision?
True stories. Honest answers. Real artist life.
Hello, this is Vaidotas. I’m currently in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Time and time again, year after year, we get asked whether we will ever return to Eurovision. It’s not an easy decision, and it’s not an easy question to answer. I’ll try to explain it from the inside.
For many people, Eurovision is simply a TV show where everyone gathers with snacks and enjoys an evening together. But behind the scenes, it involves major financial investments from the artist and an enormous amount of mental preparation, which can begin as early as nine months before the national selection.
For example, in 2020, when we released “On Fire,” we already knew back in February 2019 that we would be entering Lithuania’s national selection for Eurovision. That means we started preparing 11 months before actually competing. What did we do during all those months?
We wrote songs, discussed what would fit the contest, and thought deeply about what we wanted to say. Those months flew by, but a huge amount of time and energy went into the process. We won the national selection and earned our ticket to Eurovision, but as you all know, for the first time in history, the contest was canceled.
Then we decided to go through the entire selection process all over again.
Some people mistakenly believe that we were automatically given the right to represent Lithuania the following year. We weren’t. We were told that if we wanted to compete again, we would have to start from scratch alongside every other artist.
So once again, we sat down to write and search for the right song for Eurovision 2021. It took time. Eventually, we created “Discoteque.” The public chose us again and gave us the honor of representing our country. We went to Eurovision, but we never got to experience the event in its full spirit because strict COVID restrictions were still in place.
We couldn’t leave our hotel, meet fans, or freely spend time with the other artists. Even so, we finished 8th in the Eurovision Grand Final. That was an incredible achievement.
In 2024, we wanted to return to Eurovision and finally experience it without restrictions. This time, we also had a track record, so we believed we had a real chance to take both our name and Lithuania’s even further. However, our song “Simple Joy” did not win the national selection. One of the hardest things during that period was my health collapsing. Lyme disease hit me hard. On top of that, we heard many people say, “You’ve already been there, so why are you trying again?”
That’s true—but only partly.
We never actually experienced the full Eurovision; we experienced a restricted version of it. But in people’s minds, we had already had our chance, so now it was time to make room for someone else.
We often said that what we were offering was a strategy, not a lottery. But we realized that very few people were willing to hear that perspective. We had already been labeled as “former participants.”
In Lithuania, you have to go through the national selection, where both the jury and the public vote. And both groups are now likely to see us as artists who have already had our turn, making it much less likely they would choose us again.
That’s when we realized that Lithuania is unlikely to select us again. Every year there’s someone new who has never competed before. They may not necessarily be a stronger choice, but they are new. As I said at the beginning of this post, for many people Eurovision is simply a TV show.
But as artists, we see it differently. We see strategy and long-term impact—not only for THE ROOP, but for Lithuania as well. Returning to the contest can strengthen recognition, deepen your connection with international audiences, and continue building Lithuania’s visibility abroad.
But very few voters think about it that way. For most, it’s entertainment that exists in the here and now. And that’s perfectly understandable.
That’s why we no longer see a realistic path back to Eurovision as participants representing Lithuania. The investment required is simply too great, and the risk of not being selected again—simply because we’ve already been there—is too high. We have to look for other paths, other platforms, and other opportunities to share our music.
That doesn’t mean we’re writing Eurovision off completely. Perhaps one day we’ll feel inspired to enter another country’s national selection, or maybe collaborate with another country’s representative as a duet or featured artist.
Who knows? That could actually be a very interesting direction. But for now, our focus is on creating new music.
The good news is that we are still remembered in the Eurovision world. Eurovision fans haven’t forgotten us, and we continue to be invited to perform at many Eurovision-related events. So we can confidently say that we weren’t just a one-hit wonder—we left a mark. And that truly makes us happy.
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