Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013

„Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka (Eurovision Song Contest national selection) was the national final format developed by LRT in order to select Lithuania's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. The competition involved an eight-week-long process that commenced on 3 November 2012 and concluded with a winning song and artist on 20 December 2012. The eight shows took place at the LRT studios in Vilnius and were hosted by Andrius Rožickas. The shows were broadcast on LRT televizija and LRT Lituanica. The final was also streamed online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[3]

The format of the competition involved thirty-nine entries competing in eight shows. The first five shows were the heats consisting of seven or eight entries each. The top three entries advanced per heat, while LRT selected three wildcards out of the eliminated entries to advance in the competition at the conclusion of the fifth show. The sixth and seventh shows were the semi-finals consisting of nine entries each and the top four entries advanced per semi-final. The eighth show, held on 20 December 2012, was the final where the winner was selected from the remaining eight entries over two rounds of voting: the first round selected the top three entries and the second round selected the winner.[4]

The results of the first seven shows and the first round of the final were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a twenty-member jury panel and public televoting.[5] The ranking developed by both streams of voting was converted to points from 1-8, 10 and 12 and assigned based on the number of competing songs in the respective show. The public could submit their votes through telephone and SMS voting. Ties were decided in favour of the entry that received the most votes from the jury. For the second round of the final, the results were determined by the jury panel only.

On 12 September 2012, LRT opened the submissions for artists and songwriters to submit their entries. The submission deadline concluded on 1 October 2012.[6] Two introduction shows were aired on 20 and 27 October 2012 where LRT announced the 39 artists selected for the competition. During both shows, the performers covered a song of their choice and no elimination took place.[7] Among the artists was previous Lithuanian Eurovision contestant Linas Adomaitis, who represented Lithuania in 2004 as part of Linas and Simona.

The first heat of the competition aired on 3 November 2012 and featured the first set of thirty-nine competing entries. Julija Jegorova was disqualified after the heat as her song "I'll Carry You" had previously been performed by German singer Onita Boone before 1 September 2012.[9] The four members of the jury that provided feedback to the competing artists during the show consisted of Darius Užkuraitis (musicologist), Zita Kelmickaitė (ethnomusicologist and presenter), Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer) and Deivydas Zvonkus (producer).[10] The three entries that advanced to the semi-finals were announced on 9 November 2012.[11]

The second heat of the competition aired on 10 November 2012 and featured the second set of thirty-nine competing entries.[12] The four members of the jury that provided feedback to the competing artists during the show consisted of Darius Užkuraitis (musicologist), Zita Kelmickaitė (ethnomusicologist and presenter), Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer) and Donatas Montvydas (2012 Lithuanian Eurovision entrant).[13] The three entries that advanced to the semi-finals were announced on 16 November 2012.[14] On 6 December 2012, Giedrė Smolskaitė was announced to have received one of the wildcards to advance to the semi-finals.[15]

The third heat of the competition aired on 17 November 2012 and featured the third set of thirty-nine competing entries.[16] The four members of the jury that provided feedback to the competing artists during the show consisted Darius Užkuraitis (musicologist), Zita Kelmickaitė (ethnomusicologist and presenter), Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer) and Sasha Song (2009 Lithuanian Eurovision entrant).[5] The three entries that advanced to the semi-finals were announced on 22 November 2012.[17] On 6 December 2012, Sophie was announced to have received one of the wildcards to advance to the semi-finals.[15]

The fourth heat of the competition aired on 24 November 2012 and featured the fourth set of thirty-nine competing entries.[18] The four members of the jury that provided feedback to the competing artists during the show consisted Darius Užkuraitis (musicologist), Zita Kelmickaitė (ethnomusicologist and presenter), Vytautas Miškinis (professor) and Deivydas Zvonkus (producer).[19] The three entries that advanced to the semi-finals were announced on 29 November 2012.[20] On 6 December 2012, Gerai Gerai & Miss Sheep was announced to have received one of the wildcards to advance to the semi-finals.[15]

The fifth heat of the competition aired on 1 December 2012 and featured the fifth set of thirty-nine competing entries.[21] The four members of the jury that provided feedback to the competing artists during the show consisted of Darius Užkuraitis (musicologist), Zita Kelmickaitė (ethnomusicologist and presenter), Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer) and Deivydas Zvonkus (producer).[22] The three entries that advanced to the semi-finals were announced on 6 December 2012.[15]

The first semi-final of the competition aired on 8 December 2012 and featured nine of the remaining eighteen entries that qualified from the heats.[23] The four members of the jury that provided feedback to the competing artists during the show consisted of Darius Užkuraitis (musicologist), Zita Kelmickaitė (ethnomusicologist and presenter), Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer) and Vaidas Stackevičius (producer).[24] The four entries that advanced to the final were announced on 13 December 2012.[25]

The second semi-final of the competition aired on 15 December 2012 and featured nine of the remaining eighteen entries that qualified from the heats.[26] The four members of the jury that provided feedback to the competing artists during the show consisted of Darius Užkuraitis (musicologist), Zita Kelmickaitė (ethnomusicologist and presenter), Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer) and Vaidas Stackevičius (producer). The four entries that advanced to the final were announced on 15 December 2012 during the show.[27]

The final of the competition was broadcast live on 20 December 2012 and featured the remaining eight entries that qualified from the semi-finals. Monika Linkytė, who qualified from the second semi-final, withdrew her song "Baby Boy" shortly before the final due to a laryngitis infection.[28] The seven members of the jury that provided feedback to the competing artists during the show consisted of Darius Užkuraitis (musicologist), Zita Kelmickaitė (ethnomusicologist and presenter), Saulius Urbonavičius (2006 Lithuanian Eurovision entrant as part of LT United), Andrius Mamontovas (2006 Lithuanian Eurovision entrant as part of LT United), Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer), Povilas Meškėla (singer) and Vaidas Stackevičius (producer).[29] In the first round, "War in the Wardrobe" performed by Gerai Gerai & Miss Sheep, "Time to Shine" performed by Girmantė Vaitkutė and "Something" performed by Andrius Pojavis advanced to the second round, the superfinal. In the superfinal, "Something" performed by Andrius Pojavis was selected as the winner after gaining the most points from the jury vote.[1]

On 10 February, LRT organized a televised fundraiser in Vilnius where viewers were able to donate money in order to fund the Lithuanian participation.[30] The fundraiser collected 100,000 litas which went towards paying extra preparation costs.[30] Andrius Pojavis revealed that a new version of the song had been produced which included the introduction of backing vocals.[31]