Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Pabandom iš Naujo! 2021 (Let's try again! 2021) was the national final format developed by LRT in order to select Lithuania's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. The competition involved a four-week-long process that commenced on 16 January 2021 and concluded with a winning song and artist on 6 February 2021. The four shows took place at the LRT studios in Vilnius and were hosted by Ieva Stasiulevičiūtė and Vytautas Rumšas with Vaidas Baumila hosting segments from the green room.[2] The shows were broadcast on LRT televizija, LRT Lituanica and LRT Radijas as well as online via the broadcaster's website lrt.lt.

For the 2021 competition, two heats consisting of ten entries each were held on 16 and 23 January where half of the entries from each heat were eliminated, while the remaining ten entries advanced to the competition's semi-final. In the semi-final, half of the entries were eliminated and the top five proceeded to the final. In the final, the winner was selected from the remaining five entries and an additional entry from The Roop (who were due to represent Lithuania in 2020 before the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe) that proceeded directly to the final.

The results of each of the four shows were determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and public televoting. 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. During the first three shows, the jury votes were determined by a five-member panel. In the final, a seven-member panel voted. The public could cast their votes through telephone and SMS voting, which were monitored by independent observers from auditor Grand Thornton Baltic. Ties in all shows were decided in favour of the entry that was awarded the most points by the jury.[2]

On 31 March 2020, LRT opened two separate submission forms: one for artists and another for songwriters to submit their songs. The submission deadline for both applications concluded on 14 December 2020. Artists that applied to compete with a song were required to indicate which song they wanted to compete with on their application.[3][4] On 3 January 2020, LRT announced the 22 artists selected for the competition. Among the artists are previous Lithuanian Eurovision contestant Evelina Sašenko, who represented Lithuania in 2011, Sunday Afternoon (Vilija Matačiūnaitė), who represented the nation in 2014, and The Roop, who were to represent the nation in 2020 before the contest was cancelled.[5] On 4 January 2021, the final changes to the list of 22 competing acts were made with the withdrawal of singers Evelina Sašenko and Gintarė Korsakaitė.[6][7]

The first heat of the competition aired on 16 January 2021 and featured ten of the competing artists. The show was filmed on 12 January 2021. The members of the jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer), Jievaras Jasinskis (composer and musician), Vytautas Bikus (composer), Ieva Narkutė (singer) and Aistė Smilgevičiūtė (singer). Half of the entries advanced to the semi-final, while the remaining half were eliminated.[9]

The second heat of the competition aired on 23 January 2021 and featured ten of the competing artists. The show was filmed on 19 January 2021. The members of the jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer), Ieva Narkutė (singer), Vytautas Bikus (composer), Gerūta Griniūtė (cultural presenter and event host) and Stanislavas Stavickis-Stano (singer-songwriter). Half of the entries advanced to the semi-final, while the remaining half were eliminated.[10]

The semi-final of the competition aired on 30 January 2021 and featured the ten entries that qualified from the two heats. The show was filmed on 26 January 2021. The members of the jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer), Aistė Smilgevičiūtė (singer), Jievaras Jasinskis (composer and musician), Gerūta Griniūtė (cultural presenter and event host) and Stanislavas Stavickis-Stano (singer-songwriter). The top five entries advanced to the final, while the bottom five were eliminated.[11]

The final of the competition took place on 6 February 2021 and featured the remaining five entries that qualified from the semi-final and the pre-qualified entry: "Discoteque" performed by The Roop. The members of the jury consisted of Ramūnas Zilnys (music reviewer), Aistė Smilgevičiūtė (singer), Jievaras Jasinskis (composer and musician), Gerūta Griniūtė (cultural presenter and event host), Stanislavas Stavickis-Stano (singer-songwriter), Vytautas Bikus (composer) and Ieva Narkutė (singer).[12] "Discoteque" performed by The Roop was selected as the winner after gaining the most points from both the jury vote and the public vote.[13]