I know it sounds like a good goal to match the best singer with the best song, but here’s why separating songs and artists doesn’t work. First, it attracts international composers who write as many songs as possible every year and throw them at anybody in Europe who will take them (there was a brief scandal about the same songs ending up in Lithuania and Moldova’s NFs this year.) If you look at the Wikipedia page for Lithuania 2014, you’ll see that the same group of people wrote half the songs on the show. I wondered why these were the best songs they received too, but I’m guessing it has something to do with the fact that most writers who care about their songs don’t want to donate them to a game of musical chairs for a bunch of flops. Which brings me to the next variable, the participants.
Most of the entrants this year were talent show alumni or bored celebrities who hadn’t had a hit in a few years. I know you get some of those in any NF (and they tend to do disproportionately well in NFs as a rule, because their fans have the routine down, which probably explains the ratings success), but this show is made solely for them: you show up and sing whatever is given to you. It’s unappealing to anybody who wants any control over how they’re presented on national and potentially international TV.
Vilija’s participation with her own song had its risks (she could have watched somebody else go to Copenhagen with her song, or she could have had to permanently be associated with a song she never would have personally chosen to sing,) but her win was completely UNSURPRISING. Because when you compare a singer performing a song that they’ve gotten to know and made their own, and a singer trying to sell a song that somebody they’ve never spoken to wrote in 10 minutes, the former is usually going to be more convincing. Vilija might not have won in a year where entering as a package was the norm, but the fact that she and her song were the least awkward combination got her through.
I can’t believe LRT is trying this again after the failure of the show’s concept (taking 10 shows to figure out that the best song-artist combination was… one of the only artists who entered with her own song) and the NQ. They can’t possibly expect to get a successful entry out of it, they must think the best they can do is to get more ratings for themselves. I think (and hope) they’ll have trouble getting any artists on board this year. Their NFs keep becoming more and more unrewarding, and soon, no singer in the country will want to participate.
Back to the topic: I don't think The Voice or X factor is a good method to choose the Eurovision represantative. It ought to be a performer with a little bit of experience.
