After feeling out of our depth in the beginning, Invilnius headed down to the Eurovision third heat to get a blast of gooey pop hopefuls hoping to represent Lithuania in May 2018 at the finals in Lisbon.
After chatting to a couple of fellow onlookers, we learned that Lithuania's best showing was coming sixth in 2006 with the presumptuously titled "We Are The Winners" - so it's clear now that there's a lot at stake for national pride, especially considering fellow Baltic states Estonia and Latvia both won the event in 2001 and 2002 respectively.
As the stage took an age to get going, running about 45 minutes behind schedule, the cheesy pop of my youth - Steps' One For Sorrow was ringing around my head. However as the presenters Ugne Skonsmanaite and Mantas Stonkus introduced the first act a cheesy pop backing ensemble for Vidas Bareikis with a midget playing a saxophone - we were bracing ourselves for hopefully more outrageous cabaret of the uproarious variety.
Unfortunately the biggest laughs were had when the presenters fluffed their lines multiple times as six of the twelve songs, as to be expected, were just plain bland, even if the singers had good voices. Lucikly, boyband EGO were hilarious with Hello as the backing dancers stepped in and out of the band's routine, causing a stage full of packed testosterone that was overawing but entertaining all the same. Also the salesman esque Valdas Lacko was the least smooth mover on a very smooth roster and his tiny proportions gave him a disfigured-salesman-turned-performer kind of vibe.
11 out of 12 acts came and went and lines were fluffed, a bit itchy feet and cell-phone playing was had - trying to cut down for 2018 but miserably failing - but then along came Greta Zazza to blow everything out of the water. Greta possesses the looks, presence and voice to win the Lithuanian entry - but most crucially she has the track - Broken Shadows has the production and the hooks to sew itself under your skin and hopefully that of the nation too.
So, all in all - a great way to spend a Tuesday night with the warmth of gooey comfort, especially when there's a feel-like temperature of -15 Celsius outside - now all you gotta do is warm the hearts of the nation Greta.