Vilija Matačiūnaitė

Vilija Matačiūnaitė
Vilija Matačiūnaitė
	Vilija Matačiūnaitė in 2014
Background information
Born	24 June 1986 (age 38); Vilnius, Lithuania
Genres	Pop punk (early); pop; pop-rock; electropop;
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter; actress;
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	2002–present
Website	vilija.lt

Vilija Matačiūnaitė (born 24 June 1986) is a Lithuanian singer, actress and songwriter. She represented Lithuania in the 59th annual Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with her song "Attention".

Career

Matačiūnaitė began her professional career in 2005, when she reached the finals in National Eurovision preselection and finished 7th. In 2005, she achieved wide recognition by participating in the first season of a successful local LNK television music competition franchise Kelias į žvaigždes, where she became the runner-up. In 2010, she finished 2nd on a dance show Kviečiu Šokti and she was third in the international singing competition Sea songs in Ukraine. In 2011, she was the runner-up in the international singing competition Golden voices in Moldova. She was crowned the winner of UK's' music competition Melange Factor in 2012.^[1] In 2013, she won the local LRT television music competition for professional voices Auksinis balsas.^[2] She also hosted music TV show Romeo ir Džiuljeta.^[3] In 2014, she won the Lithuanian Eurovision national selection with her winning song "Attention".^[4]

Eurovision 2014

Matačiūnaitė represented Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, singing the song "Attention", which she wrote herself. She failed to make it past the second semi final, achieving 11th place.

She received Barbara Dex Award for the worst dressed artist in the 2014.^[5]

Eurovision 2017

In 2017, Matačiūnaitė participated in the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "I See the Lights" but did not go through the first stage of the selection. ^[6]

Eurovision 2021 and 2022

Under the artist name Sunday Afternoon, Matačiūnaitė entered Pabandom iš naujo! 2021 in an attempt to represent Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Open". She failed to qualify from the semi-finals. She returned to Pabandom iš naujo! in 2022 to try for a fourth time to represent Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 with the song "101", where she finished in sixth place in the second semi-final of the competition.

Eurovision 2024

On 19 December 2023, Matačiūnaitė was announced among the competing artists of Eurovizija.LT, the Lithuanian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, with the song "Save Me".^[7]

Discography

Albums

Title	Details
Mylėk	Released: 27 October 2006 Label: Hitas Formats: digital download, CD
Attention!	Released: 2014 Label: Hitas Formats: digital download, CD

Singles

Title	Year	Album
"Spjaudau Sau Ir Gaudau"	2005	Mylėk
"Kvailys"
"Mylėk"
"Alkana Širdis"	2006
"Žiogai"	2006

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2010	Mano mylimas prieše (TV series)	Miglė	Main role. Also a performer of the theme song

References

^ Vee M (winner for Sunday 30th)
^ „Auksiniame balse“ – Vilijos Matačiūnaitės triumfas
^ „Romeo ir Džiuljeta“ vedėją V. Matačiūnaitę apstulbino šou rengėjų pasiūlymas
^ Dainos „Attention“ autorė V. Matačiūnaitė: bet kokiu atveju keliausiu į Kopenhagą
^ Lithuania: Vilija wins the Barbara Dex Award
^ Lithuania: Sasha Song and Vilija Mataciunaite attempt Eurovision 2017 comebacks
^ Carabaña Menéndez, Hugo (2023-12-19). "Eurovizija.LT 2024: Presentados los artistas y canciones de la preselección lituana cuya final será el 17 de febrero con la vuelta de The Roop" [Eurovizija.LT 2024: The artists and songs of the Lithuanian preselection have been presented, with the final set for 17 February and the return of The Roop]. ESCplus España (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2023-12-19.

Preceded by Andrius Pojavis with "Something"	Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014	Succeeded by Monika Linkytė & Vaidas Baumila with "This Time"
Preceded by Moje 3	Barbara Dex Award Winner 2014	Succeeded by Trijntje Oosterhuis