Welcome to That Eurovision Site’s 2024 Advent Calendar! Each day at 10:00CET we’ll be highlighting one of our favourite holiday themed songs from across the Eurovision sphere! today is 8th December and our featured song today is “Štai ir vėl” by Donny Montell, who has twice represented Lithuania at Eurovision. Happy Holidays!
Behind the 8th door on the TES Advent Calendar is…
About “Štai ir vėl”
Donny Montell is taking us back to the 80s with “Štai ir vėl” (Here Again) – Despite the retro sound, the track was first released in 2020, and was later included in his 2021 album “1987”.
Whilst the 80s themed track might not initially scream “CHRISTMAS!!!!” to non Lithuanian speakers, the lyrics tell another story – speaking of Christmas miracles, and the positive vibes that the season radiates.
The song was written alongside Anrius Kairys (Vaidas Baumila, Justinas Jarutis) Marius Leskauskas (Monika Marija, Paulina Paukštaitytė) and Jolanta Milišauskaitė-Pulauskienė.
What do we think?
I’m unsure why Donny decided the 80s were back, but I’m absolutely here for it. If anything, it’s just nice to have a Christmas song that sounds noticeably different from all the others, the production of the track is really great, if it weren’t for the you know, Lithuanian-ness of it all, it feels like something you could hear from Wham! back in the day. Highly recommend for all your Christmas playlists!
Donny Montell’s Eurovision Journey
Donny Montell participated in Lithuania’s national selections in 2009 and 2011, sending two songs each year, before finally winning Eurovizija atranka Lietuvoje in 2012 with the song “Love is Blind”.
At Eurovision, Montell qualified from the second semi-final in 3rd place, and would go on to place 14th in the Grand Final. He would return four years later with the song “I’ve Been Waiting For This Night”, beating his previous placement and coming 9th in Stockholm. Since then, he’s served as a songwriter for Paula’s “1 2 3” and Junà’s “Strength Of A Woman” in Eurovizijos 2018 and 2019 respectively.
What do you think of today’s song? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, and Bluesky for more information about Eurovision 2025!
Photo Credit – Alexander Kot-Zaitsaǔ, Gabriel Luengas/Europa Press, KEiiNO, Sarah-Louise Bennett / EBU, Jonathan Vivaas Kise, DR, Luisa Sobral (Collage by That Eurovision Site)
News Source – That Eurovision Site
Giwrgos Oiko