Emilijana — “Illuminate”
Let me jump straight in to what I don’t like about this song, because I can’t get past it: the chorus. It’s too repetitive, and what did the producers think they were doing with Emilijana’s vocals? They sound too strained and washed out when compared to the verses. The rest of the track is quite relaxing, in a good way: the instrumentation reminds me of late 1990s Latin-tinged R&B; it’s fairly dynamic, adding different elements to the track at almost every opportunity. But if I’m listening to a song and not looking forward to the chorus, that’s a bad sign.

Justė Kraujelytė — “How To Get My Life Back”
The reason I listen to each of these songs several times (sometimes in a row) is in order to give some time to the growers. It took a few listens for me to understand what this song was doing and appreciate the slow build with its creative, minimalist instrumentation and gripping lyrics (although I wish Kraujelytė articulated the words a bit clearer). However, this also points to its problem: you don’t get many chances to impress at Eurovision or most of the national finals. I suspect this will be lost among those with a greater immediate impact — unfortunate, since I think it deserves better. (Happy to be proved wrong, Lithuania!)