Gintarė Korsakaitė — “Fantasy Eyes”
So, I like the instrumentation for this song. Simple, but effective. The guitar(?) melody that opens the song is catchy, and the percussive elements give the song a relaxed vibe. However (yep, here it comes), while Korsakaitė has a good pop voice, this is one of those cases where I really feel English should only have been used for the chorus. Her pronunciation in the first verse in particular is sub-par, and the lyrics are more a collection of words that could go together rather than anything coherent. I’m afraid this is okay at best, it feels like more work is needed to bring it up to scratch.

Živilė Gedvilaitė — “Lioness”
I didn’t expect schlager from Lithuania, but this certainly ticks several boxes. Fairly simple instrumentation, accessible lyrics, big notes — all gathered up and presented with a homely vibe. It also reminds me of another song (no, not Katy Perry’s “Roar”), but I can’t remember it at this point. I think it’s something to with the notes when Gedvilaitė sings “I am the leader of the pride”. If I remember I’ll update this post (and mention it on Twitter). In any case, I think Gedvilaitė overdoes it on the high notes as her voice strains at times. The lyrics don’t always make sense, but I guess she gets away with it in the context of what the song’s communicating. This is one of the more memorable tracks from the selection, but it probably lacks the “x factor” unless Gedvilaitė puts together a strong performance on stage.