Tonight, after 10 rounds of competition spanning 10 weeks, Lithuania have selected Donny Montell as their representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm. He will be singing “I’ve Been Waiting For This Night” written by Jonas Thander and Beatrice Robertsson. Notably, Thander has previously done arrangements for Demi Lovato and Taylor Swift before writing Donny’s entry; this is his first known collaboration with Robertsson.

The night started with 2015 winners Vaidas Baumila and Monika Linkyte performing their song “This Time,” with Vaidas later joining the Lithuanian jury panel.

The International Jury Results were as follows

1. Donny Montell – 12
2. Erica Jennings – 10
3. Rūta Ščiogolevaitė – 8
4. Ieva Zasimauskaitė – 7
5. Aistė Pilvelytė – 6
6. Ruslanas Kirilkinas – 5

The Lithuanian Jury Results were as follows

1. Donny Montell – 12
2. Erica Jennings – 10
3. Rūta Ščiogolevaitė – 8
4. Ieva Zasimauskaitė – 7
5. Aistė Pilvelytė – 7
6. Ruslanas Kirilkinas – 6

Lithuanian televotes were as follows

1. Donny Montell – 18962
2. Erica Jennings – 13854
3. Rūta Ščiogolevaitė – 7293
4. Aistė Pilvelytė – 4826
5. Ieva Zasimauskaitė – 3558
6. Ruslanas Kirilkinas – 1756

The night was hosted by Andrius Rožickas and Gerūta Griniūtė and featured International Jury member Syron performing the interval act. Viewers were constantly updated during the show on the televote results with Montell a clear favorite even before he had sung a single note on the night.

Both Montell and Jennings are familiar to Eurovision audiences – Donny flew the Lithuanian flag in 2012 in Baku with the song “Love is Blind” whilst Erica was a member of the pop group SKAMP when she represented Lithuania in the 2001 contest in Copenhagen, performing “You Got Style”.

Donny Montell will perform his entry “I’ve Been Waiting For This Night” in the first half of the second semi final of the Eurovision Song Contest to be held on the 12th of May in Stockholm’s Globen Arena. Give his song a listen right here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z10rgVulYrE