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The frothy world of Eurovision was shaken by accusations of plagarism over the weekend, when the frontrunner in Lietuvos Dainų Daina, Lithuania’s song selection contest, was removed from the running. Hear the shocking similarity between “Lietuva” and a certain Britpop track that caused many a pop critic to go bananas in 1991 after the jump!
Deivis had the right idea in trying to win over the Lithuanian public: Record a song about Lithuania, use a pleasant melody, and title it “Lithuania.” He dominated his quarterfinal, and took a lot of momentum into this weekend’s semifinals.
Deivis, “Lietuva”:
Still, even in Lithuania, they’re going to notice when you’ve taken the hook for your number from a relatively popular song by Sixpence None The Richer. (They think Sixpence originally wrote the track, and not The La’s.)
Sixpence None The Richer vs. Deivis
The La’s apparently never crossed over into the Lithuanian pop consciousness, but the lilting sounds of Sixpence None The Richer did. I have no idea. Either way, Deivis is out, and Donatas Montvydas (singing in English!) has taken over the frontrunner spot.
Donatas Montvydas, “From The Distance”:
I wouldn’t expect to improve on last year’s 16th-place finish quite yet, Lithuania.
And just in case you need a reminder, here are The La’s playing “There She Goes” on an early-’90s episode of Late Night WIth David Letterman:
Deivis disqualified from “Lietuvos Dainų Daina” [Oiko Times]
The La’s actually toured America? I thought Lee Mavers specialized in sitting in his room and complaining about everything musical that wasn’t winsome and from Liverpool.
Last year’s Lithuanian song was the worst. It really pissed me off that they got into the finals and the awesome songs from Malta and Cyprus and Dustin the Turkey didn’t.
That La’s clip just made my day. Unfortunately, I might now have trouble not belting out “Lietuva” instead of “There she goes”…
In addition to a rare opportunity to see a live clip of The La’s, I love it when David Letterman holds up a CD longbox at the start!
That’s just Lee Mavers (and possibly one other band member). Still fun to see, though, and surprisingly the Late Night band kept it pretty subtle.
@brasstax: That’s John Power (later of Cast) on bass. Dave asks about the band, and Lee says two of them are there, and two others are back home.
@Thierry: Don’t forget Paul on the tambourine!
What a wonderful clip! What a shame Lee Mavers took the Syd Barrett route. I dug the longbox, too. And Dave’s show has never been the same since he left NBC….