Singer-songwriter Ofelija has been singing and playing the piano since she was five years old. Now she’s competing in Eurovizija.LT with her original song “Širdelė.” She kindly took some time to speak with us this week about her musical training, why she values authenticity in music, and what she hopes to achieve in the contest.
When she was very young, Ofelija won a place at a prestigious music school in Lithuania, and was quickly put on the piano track.
Everything started at an early age for me, because I was learning music at a special music school. It started from five years old, and I was in the piano speciality. I spent my young days playing piano every day – four hours per day. At first, it was only piano lessons and classical music, but in eighth grade I became really interested in jazz music and started working on that individually. Then I started singing as well, and I thought about piano and voice together – I wanted to join these two specialities and create my own music. I thought that that would be my goal – what I want to do in life. So I am basically a professional pianist in classical and jazz music.
Heavily influenced by jazz, her music tastes lean more alternative. She’s covered songs like Nirvana’s “Heart Shaped Box.” How would she describe her musical influences?
When I was still in school, I found Bobby McFerrin. He was a big inspiration for me.
Ofelija even had the chance to sing with Bobby on stage at one of his concerts in Lithuania.
He does in his shows this “hot microphone,” asking who wants to come and sing with him. I really wanted to sing with him. He was like my first idol. I also found artists like Fiona Apple, Kate Bush, and Tori Amos really interesting.
She’s also fond of Azerbaijani jazz.
I was more into this than traditional jazz music, like swing. I was always interested in more alternative music, and my own feelings and emotions; what I put into this piano – what I can do with the piano by just improvising, playing classical music, and creating my own style.
How has her Eurovizija.LT experience been so far?
In 2024, the main focus for me, actually, was not music, because I spent a lot of time doing shows – TV reality shows and acting. My music was a bit separate, and maybe that was not good for Eurovizija.LT. The stage and everything is very different – you get a lot of stress, because you know that this performance will be viewed by so many people, not only from Lithuania, but from abroad.
Ofelija recognizes that her song is not standard Eurovision fare.
I created this song on my own, and I never thought that I would go to Eurovision with this song, because this kind of song is maybe not a typical Eurovision song, but more alternative – more poetic, you know. But that’s why I was surprised that it got really huge attention, and really good feedback from people. People were messaging me that they started to cry. They felt really emotional. They felt me in the song. It has really good views on my YouTube channel, which is [otherwise] not so active. I’m really happy about that. I know many people are waiting for this Saturday, because they really want to hear it live.
She’s aware of the strength of her semi-final, and the talent of her competitors.
In my semi-final we have Ieva [Zasimauskaitė], who won already one time. She is a strong artist. I think my semi-final is the strongest of all the semi-finals.
How does she think she’ll do?
If I compare [myself] to other artists, I don’t really believe that I can get into the Final. But, as I mentioned before, I was never thinking about a Eurovision song. I just created the song from my feelings, and I had very strong emotions when I created this song.
“Širdelė” was inspired by Ofelija’s own experiences with mental health.
How I started writing this song is: in 2024, I started having panic attacks and anxiety attacks. That was something new for me, because I’d had them before in my life, but never so strong. It could last all day. Then I’m much more sensitive and emotional, and maybe now I can say what depression actually is, you know, because maybe before I knew that depression exists, but in 2024 I felt what depression actually is.
So when I was writing this song, I actually had a panic attack, and I was so tired from it; that feeling that it’s happening again – all this negativity, all this sadness in me. I sat next to the piano, and I started playing to express this sadness.
She also shared that the song was influenced by some personal and relationship struggles.
I don’t want to sound too depressing, because love as well can bring you nice moments – nice feelings, butterflies, etc. But if it’s real love, it looks like it will be forever – you will never heal from it. So it’s like two themes. Panic, depression, anxiety – it’s nothing new, especially for young people in this generation. It’s a really big problem in Lithuania. So it’s like mixed themes for this song.
What can we expect to see from her performance at Eurovizija.LT?
I have a lot in my heart, and I think for people it will be emotional. Maybe somebody will start to cry. I don’t know how strong it will be, and maybe there could be some mistakes, but that would be because I was more concentrated on this emotion, this sadness, this feeling – what I have inside that I want to show others.
I think Eurovision has many colors that you can show. For example, it can be that you want to show through your performance your voice – your ability to sing – or you can show in your performance some happy moments. I think my performance was more to show what I feel with this song. It will be an emotional, sensitive performance I think.
Also, there will be a dancer!
And how does she want people to react?
It depends on how people want to judge me…but I think this competition should not be about that. In my opinion, Eurovision is a song contest – so it should be about the song, not just about how the singer shows her voice. There are other competitions for that, like [The Voice].
While I was writing “Širdelė,” I would call it psychotherapy for me, you know, musical psychotherapy. I really hope that people would feel this as well, and maybe they would heal something inside by listening to the song. Maybe it will help them. Maybe even if they cry, it’s already helped them, because for me, to release emotions best is to create music or to cry. I really hope the song will heal people – for at least three minutes, they will start this healing process.
Not everybody needs this, but I think in this age, where there is a lot of stress – you need to be rich; you need to be successful; you need to be good – it’s too much, and I really want people to relax. They stop for a minute. Think for a moment. Think for at least three minutes. Because in this age, it’s really difficult. The 21st century is difficult. Technology, computers, phones. It’s just destroying young people’ nerves. What we forget about is that we are not robots. We can’t proceed as robots, but some people think that.
Ofelija values authenticity, with a preference for artists whose music and performances come from within, rather than a producer or label.
If I was a judge, I would want to see an artist be fully who he is – if this is his song and what he does on stage. As I said in a past interview, I think we should support artists who create their own music with their own ideas – not what producers tell them to do. Okay, you have the voice. You can sing – but it’s not you. It’s something that others give you. And then when they go on stage, they don’t have [the song] inside them. They don’t know how the song can be, or how visual the performance can be, because somebody gave them the song. They’re just a product that came there to sing.
So which artists does she admire?
I like Lana Del Rey, for example, because she creates her own songs. She has her own style, and maybe she has help, but I know that she basically writes her own poetry and everything. I’m more interested in this artist than some singer whose producer wrote her songs and told her how to dress, how to be on stage, and all of that.
Ofelija is definitely not a Swiftie.
I know she’s popular, but I don’t feel this artist. I just see her as a product. I don’t feel it. But, for example, with Billie Eilish, I can feel it – her emotions and everything. With Beyonce, I can’t feel it. Maybe it’s an unpopular opinion.
She offered her thoughts on the recent Grammy Awards.
Beyoncé won, and Billie Eilish, with such a good album – you can feel that she put all her heart there; she spent so much time creating it – won nothing. That’s what I’m saying. I like artists who are creators – who are real authors of her songs – better than products whose producers give them songs to sing. Kurt Cobain died in 1994, but we still listen to his music now because it’s his own songs. It will always be alive. So, to create really good songs that will be listened to years after you die, I think, should be the main goal for real artists. Not to make something that will sound nice for a short time, but be forgotten.
What does she think makes a Eurovision winner?
I think you should concentrate as much on the song as on the artist – what he brings, and what his idea was. I’m talking not only about voice, but as an artist and creator.
What is she hoping to get out of her Eurovizija.LT experience – whether she makes it to the final or not?
I’m happy that this song got attention, and I have good feedback from people. It’s a really big step into music for me – maybe a comeback – because, as I said, in 2024, my music life was more distant. I put it away, you know, so I think maybe it will motivate me now to do more music – more songs and performances – so I’m happy I’m participating.
But the nerves are still there.
You’re in a competition, and you know everybody will judge you. It’s not the typical concert, where you come and sing, and that’s all. But I did what I could, so now I will know how many real fans I have. I’m really interested in how many will vote for me on Saturday. It’s nice for me to test my Instagram followers who are watching my stories every day. I’m really interested if they will support me.
What are her favorite Eurovision songs and artists?
Belgium is always good. I always like the Belgian songs, because they kind of have this alternative style. Also, Duncan Laurence; I really loved his song “Arcade.” And actually, maybe it’s an unpopular opinion because he was in last place [in the public vote] last year, but I liked “Dizzy” by Olly Alexander. I really liked this song. Maybe stress made him a bit nervous, because the performance was not the best for him, but I understand – it’s Eurovision!
I was a bit shocked, because he’s a popular artist. I thought, okay, maybe the juries would give him less votes because his performance was a bit shaky. But why people? I was a bit surprised, because that song is really good. And that’s what I like – you can feel his heart, you know, when he sings so naturally.
This month she will be performing on a talk show, and will soon perform a concert in Vilnius.
I want to show people that I’m actually a singer, and I want to play the piano and sing all my life. I’ve wanted to do this since an early age. It’s been a long time since I did any concert in Lithuania, so I’m really excited about this.
Speaking of new music, it takes time. I don’t want to push myself, because this Eurovizija.LT song came really unexpectedly, and to create music I must have some emotional moment – some events in my life. I don’t want to just sit next to the piano and say: “now I need to write a song.” Or just make a song by copying someone and watching what is popular now.
If I have something attached to me, then I will perform it on piano, and naturally it will come. Of course I would like to write new songs – and I need to, because I want to show people new music. It’s not difficult for me to create a song, and I like songwriting.
As a final message for fans watching Eurovizija.LT on Saturday, she had this to say.
My message is: Please don’t judge me. I’m not a robot. I just opened my heart for you with this performance and this song. I just opened my heart. Because the lyrics are very personal, I just hope that maybe [viewers] can feel it together. Maybe they had similar situations in her lives. Maybe they also felt love – real love. Maybe they also had anxiety. Some of them maybe have depression, and tried to heal from it, so I hope they find something in the song that would heal them or help them.
If people support me, I will be very happy. It will be a very big motivation for me to not stop doing music. Many times I kind of stopped because I have moments where I don’t sing or play piano, and motivation really helps.
I don’t want to look at this performance as a judgment, you know. I just want people to relax, listen to the song, watch the visuals, and imagine they are not watching a competition. Just watch me as an artist showing my creativity. That would be the most important for me.
Be sure to catch Ofelija’s performance in Heat 5 of Eurovizija.LT on Saturday, February 8 at 20:00 CET.
Tell us what #YOU think of Ofelija’s song on our socials (@escunited), Discord, or at our forum.
