Monika Linkytė (born 3 June 1992) is a Lithuanian singer and songwriter. She represented Lithuania in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2015 The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst. Organised by the European Broa ...

along with Vaidas Baumila with the song " This Time", placing 18th. She also represented Lithuania in the New Wave 2014 competition and was a finalist on season two of '' Lietuvos Balsas''. She will represent Lithuania again in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2023 The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is the upcoming 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is set to take place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, after , winner of the with the song " Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to meet the dem ...

with the song "

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". Linkytė has previously attempted to represent Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2010, 2011,

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and in the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest The Junior Eurovision Song Contest (often shortened to JESC, Junior Eurovision or Junior EuroSong) is an international song competition which has been organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) annually since 2003. It is held in a diff ...

in 2007.

Early life and education

Linkytė was born on 3 June 1992 in

Gargždai Gargždai () is a city in western Lithuania located in Klaipėda County. The Minija River flows through the city.John S. Jaffer ShtetLinks: Gargzdai (Gorzd), LithuaniaJewishGen, Inc., the Home of Jewish Genealogy. Accessed June 18, 2011. Gargžd ...

. After completing gymnasium, she moved to

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

to attend

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgow and ...

, studying public health, but left after three semesters. In 2014, she began studying law at Vilnius University, but in 2016 left to study music education at the

British and Irish Modern Music Institute The British and Irish Modern Music Institute, now styled as the BIMM Institute, is a group of eight independent colleges which specialise in the provision of creative education in Brighton, Bristol, London, Dublin, Manchester, Berlin, Birmingha ...

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Career

In 2007, Linkytė competed in the Lithuanian national selection for the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the fifth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in the Ahoy indoor sporting arena in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on 8 December. The host country was chosen by the European Bro ...

when she was 15 years old. She later returned to Eurovision in 2010 when she competed in '' Eurovizija 2010'' with the song "Give Away". She qualified from the first semi-final and placed tenth in the final. Subsequently, she competed in '' Eurovizija 2011'' and ''

'', placing fourth and third in the finals with the songs "Days Go By" and "Happy", respectively. She went on to place second on the second season of '' Lietuvos Balsas'', the Lithuanian version of ''

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''. After the ''Eurovizija'' national final was scrapped in favor of '' Eurovizijos Atranka 2013'', Linkytė continued to take part, competing with the song "Baby Boy", written by

Sasha Son Dmitry Shavrov (russian: Дмитрий Шавров, lt, Dmitrij Šavrov; born 18 September 1983), better known by his stage names Sasha Song or Sasha Son, is a Lithuanian singer and songwriter. He represented Lithuania in the Eurovision Song C ...

. She was forced to withdraw from the competition following the second semi-final due to contracting laryngitis. The next year, she competed in '' Eurovizijos Atranka 2014'' and placed fourth. Afterwards, she represented Lithuania in the New Wave 2014 competition, placing fourth. The following year, she competed in '' Eurovizijos Atranka 2015'' and also submitted the self-penned song "Skęstu" to the competition. While the song was eliminated during the sixth show, she went on to win the competition performing the song " This Time" with Vaidas Baumila. Linkytė and Baumila went on to represent Lithuania in the

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, where they qualified from the second semi-final in seventh place, and went on to place 18th in the final. After Eurovision, Linkytė released the single "Po dangum", which went on to be certified platinum in Lithuania. Her debut studio album '' Walk with Me'' was released on 17 September 2015, and was also certified platinum. She went on to win Best Album for ''Walk with Me'', Best Song for "Po dangum", and Best Female Act at the 2015 M.A.M.A. Awards, the largest music awards ceremony in Lithuania. She was nominated for Best Female Act once again at the 2016 awards.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

* ''Old Love'' (2018)

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Linkyte, Monika 1992 births English-language singers from Lithuania Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2015 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2023 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Lithuania 21st-century Lithuanian women singers Lithuanian pop singers Living people People from Gargždai Samogitian people Vilnius University alumni