My hard is yours. That’s the grand message from Norway this year. But how hard is it really? Follow us as we check out some of the hottest men of Eurovision and give you our hard verdict.
They are the coolest guys of Eurovision this year – the five hunky men of Lithuanian InCulto showing us the Eastern European kind of funk. It’s certainly our kind of men. And funkiest of them all is lead singer Jurgis Didziulis. We chatted him up loud and clear.
Claiming to like it rough while ripping your pants off? Well, hello mister sparkling hotpants. Of course you are off to a flying start in our How hard is it really? column. But can Jurgis Didziulis stand up to his performance? Let’s find out, starting by asking a little about ESC. His favorite performer is certainly a good pick: “Verka Serduchka is great, energetic and extravagant and that is exactly what Eurovision needs. It definitely left the biggest impression on me”, he answers, and we can only applaud that. But what does ESC mean to Lithuania and to InCulto?
More copulation than masturbation
Jurgis thinks ESC is one of few opportunities Lithuania has to express national character, as the country misses out in what GEE would classify as boring Eurotrash things like soccer. Many people warned InCulto from participating, but given the musical situation in Lithuania, Jurgis thinks it’s a good step:
“We have nowhere else to go. We played all the weddings and private parties in Lithuania. I know that after our European promo tour we are going to be invited to a birthday in Ukraine and a couple of weddings in Georgia. So just because of that it's important” Jurgis says. Now if that doesn’t melt our heart, the next remark certainly does:
“With InCulto, our objective is to stimulate ourselves and others, as well. To make it not an act of masturbation but more an act of common copulation”.
Something for everybody
Yay to common copulation with these five guys, that in Jurgis’ words represents a hotchpotch of styles both in their music and their appearance. Here’s a little something for everybody, and only Jurgis himself is inspired by as varied artists as Benny More, Frank Sinatra, Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth and Pixies.
“My goals are to not let myself down and produce good art. What ‘good art’ means is very subjective matter. I realize that the most important thing is to be honest to yourself. You can do anything as long as it is satisfying to you”, Jurgis goes on. Well, this Colombian born man is certainly satisfying art to us, with his relaxed, cool style, bright energy and pretty face. He agrees style is important in Eurovision.
“If it's a TV show you have to look good or at least have enough charisma to compensate for your bad looks. I think the fact that we are all sexy, very good looking guys really helps us out”, Jurgis states and tells us the costumes, made by Jolanta Rimkute and Ieva Seviakovaite at
Lt Identity, probably will remain the same.
Sexual liberation and hot oil
How about the pants rip of session? Any plans for further development there? “Well, the show is supposed to be funny and a bit cheeky, but not vulgar”, Jurgis points out revealing initial plans of both wet t-shirts and a girl covering the guys in hot oil during the performance. We’re kind of glad the manager stopped him from that – it could have been a bit too much for our tender hearts. Still it reveals a creative spirit and a self confident, liberated man.
“We need to pay respect to the camp aspect of Eurovision and the fact that this contest is all about sexual liberation, being a bit more extravagant than you are usually, flaunting what you've got. In that sense, we actually pay respect to people who have been putting sexual liberation on the mainstream agenda for the past 20 years”, Jurgis stresses.
Considering all these amazing answers by our favorite Lithuanian singer, we are finding ourselves really looking forward to five funky men showing up in our town next week. Especially since free drinks, food and parties are their favorite part of ESC. “We are taking our instruments and our super cool portable gear with which we can play anywhere anytime with minimal preparation, so we'll take advantage of that and rock many venues”, Jurgis says, promising they will take a little bit more care than usual, since the legal systems actually appears to be working over here.
Too bad for every excited person in Oslo, Jurgis is married to glorious Erica Jennings, who represented Lithuania in ESC 2001, and who he jumps on stage with when the occasion rises. He just loves to spend time with her and their two kids. But hey, they are probably super excited on his behalf and wants him to have a blast in Oslo.
Our hard verdict
We have to admit tight pants turn disco hotpants kinda had us there already, but by now, we are just super charmed as well by this talented singer and his BA in political science. Such joy, charm, wit and coolness all in one person is rare both inside and outside ESC. Plus for appearing tough, liking it rough and still being real nice. Sure looks hard to us. No minus, except for the settled and married part, which is almost as boring as soccer. But that’s ok, cause we like it rough too.
So, do we have our winner? A bit early to say, as many European studs are still lined up. Stay tuned for more, including our Oslo date with InCulto in a week or so.
Do you love InCulto as much as us? Check out your chance to win an autographed CD
Wanna see what InCulto was up to last time they were in Oslo? Check out their video blog.
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