u/LucasScooter

Ah, I see you only want more Song of the Day! Don't worry, I'm happy to oblige even if we're living in a mad world. Aujourd'hui, la canción att razgovaramo om kommt aus Lietuva ir è cantato mewn nifer ton glossón różne. Sorry, maybe it would be easier with subtitles? I was just about to get to the part where I mentioned that we're Babel-ing about Lithuania's entry, 'Sólo Quiero Más' by Lion Ceccah, today. ¡Vamanos! We have so much more to discuss!

Astute readers may have noticed that 'Sólo Quiero Más' does not look Lithuanian. In fact, it's Spanish, and it means 'I Only Want More'. You might expect from that title that it would have a lot in common with Greece's 'Ferto', but it actually has a lot more in common with Taco Bell's slogan of 'Live Más'. Even if all hope seems lost and the world seems like it's falling down around us, Ceccah states that he still longs to keep existing and experiencing life.
And he states that in no less than six languages throughout the song. Namely, Lithuanian, English, Spanish (of course), and French, plus two single lines in the final chorus in German and Italian. This makes it the most linguistically diverse song of this year, and double that of the runner-up.
Speaking of runner-ups, as a brief aside, the runner-up of Lithuania's national final this year ('Contact!' by SHWR) had a very similar theme about living life being the most human thing we can do, even if life seems grey and hopeless sometimes. Are the Lithuanians doing okay? I dunno, I just feel like maybe we should send someone to check up on them because it seems like they're really working through some things the past two years.
Anyway, brief aside aside, 'Sólo Quiero Más' is a tender and extremely human song filled with dramatic vocal flair and production that sounds a bit like an orchestra scoring the end times. But the end times in a Pandora's box kind of way where there's still a little bit of hope left.

Ceccah may only want more when it comes to life, but that philosophy does not apparently apply to the songwriting team. The song was written by duo Ceccah and Aurimas Galvelis, with Galvelis solo on the production.
Galvelis may have studied jazz guitar at college, but he has expanded to más areas since graduating, now working in songwriting and production. He has worked on the past Lithuanian national final entries 'Drobė' by Lion Ceccah (2025), 'Make It Real' by Gabrea (2022), and 'Running Chords' by Urtė Šilagalytė (2022). He also competed himself as part of duo The Artrace in 2012 with their song 'Fly LT', then again in 2022 as part of duo Moosu X (The Artrace rebranded) with 'Love That Hurts', both of which he helped write and produce. He also releases his own solo music, including an album last August. However, none of this individual work has competed in a national selection. Yet, anyway!

Ceccah, meanwhile, has competed no less than 5 times in Lithuania's national final by my count, including the most recent. Only two of those times is under the name 'Lion Ceccah', though. Born Tomas Alenčikas, he studied music at gymnasium before transitioning to getting a Bachelor degree in musical theatre at university... and then a Masters in music. During his studies, he became heavily involved in the Lithuanian drag scene, performing sometimes under the name 'Alen Chicco', based on his last name. In 2018, he began releasing original music, and already a year later, made his first attempt to represent Lithuania at Eurovision with the song 'Your Cure', ultimately placing 5th out of 8 acts in the final. Still, he only wanted more stage time, so he returned in 2020 with 'Somewhere Out There' and 2023 with 'Do You', unfortunately failing to reach the final either time.
It was at this point that he decided to change his stage name for some reason (not one I could find in my research, anyway), to 'Lion Ceccah', pronounced like 'Lyin' Seek-ah'. Under this new name, he competed in 2025 with the aforementioned 'Drobė' (transl. 'Canvas'), coming in the silver slot. He clearly took that to heart this year, though it ultimately paid off. I guess we should expect a golden winner's reprise next year!

You may want more, but no escribo más. Go live your life. Ceccah certainly will be on the Vienna stage, singing a song of six~~pence~~ languages, and isn't that a dandy thing to see on the TV? It's a good thing he is creating music that unites without words. And if that fails, well... subtitles can always be Plan B.

Lion Ceccah - Sólo Quiero Más | Lithuania 🇱🇹 | Official Music Video | #Eurovision2026

P.S.: I have only ever seen 'solo' in Spanish without the accent on the first 'O', but this song has made me learn that it apparently has a variant spelling. And that both are apparently correct to use. The más you know!

DISCLAIMER: Song of the Day is for appreciating and showing love to whatever that day's chosen song is in a positive manner, and moderation decisions under this post will be made accordingly. Please be nice down there in the comments, you hear? To the naysayers, the overly critical, and the haters, you have had and will have future threads to make your opinions known; sit this one out. Thank you!

We're branching out yet again, leafing no song unturned. Mother Nature, she knows already, but I can finally reveal to the rest of you that today's discussion will be rooted in Luxembourg's entry for this year, 'Mother Nature' by Eva Marija. Since it's good to be green, I'll recycle an earlier joke now and say come on, let's grow!

'Mother Nature' is a feel-good song, simply put. As is perhaps already clear from the title, it advocates for connecting with nature as a way of making life's ills feel a little more manageable. But there's a double meaning at play, as 'going back to your roots' can also mean staying true to yourself and your identity. Admittedly, neither of these themes is especially ground-breaking, but the earnestness and charm Eva Marija has presenting them more than makes up for that. Plus, who can say no to a violin solo? The whole package makes me feel at peace, and that's definitely valuable when life is so hectic right now.

The song was carefully sprouted from a seed by Eva Marija herself, Maria Mathea, Thomas Stengaard, and Kill J/Julie Aagaard, with Stengaard tending to the production.
Stengaard and Aagaard have already been discussed at length in my San Marino SotD write-up, but as a quick refresher, they often work together and are extremely prolific in writing national final and/or Eurovision entries. This year alone, they helped write 'Superstar' by SENHIT (San Marino) and 'Eins, Zwei, Drei' by LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER (United Kingdom) in addition to Luxembourg's eventual entry.
Mathea is also quite prolific at crafting possible Eurovision entries, including for herself to perform! She competed in last year's Danish national final with the song 'Air', penned alongside Aagaard (and also Emil Lei). As far as for other artists, though, she is behind the national final entries 'Bad Decisions (Hush Hush)' by Irem (competed against 'Mother Nature' at Luxembourg's national final this year), 'Let It Burn' by DARIA (Poland 2025), 'Play It!' by Xannova Xan (Greece 2025), 'Banana' by Matt BLXCK (Malta 2024), 'Red Flag Parade' by MYDY (Czechia 2024), 'Dream in Colours' by Loredana (Belgium 2023), 'I Was Gonna Marry Him' by EYJAA (Denmark 2023), 'Holla' by Anna-Lisa Kumoji (Norway 2019), and 'Sweet Lies' by either Kerrie-Anne or Anisa (United Kingdom 2019). As far as entries that actually went on to perform on the Eurovision stage, we can add 'Stay' by Anna Odobescu (Moldova 2019) and 'Solo' by Blanka (Poland 2023), the latter of which Mathea also performed with as a backing singer in Liverpool. She also co-wrote 'One of Those Days' by Sona Azizova, which represented Azerbaijan at Junior Eurovision 2021. In short, truly an impressive multitude of countries!

Eva Marija, who performs using her first names but is fully named Eva Marija Kavaš Puc, was born and grew up in Luxembourg with Slovenian parents stationed there for EU work. She studied at the European School of Luxembourg II before transitioning to the Conservatoire de Luxembourg for specialised study and training in voice, piano, guitar, and of course violin. During her studies, she performed any time she got an opportunity to, including but not limited to charity concerts, theatre productions, and local festivals. Now, she is finishing her final year of songwriting studies at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London. It should come as no surprise that while her surroundings may have changed, her drive to perform has not, and she can be found playing music at a variety of live music venues across the city.

There are sure to be many rooting for Eva Marija come May, though her fanbase is sure to bloom and grow even beyond then. She's someone you don't need to hedge your bets on, and I'm sure we'll see the fruit of all her labour ripen before too long. Maybe even putting that new songwriting degree to good use in future national finals? No matter what thunderclouds or rainbows the future holds, though, she got to plant her feet on the Eurovision stage and perform for millions, and that's something to be immensely proud of.

Eva Marija - Mother Nature | Luxembourg 🇱🇺 | National Final Performance | #Eurovision2026

Song of the Day | 🇱🇹 Lion Ceccah - Sólo Quiero Más | Lithuania

Song of the Day | 🇱🇺 Eva Marija - Mother Nature | Luxembourg