Photo: Nerijus ir Gintaré
As I said before Lithuania has one of the best national selections this year and it makes me happy to bring you all a very good interview with one of its participants. Her performance in the heat was so captivating, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen and from that moment I became a "Make me human" stan, here are Moniqué's answers:Name: Monika Pundziute - Moniqué
Birthday: 1997.09.20
Height: I recently discovered that I’m not aware of my height and my whole life I’ve been telling it wrong to people. It’s 1.76cm. I guess.
Favorite color: Uhh! Baby blue. Just like my upcoming duet song.
Favorite food: Anything from the Mexican kitchen.
What’s your strangest talent? Mind-reading and imitating a kid’s and Britney Spears’ voice.
What is the strangest thing you have in your room? Kitchen tools. It has always been a mystery to me.
What are you really good at? I am really good at overthinking. And writing stories. These two are actually very related.
What are you really bad at? I am extremely bad at lying.
Childhood idol: First one, was Celine Dion.
Childhood memory: I remember myself realizing that I wanted to be a singer. It was such a strong feeling I cannot shake it off of my memory.
Celebrity crush: Shawn Mendes
Who would you cast to play you in a movie about your life? Nice question. Elizabeth Berkley. Because recently I discovered a photograph of her from Show Girls which looks too much like me. Or Jennifer Aniston. She is my ultimate favorite actress and a role model for me as a woman.
What would the title of that movie be? 1997
Favorite movie: I love Marvel movies and it would be too hard for me to pick just one as there’s so many of them.
Favorite TV series: Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Dish/Snack/Beverage/Candy we should try if we ever visit Lithuania: Actually I am very proud of what Lithuania, in particular Vilnius can offer in the food area. It’s the variety of cuisines and talented chef’s who always bring their A game whether it’s Lithuanian food or any other.
What is your guilty pleasure? Scaaary movies in a movie theater. With my best friend.
If you were a boy for a day, what would you do? If I were a booooooooyyyy… even just for a day. If I were a boy I think I could understand. How it feels to love a girl. I swear I'd be a better man.
Can you recommend us a song (old or new) from a Lithuanian artist? My pleasure. Justinas Jarutis – It’s my fault
Can you teach me some interesting words in Lithuanian? Dviratis. It means bike. Lietus. It means rain. Tulpė. It means tulip. Here you go, three Lithuanian words that remind me of the Netherlands.
How would you describe yourself as an artist?
Hello and thanks for the welcome. Shortly, I am an artist who represents emotions. I am entirely dedicated to every single thing that I feel therefore everybody does. It’s the most important thing for me as an artist and an aspiring songwriter.
The very thought of it was first born in my head when I heard the song. It was actually written for my upcoming third album. Then, Vytautas and my manager said the same thing as an idea later on. I couldn't believe it. We all thought the same thing about the same song separately. Then through the whole summer we were still wondering, discussing, making plans and finally we dedicated ourselves and since then our lives are all about Make Me Human.
Photo: Martynas Stankaitis
“Make me human” is the title of your song, and it is written by Vytautas Bikus. How was it to work with him?Vytautas is such a good person. I always like to stress it out before talking about his great talent. I am extremely lucky to have been working with him since day one of my career. He is the first producer I’ve ever known and he is my role model in songwriting. So, working with him on a song that is going to be in Eurovision changes absolutely nothing and that is what I love most about it. He always says the same phrase before my concerts as well before my entrance to Eurovision “Don’t be nervous and don’t make mistakes.” It’s a joke, of course. But it’s also not.
It asks you a question. What makes you feel like a living human-being? For me, it’s love. Love from the fans, from the significant other or family and friends. It’s what makes me feel alive. Only then I wanna sing. Who am I without love? Some existing-being who only sleeps, gets up, goes to work, eats and goes to sleep again.
We instantly knew it should be something meaningful and minimalistic. Also, I love dancing. So we invited Šarūnas Kirdeikis, a choreographer and director to help us out with the whole concept. We knew we had to have some little specific detail, which would stand out and be remembered. Šarūnas thought of something that would turn on and glow. Then we came up with the symbol - a heart. It’s a symbol of living. The designer drew a specific shape of a heart and you can see it in my first performance. We knew we wanted choreography so it would help explain the story and live out the emotion. When I learned it, I rehearsed a lot. And step by step I made every movement my own. So it would be organic and would come entirely from my heart. Even if it’s not correct from a dancer’s POV, it’s mine. No one could do an identical one. When we had all of that, we reached out to Lithuanian designers to create a look. They did a great job. I absolutely love it. And then, we had visualizations and lighting created. We spent all night reviewing it and making it look perfect. But we will develop it even more through time, I expect.
Photo: Martynas Stankaitis
How do you feel about the reaction your song has been getting?It’s absolutely overwhelming. Of course, flattering, but I really need people who liked the song on the Internet to really support me through voting. People tend to think someone else will, since the song is very loved and supported, but I always try to encourage people to speak up for themselves at all times. Also, I took my friend’s advice to have a tunnel vision through this whole contest. I must not look around since it can be very disturbing. I need to focus on what message I am going to send to people watching me. That’s the most important thing.
What do you like about Eurovision?
I love that it brings people closer together.
What do you dislike about Eurovision?
I hate that it tears people apart.
Photo: Martynas Stankaitis
Tell me the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word:Cloud: Nine. That’s where I’ll be if I win.
Fearless: Soldier
Popcorn: Things stuck at my teeth
Women: Power
Dancing: with a stranger. Uh! Me me me!
What are your plans for 2020?
To win. A lot of hearts from the whole wide world. And of course, a third album full of beautiful songs. I love that it will have more songs written by me than in the albums I've released before.
Is there anything you want to say to close the interview?
Yes. To you, the one, who’s reading and have gotten to the end of the interview. Thank you. For having an interest and maybe even supporting my song. I really appreciate that. As a little kid and a dreamer, never in a million years I would’ve thought I’d have people listening to me sing.
Facebook: monikapundziute.monique
Instagram: monikapundziute.monique
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