Lithuania Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said claims made against an unnamed BBC presenter will be investigated “swiftly and rigorously”.

The Eurovision Song Contest was certainly dramatic with calls for the competition to be boycotted and one act disqualified the day of the Grand Final. But despite the drama, the Contest went ahead on Saturday night in Malmo and reigning champion Loreen handed over the trophy to a new winner. Let's take a look at the final result.

Israel participated in the Eurovision Song Contest on Thursday evening, as thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in the host city of Malmo, Sweden, to protest against the country’s participation in the competition. 

Naman Ramachandran The European Film Academy has added a record 709 new members in its 2024 annual intake. New members include Cate Blanchett (Australia/U.K.), Jovan Marjanović (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Maria Bakalova (Bulgaria), Juraj Lerotić (Croatia), Anna Hints (Estonia), Ariane Toscan du Plantier (France), Stéphan Castang (France), David Thion (France), Marie-Ange Luciani (France), Latifa Saïd (France), Rebecca Houzel (France), Thomas Hakim (France), Sami Mustafa (France/Kosovo), Mohamed Siam (France), Hanna Bergholm (Finland), Hamze Bytyçi (Germany) and Christian M.

Rylan Clark had a three-word response as he was filmed watching Olly Alexander's first big Eurovision Song Contest performance on Tuesday night. The run-up to this year's Eurovision Song Contest began on Tuesday night (May 7) with the first semi-final broadcasted by the BBC.

10 countries have triumphed in the first semi-final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, when 16 countries competed to get through to Saturday’s Grand Final.

Loreen, who won Eurovision in both 2012 and 2023, has announced a UK and European tour for next year.The artist’s biggest jaunt across the continent to date will kick off in the Netherlands on February 15 with 20 stops across Europe. She will later head to Birmingham on March 17 before playing a headline show at London’s iconic Eventim Apollo on March 19 before continuing on to Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol and Glasgow.

Princ Films boards ‘Isabel’s Garden’ For Cannes Marche Du Film 

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor European Film Promotion has revealed the participants for its Producers on the Move program, which runs before and during the Cannes Film Festival. The promotion and networking program, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, brings together 20 of Europe’s most promising producers.

Ellise Shafer TikTok is returning as the official entertainment partner for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. This marks the social media platform’s third year teaming up with Eurovision, the world’s largest music event.

Olly Alexander and a number of other performers have released a joint statement about their participation in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest after calls to boycott the competition in solidarity with Palestine.Yesterday (March 28) hundreds of queer artists, individuals and organisations called on Alexander to pull out of the competition this year, after its refusal to expel Israel.Now, Alexander, alongside Ireland’s Bambie Thug, Norway’s Gåte, Portugal’s Iolanda, San Marino’s Megara, Switzerland’s Nemo, Denmark’s SABA, Lithuania’s Silvester Belt and Finland’s Windows95Man, have signed a letter outlining their response.“We want to begin by acknowledging the privilege of taking part in Eurovision,” it begins.pic.twitter.com/VBNQWwPe46— olly alexander (@alexander_olly) March 29, 2024“In light of the current situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and particularly in Gaza, and in Israel, we do not feel comfortable being silent. It is important to us to stand in solidarity with the oppressed and communicate our heartfelt wish for peace, an immediate and lasting ceasefire, and the safe return of all hostages.

Manchester United academy director Nick Cox has warned Kobbie Mainoo and the club's supporters not to get carried away by his stratospheric rise.

Russian hackers reportedly jammed the signal on an RAF plane carrying Defence Secretary Grant Shapps on a visit to Poland.

Leonid Volkov, the former chief of staff of late Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, was attacked on Tuesday outside his house in Vilnius, Lithuania.

UK Music, which is the collective voice of the UK music industry, has urged Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to cut VAT in the spring Budget to throw the sector a “vital lifeline” and save venues that are threatened by closure.Tom Kiehl, UK Music’s Interim Chief Executive, has asked Hunt to use his Budget next Wednesday (March 6) to lower the current 20 per cent VAT rate on tickets to 10 per cent as a “boost for consumers, music professionals and venues”.The request to slash VAT is among the recommendations that UK Music has made to the Government in its Budget submission, which outlines the support the sector needs to grow (read it in full here).Currently, music fans in the UK must pay 20 per cent VAT on their tickets – almost double the EU average (10.3 per cent) and around triple the rate in countries like Belgium (six per cent) and Germany (seven per cent). ‌ The 20 per cent rate is the third highest rate of cultural ticketing in Europe. Gig-goers pay more tax on UK tickets than anywhere else in Europe, except Denmark and Lithuania.The calls come amid growing concerns for the future of grassroots venues.

Emiliano De Pablos “Professor T,” the crime series produced by Eagle Eye Drama, and starring Ben Miller (“Bridgerton”), has been greenlit for a fourth season by ITV and PBS Distribution. Attracting audiences of over four million viewers on ITV and making a successful debut on France 3, the highly acclaimed drama has been sold to almost 120 territories worldwide. Most recently, Telekom acquired rights in Germany, TV3 bought the series for Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova 1 for Moldova, and BBC and TVP for Poland.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Black Tea,” Abderrahmane Sissako‘s lushly lensed romance drama set in China, has been bought by major distributors in key territories ahead of its world premiere in competition at the Berlin Film Festival. Gaumont, which co-produced the film, has sold it to Caramel (Spain), Academy two (Italy), Pandora Films (Germany, Austria), Cineart (Benelux), Films4you (Portugal), Provzglyad (CIS), Mozinet (Hungary), Another World Entertainment (Norway), Film Bazar (Denmark), MCF Megacom (Former Yugoslavia, Albania), Filmstop (Latvia, Estonia), MB Taip Toliau (Lithuania), Imovision (Brazil), AV Jet (Taiwan), Falcon (Indonesia), Pathé BC (Sub-Saharan Africa, Maghreb) and New Cinema (Israel).

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Berlin Film Festival hosted the 10 young European actors selected for the Shooting Stars program, run by European Film Promotion, at a gala event Monday. The presentation of the Shooting Stars took place prior to the screening of Claire Burger’s “Langue Étrangère,” which plays in competition.

U2 singer Bono paid tribute Saturday night to recently deceased Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny during his concert at The Sphere in Las Vegas. The frontman got the crowd to chant Navalny’s name as a memorial to the dissident’s struggle against the Russian establishment.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic U2 has been performing Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over” in concert at the band’s Sphere residency recently, and before Saturday night’s show, the introduction to that song extended far longer than usual, as Bono paid tribute to the dream of Alexei Navalny, the Russian dissident who died in prison days earlier. The singer spoke up for the freedom of the Ukrainian people and against Russian leader Vladimir Putin — who many believe is directly responsible for the political prisoner’s still-unexplained death — before leading the crowd in a chant of Navalny’s name. “Next week it’ll be two years since Putin invaded and tried to destroy the hard-won freedoms” of the Ukrainian people, Bono said.

Christopher Vourlias One year after sharing the stage at the European Film Market as joint Countries in Focus, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia continue to shine. Despite the downturn sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, the lingering fallout from the ongoing war in Ukraine and the growing economic uncertainty worldwide, production across the region has been at or near record highs in recent years.

Christopher Vourlias To get a sense of the state of cinema in the Baltic countries today, you could look instead to Park City, Utah, where two of the region’s filmmakers — Estonia’s Anna Hints and Lithuania’s Marija Kavtaradze — took home directing prizes at last year’s Sundance Film Festival: Hints for her debut documentary “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood,” Kavtaradze for her sophomore feature “Slow.” Those wins felt somehow emblematic for the tiny Baltic nations, which — with a combined population of roughly six million — have nevertheless shown a knack for punching above their weight. Last year, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia shared the stage at the European Film Market as joint Countries in Focus, a spotlight that underscored a period of steady — even surprising — growth.

They made for an unlikely alliance. One was the playboy son of a clothing tycoon who counted members of the Pakistani government among his close relatives.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba will be coming to the big screen, along with a sneak peek at the new season.Described as an extra-sized blockbuster experience, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -To the Hashira Training- will allow fans to revisit the finale of the Swordsmith Village Arc while also getting a glimpse at the highly anticipated Hashira Training Arc (season four).The upcoming event marks the first time the finale of the Swordsmith Village Arc has ever been shown in cinemas, and also the first-ever showing of the Hashira Training Arc‘s beginning.Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -To the Hashira Training- will screen in UK cinemas from February 23.

The British Film Institute has revealed the list of TV, film, and animation companies that have won funding from its latest £3.3M ($4.2M) Global Screen Fund payout.

The European Film Academy has unveiled its new board which has been voted in under updated guidelines aimed at ensuring a more balanced geographical representation of its members.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor European Film Promotion has revealed the 10 emerging actors who will take part in the 27th edition of European Shooting Stars program, which promotes European acting talent. Past Shooting Stars have included Carey Mulligan, Alicia Vikander, Maisie Williams and Riz Ahmed. From Feb.

French director Justine Triet’s Cannes Palme d’Or winning film Anatomy Of A Fall swept the awards at 36th European Film Awards in Berlin this evening, winning Best European Film, Director, Screenplay (with Arthur Harari) and actress for Sandra Hüller.

Cinema professionals from across Europe are gathered in Berlin this evening for the 36th European Film Awards.