"She sang with it for longer than 6 years".

The Spin

"The 4FUN" were the dark horse of this year's Eurovizija. A little-known band won first the Red quarter final, then the semi final and now the final as well. 4Fun formed in 2001 and consists of lead singer and guitar player Julija Ritcik, Justas Jasenko, electric guitar and vocals, Andžej Zujevic lead guitar and back vocals, Rimantas Jasenka, bass guitar and Raimonas Staniulionis, drums. The band's repertoire is wide and varied from rock'n'roll to pop rock to rhythm & blues and country rock.

"The 4FUN" was formed in 2001. The band performs in music clubs and participates in different music events and festivals throughout Lithuania and Europe. In 2004 "The 4FUN " released the first CD - a live album "Gyvas" (which means both "Alive" and "Live" in Lithuanian) and shot a video for a song from it "Aš be taves" ("Me without you"). In 2004 at "Visagino Country"(international annual country music festival, Lithuania) the band got a special prize "Auk?taitijos dvasia" from the sponsors of the festival. In 2003 "The 4 FUN" won an LCMA (Lithuanian Country Musicians Association) award "LOVE 2001-2003" for the best debut of 2 years. In 1998 Julia won an LCMA award "ŠLOVE" 1998" as the best singer.

Julija Ritcik
Vocals, acoustic guitar. Julia is the leader and the main songwriter of the band. She is included into 2002 catalogue "Who is who in Lithuania" (Lithuanian edition).
Julia finished a piano class speciality at a music school. She started her singing career in 1994 in a well-known Lithuanian blues band "The Road Band". She sang with it for longer than 6 years and recorded together 6 albums. She also sang for 5 years with "The Country Blues Session Band" (CBSB). Besides, Julia has got two higher educations (in 1993 she graduated from Vilnius University with a BSc in programming and in 2002 from Vilnius Pedagogical University with a BA in ELT), she works as an English teacher.

Justas Jasenka
Vocals, electric guitar, songwriter. Justas has dealt with music since he was a child. He finished a piano class at a music school. Justas also studied acting in Vilnius Music and Theatre Academy. Besides music, Justas runs his own flower trade and delivery business.

Andžej Zujevic
Lead guitar, back vocals. Andžej finished a piano class at a music school. In 2003 he graduated from Vilnius Conservatory guitar faculty (he was a disciple of a famous Lithuanian musician and guitar teacher Stasys Daugirdas).

Rimantas Jasenka
Rimantas has played in many different groups: "Trimitas", "Ritmas", Estradines melodijos", "Oktava", "Coda", "Vienkiemis", "The Road Band", "Country Blues Session Band", "Spiridis" (Latvia), Kestutis Antanelis band, Aleksandr Orlov band, Laimutis Vilkoncius band.

Laimonas Staniulionis
Drums. Laimonas finished a trombone class at a music school. Then he studied drums in Vilnius Conservatory, played in a rock group "The Endless Way" and participated in several youth jazz-rock projects. Laimonas is a member of LCMA, at the moment he holds the post of the assistant director of the Association. Laimonas is also the manager of "The 4FUN".

http://lithuania-news.newslib.com/story/7311-1919/

The Singer
 
Lovely Julija from lovely The 4Fun. My tip top choice of the year. I do have a couple of gripes though. One is her Sharon Osborne style make-over. Gone is the tawny brown locks and in comes the jet black look, sharp enough to cut your suit on. Julija now looks like a 1950's South London housewife, a look which I doubt was the initial intention.
I also have a slight issue with placing "The" in front of the band's name. Unnecessary. I mean Pink Floyd only got away with it because they were a great band consumed with all things grandiose and self-important during the most pretentious age of popular music. I somehow doubt 4Fun can match that. All said though, The Golden Child alike use of the see through screen is a master stroke of understated proportions, and needs to be retained.

The Past
  
Skamp were superb, Aivaras was woeful but likeable for all the same, Aiste was a bit dull, LT United were abject yet somehow successful. That's Lithuania, a nation who now have no excuse come voting time, bordered as she is by Belarus, Latvia, Poland, and Russia. And don't forget near neighbours, Ukraine, Finland, and Estonia. Their time to do something decent must be soon, although the excuses for annual unsophisticated pop warblings are fast running out.

The Song
 
Julia says..."The song is about a fragile feeling of uncertainty in love, when one second you're happy to feel you're loved, another second you are scared it's only an illusion which will disappear as soon as you open your eyes. So, the visual decision for our song is to reflect that contrast - shadow theatre, light and shadow, black and white colours. Classical and minimal clothes style is supposed to match the minimal acoustic sound of the song. Finally, as my song is a ballad, we think that slow, nearly static, but flowing view matches it best of all - like a river flowing. On the whole, we want the song to be the axis, and the view to contribute to the lyrics and music, but not to distract the spectators' attention". Quite.

Overall

The song tries to prove that less is more, and you can't find a more alien concept than that in the ESC. Many of my Diggiloo colleagues are mildly appreciative of it, but none of them are seriously considering its chances. Begrudgingly I have to agree with them. So in essence the bittersweet "Love or leave" is a lovely sophisticated ditty, and with lyrics like "...I fail to realise, why the mornings always change the colour of your eyes", who couldn't like it? And what with the Lithuanian government kindly approving a budget of €30.000 for their promo tour tol visit Belarus, Ukraine, Latvia & Estonia, surely the world is their oyster.

In a Nutshell
"If only 4 the fun of it"

the philosopher says

aesthetics Branch of philosophy that studies beauty and taste, including their specific manifestations in the tragic, the comic, and the sublime. Its central issues include questions about the origin and status of aesthetic judgments: are they objective statements about genuine features of the world or purely subjective expressions of personal attitudes; should they include any reference to the intentions of artists or the reactions of patrons; and how are they related to judgments of moral value? More specifically, aesthetics considers each of these issues as they arise for various arts, including music. Aesthetics is a significant component of the philosophical work of Plato, Aristotle, and Kant (who perhaps surprisingly featured The 4Fun extensively in his writings on the subject).

Love or Leave

Stars in the sky
When the shadows fall and the sunlight dies
Empty streets are filled
With the pale lamplight
We are just two lonely shades
Walking in the night
Words lose their sense
When i feel you near
When i touch your hands
I'm trying not to think
That at break of dawn
You'll be gone and i'll be lost, numb and all alone

When the morning comes
I'm all alone
Left to live another day
In joy or sadness on my own
When the morning comes
I'm all alone
Every time at break of dawn
Weak and unwise
I betray all fears
That i should disguise
Melting in your arms
I fail to realise
Why the mornings always change the colour of your eyes
Solo
When the morning comes
I'm all alone
Every time at break of dawn
Love or leave, i'm with and without you
How come i am up to this senseless game
How could i stop thinking about you
Love or leasve, don't play with my heart again
Love or leave, i'm with and without you
How come i am up to this senseless game
How could i stop thinking about you
Love or leasve, don't play with my heart again

 
Are they C w
or are they 4Fun .
Prediction Semi Final -
Final 13th