Marijonas Mikutavičius

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Marijonas Mikutavičius (left), with Arnoldas Lukošius and Andrius Mamontovas, in a press photo to promote the 2006 Lithuanian Eurovision Song Contest entry "We Are The Winners"

Marijonas Mikutavičius (born 19 April 1971) is a popular Lithuanian singer, musician and songwriter, a music awards winner; a television journalist and a talk show host from Vilnius. He is known for his Trys Milijonai song.

Born in Lazdijai, at the age of 9 Mikutavičius moved with the family to Vilnius where he later entered, and in 1994 graduated the Communications Department ("Faculty of Communication") of the Vilnius University as a master in journalism.

While studying at the university, Mikutavičius worked for periodicals and as a Vakaro žinios (Evening News) reporter for Lithuanian television. He also played in a rock band, toured around Europe and sang in the Scandinavian countries, Germany, and Eastern Europe, and gained recognition as the best vocalist at the Liepājas dzintars (Liepaja's amber) music festival in 1995.

He has been working as a screenwriter and a participant in a variety of programs, usually youth oriented, on Lithuanian National Radio and Television and on major commercial TV channels LNK and Lithuanian TV3. At present, he hosts a Vakaras su Marijonu (An Evening with Marijonas) talk show on LNK. He also works as a Lietuvos rytas daily (Lithuanian Morning) correspondent.

Mikutavičius is the author of a number of hit songs which stand at the top of the music charts in Lithuania. As the author of the popular song Trys Milijonai, he became a Bravo 2000 music award winner (Bravo is a Lithuanian analogue of Brit awards voted by the music industry people); he is also a recipient of the Radiocentras music award (voted by the listeners).

In 2004, a Lithuanian music recording company "Intervid" released his album Pasveikinkit vieni kitus (Greeting Each Other), which included 2 versions of "Trys Milijonai". This album reached the platinum award for sales in Lithuania (sold 20,000 copies early in 2004 and more than 30,000 copies by 2005). February - March 2005 saw a controversy in the media, which arose from the rumors that Mikutavičius apparently, unilaterally sold the rights of the song for 5 years to "Intervid".

[edit] Songs and albums

"Pasveikinkit vieni kitus" ("Say Hello to One Another" or "Greeting Each Other")
"Velnias, man patinka Kaledos" ("Damn I Like Christmas")
"Aš miręs" ("I’m Dead")
Trys Milijonai ("Three Million"), a hit song; the official song for Lithuania at the Sydney Olympic games and a popular unofficial Lithuanian sports anthem