You Got Style

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You Got Style
Eurovision Song Contest 2001 entry
Country Lithuania
Artist(s) Erica Quinn Jennings, Vilius Alesius, Viktoras Diawara
As Skamp
Language English, Lithuanian
Composer(s) Viktoras Diawara
Lyricist(s) Viktoras Diawara, Erica Quinn Jennings, Vilius Alesius
Place 13th
Points 35
Lyrics from Diggiloo Thrush


"You Got Style" was the Lithuanian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001, performed in English and Lithuanian by Skamp.

The song is an up-tempo track with hip-hop influences. The bulk of the lyrics are performed by Irish-born Erica Quinn Jennings in English and sung from the perspective of a woman seeing an attractive man "sittin' over there lookin' so fine". She begins by singing that she would like to "spend some time" with him and that "You look so divine that you blow my mind/Think I'll make you mine, yeah". After the first chorus, she amends her view to think that "But once we meet I'll probably see you're no good to be true/Just another cute fool", but still wants to get to know him anyway.

Following the second verse is a rap in Lithuanian by Viktoras Diawara, who describes a similar situation from the perspective of a man ("You glance at me, my heart starts to beat/You paralyse my thoughts") and expresses his delight in having met the woman in question in a multilingual phrase including German and French words. For their Eurovision appearance, Skamp wore an unusual assortment of clothes. Erika was dressed in a skimpy white bodice, with a cream-coloured sleeve over one arm, and the other bare, and red trousers. Her male cohorts, Viktoras and Vilius, each wore just one colour- Viktoras wore white, and Vilius black. They were joined by three male backing singers in brightly-coloured afro wigs. The song was performed eighth on the night (following Sweden's Friends with "Listen To Your Heartbeat" and preceding Latvia's Arnis Mednis with Too Much). At the close of voting, it had received 35 points, placing 13th in a field of 23.

Ironically, as Contest historian John Kennedy O'Connor reports, the band had been under pressure to withdraw from the Contest in order to protect their credibility in their homeland. The result, however, was Lithuania's best finish until the 2006 Contest, a result which would be achieved by LT United, another band featuring Diawara. It was succeeded as Lithuanian representative at the 2002 Contest by Aivaras with Happy You.

[edit] References

  • Diggiloo Thrush. 2001 Lithuania. Retrieved on 2006-10-08.
  • Kennedy O'Connor, John (2005). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History.