More than half a year has passed since the first M1 Music Awards, and preparations for this year’s event are already in full swing. Looking back at last December from today’s perspective – what worked and what could have been different?
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I feel that the M1 Music Awards stirred things up and became a new bright phenomenon in our country’s music industry. I carry the feeling that we managed to achieve what we all gathered here for – we created a grand celebration of live, real music and the musician community. And we did it on a fairly broad scale, speaking about the diversity of music currently in Lithuania.
A huge advantage, in my opinion, is the fact that the M1 Music Awards place great importance on the taste and opinion of the nation and listeners. Collaborating with the AGATA association, we have very clear numbers and musical names that Lithuania listens to, who is trending. Based on this, we construct the event, discarding any subjectivity.
As with other shows of such a gigantic scale, it is no surprise that things happen that cannot be predicted or planned, but extensive experience in this field allows us to handle such situations without panic. Sometimes what seems like a disaster in one moment becomes a good lesson and even turns into a better idea the next. And the audience enjoying the event has no idea that a “crash” just happened backstage.
So, I think we really managed to fulfill the desire to have a true celebration of live music and professional musicians, without hiding behind backing tracks. Also – a very positive and open universality that objectively reflected what Lithuania truly lives by, emerging from the big city bubble. I consider this a huge achievement.
Before the first M1 Music Awards, you set quite a high quality bar. What can viewers expect this year?
We have a clear goal ahead – to raise that bar even higher and continue the line of exclusively live music and unexpected musical collaborations. After last year, we not only have a certain creative attitude but also a very clear program structure and logic. Performance categories are defined, and based on that, we select performers and arrange show elements.
We will soon announce the new lineup of event hosts; I leave quite a bit of intrigue here, but I believe the names should surprise many. We will also maintain our so-called announcer position, where Skaiva performed excellently last year, and there will be changes here as well. Of course, we will again surprise with unexpected combinations of famous names and musical styles.
Since the event’s slogan is “Music First,” we can boldly promise that there will be even more music. Especially in terms of professional musicians. Just as a basketball national team is assembled before important world competitions, we follow the same principle in forming the best country’s instrumentalists’ team that will play live on stage throughout the event.
But you could have chosen an easier, proven path that doesn’t cause so much headache – playing a backing track, not struggling to bring together groups and performers who at first glance seem incompatible or have never sung together before in one performance. Do you think today’s viewer would still be satisfied with such a show? Previously, the format with just “lots of sound and lights” was enough, right?
I won’t hide it – pairing different, especially first-rate performers, was one of the biggest challenges, but these performances left the greatest impression on the audience. Trying to coordinate hard-to-match names on stage, I had to wear out more than one pair of iron clogs until everything worked out.
And this year, creating the program is a bit easier because people liked stepping out of their comfort zones, and the performers themselves enjoyed it too. Not every A-level artist agrees to share one stage with other stars, not everyone agrees to compromises or musical improvisations. However, our successful examples from last year are changing attitudes. Now we are already receiving calls from performers and their managers with interesting collaboration proposals.
And speaking of taking the easiest path – those paths are definitely not for us; our ambitions are much greater. The audience in the hall and in front of TV screens must be respected – today’s viewers, listeners, and event attendees are already spoiled by world-class concerts and high standards, so they quickly discern and understand who offers just simple glitter and who creates quality content and invests huge amounts of money in it.
Poor sound, missing notes, or cheap stage design can no longer be hidden even under impressive fireworks. Therefore, we have only one path, and the difficult challenges that arise or that we create ourselves do not stop us but only provide additional motivation.
On stage – more than two dozen stars
We remind you that last year, memorable performances and surprising collaborations were presented on the M1 Music Awards stage by Džordana Butkutė with “Šeškės” and Gablielius Vagelis, Donatas Montvydas with Justinas Jaručiu, “Žemaitukai” and “8 Kambarys,” Gabrielė Vilkilcytė with Giedrė, “Despotin Fam” with Pijus Opera and Cherri, Adomas Vyšniauskas with his father Ovidijus Vyšniauskas, Petunija with the Latvian “Eurovision” group “Tautumeitas,” a quintet of Lithuanian music legends – Egidijus Sipavičius, Rosita Čivilytė, Neda Malūnavičiūtė, Česlovas Gabalis, Steponas Januška. The event was opened by famous musicians Lukas and Petras Geniušai, Petras Vyšniauskas, Tomas Varnagiris, and others, and the final chord was played by Eurovision stars “Abor & Tynna.”
For one evening, legendary radio duets “Tarp mūsų mergaičių” and Tomazas with Marazas came to life, and the Best of the Year awards were given to Jessica Shy, Adomas Vyšniauskas, Žemaitukai, Justinas Jarutis with Rokas Yan, “Katarsis,” Sauben, Steponas Januška, music producers Linas Strockis and Karolis Labanauskas.
Most memorable moments of last year’s M1 Music Awards:
What will surprise us at the M1 Music Awards this year – we will see on December 9 at the Kaunas “Žalgiris” arena. Tickets for the event are sold by Bilietai.lt
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