In the very first episode of the season, Laura (stage name LÉLÉ) will also try her luck – a Lithuanian who has lived in Germany for almost two decades, for whom the decision to participate in “The Voice of Lithuania” became a symbolic return to where her own musical story once began. Growing up in a musical family, Laura felt at home on stage from a young age. However, after moving to Germany with her mother, the life of the once confident girl changed drastically.
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“At twelve years old, I was very confident. During a music lesson, the teacher suggested I sing, and I remember performing in front of the whole class with choreography. But then the bullying started. Because I didn’t know the language and looked different. Everyone there dressed in black and white, smoked, had partners. And I was always colorful, shiny – I was still a child. They called me a parrot and beat me; it was cruel. I didn’t even accept my own name. The German pronunciation of my name annoyed me so much that I sometimes became aggressive.”
Bullying at school and physical violence eventually changed not only Laura’s self-confidence but also her relationship with music – she distanced herself from it for many years. “For fourteen years, I had nothing to do with music. So many complexes and blocks appeared; I just wanted to fit in, not be too much, not be special. Then – six years ago, I got sick. I couldn’t work for a long time and needed a hobby. That’s how music came back into my life.”
Starting with karaoke nights, and this Saturday stepping onto the big “The Voice of Lithuania” stage, the performer says fate itself showed her where to move next. “It all started with karaoke nights, then professional vocal lessons, then YouTube, and so on. After a few months, I felt at home on stage again. I thought – if fate brought me back to music through such interesting situations, I have to listen to it, so I’m going all in.”
However, the health problems that brought Laura back to the musical path became the beginning of another difficult life journey. After many years of searching for answers about her ailments, the woman today connects them with breast implants she once had.
“I had silicone implants, and at first, everything seemed fine. But after a while, I started getting so sick that there were moments when I thought I would really die. I was tormented by various symptoms, and I didn’t understand what was happening to me for a long time. Eventually, I got all kinds of medications; doctors said it was depression and similar things. But my inner voice kept saying that no matter what the doctors say – it’s those silicones that infected your whole body and messed up the entire system,” shares Laura.
Finally, Laura decided to remove the implants and, according to the performer, soon began to notice changes in her well-being, and she decided to share her story publicly. “I took out those silicones and very quickly started feeling that a lot was changing. It was a complete revelation for me. Just two weeks after the surgery, still with drains, I gave an interview. It was important to me that as many women as possible learn about this. I really support if someone wants to do something to their body – I did it myself and dreamed about it for a long time. But at that time, I lacked information that this could happen.”
The experiences she went through eventually changed not only Laura’s relationship with her body but also her understanding of what femininity means to her. “I would never have thought that after removing those silicones, along with all the added things, and even shaving my hair, I could feel so good. I feel more feminine than ever before. And I want to trigger all those who think conservatively, to show that you don’t necessarily have to have those curls,” Laura confesses.
For Laura, who has lived in Germany for almost two decades, “The Voice of Lithuania” today means much more than just another musical performance. The performer says that recently she has felt a stronger pull towards Lithuania, its music, and her own roots. It was this unexpectedly strengthened connection that ultimately motivated her to participate in the project. “Family members, I don’t know how many years they told me: ‘Go to The Voice of Lithuania, it will be fun, we’ll support you,’ but only now has the moment come when I started to feel the Lithuanian scene differently. I feel that now is my time, when that little girl has grown up and now wants to show herself to Lithuania.”
Whether Laura, who distanced herself from music for almost fourteen years but eventually found her way back to the stage, will manage to captivate the new season’s coaches with her voice and earn a place on one of their teams will be revealed in the very first episode of this season.
This season, Monika Liu, Mantas Jankavičius, AISTÈ joining the coaches’ team for the first time, and former “The Voice of Lithuania” finalists returning in a new role – members of the group “Žemaitukai,” Linas Vaitkevičius and Ovidijus Petrauskas – will compete for the best voices in their teams.
The grand premiere of the thirteenth season of “The Voice of Lithuania” is this Saturday at 7:30 PM on LNK.
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