A self-professed Eurovision fan Keisy has claims that Montvydas' song “Love is Blind” borrows heavily from “Song From a Secret Garden” by Rolf Lovland. The original song came out in 1995.
Donny Montell's Eurovision song's main part is a rip-off from a song in Rolf Lovland's album “Songs From a Secret Garden,” from 1995.
“I'm a huge fan of the Eurovision contest and I'm following updates from all the ESC countries about their national contests and entries. Donny Montell's Eurovision song's main part is a rip-off from a song in Rolf Lovland's album “Songs From a Secret Garden,” from 1995. How can you close your eyes and plug your ears on such “coincidence”? That's why this song is so liked by your national TV's jury, because this song is a rip-off from a piece of art!” Keisy wrote in an email to 15min.lt, attaching a youtube video he edited, comparing the two songs.
Requires lawful evidence
15min.lt contacted Montvydas' producer Martynas Tyla. Even though allegations of plagiarism had not reached him, he instantly denied them. “Let me put it simply. There were all sorts of comparisons related to ,say, Monika Linkytė's song and others. They put them together, they mix, and they compare. All accusations must be put forward in a lawful way only, they should be based on evidence – with sheet music, chords, etc,” Tyla said.
According to the producer, without evidence such accusations amount to nothing more but baseless speculation. “We will regard any other form of allegation as slander. I cannot comment on the song – its author lives in Germany and he assured us there was no copying or plagiarism whatsoever. We accepted this work, we trust it and so we sing it,” he said.
In Tyla's view, accusations for Montvydas comes because of his success in national selection. “No wonder – when you're number one, that's what you must expect. LT United, too, were accused of copying a children's rhyme, so was Sasha Song (Lithuania's previous representatives in Eurovision). There are plenty of songs that someone might think sound like something else. Such accusations must be presented clearly,” Tyla said.
Audrius Giržada, producer of Lithuania's national Eurovision contest, said he had indeed heard about allegations for Donatas Montvydas, yet refused to comment on them. “I've heard the news as well as many other opinions. I'm certainly not going to comment on them,” the producer told 15min.lt.
Asked whether he saw any similarities between the two songs, Giržadas, too, said he wanted to see lawful evidence first. “That's what I tell everyone prone to comparisons: give me findings by experts and court orders, if you want to claim it's plagiarism. Such accusations are of the same kind as accusations of any other crime, so they should follow similar procedure,” Giržadas said.
Not the first scandal
This is not the first bump in Montvydas way towards Eurovision finals. He was disqualified from last year's Eurovision because his entry had earlier release than allowed by the official rules.
According to Eurovision regulations, a song's first public performance must occur no sooner than 1 October, if it is to be eligible for the contest. Montvydas' entry had premiered in “Europe Sings 2009” contest in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Therefore Montvydas was not allowed to compete with a song called “Running Fast.” Instead, he performed “Let Me” and came in second, giving way to Evelina Sašenko's “C'est ma vie” to represent Lithuania in Düsseldorf.
