Pojavis, 29, has been living in Milan, Italy, for the past three years. He has found himself a wife there, had two daughters, and recorded a CD. He does not have a regular job – he takes care of home and writes music. He comes back to Lithuania for holidays.
Still, it took some wandering before he found himself under the sunny Italian sky. His wanderings were crowned last December, when Pojavis won in the Lithuanian national Eurovision Song Contest finals – victory that came as a surprise both to him and to the majority of Eurovision fans.
There is no backing down now – the song “Something”, written in the attic of his Italian home, will be performed to the multi-million European audience on 14 May.
Into the Irish unknown
Before the Eurovision, hardly anyone in Lithuania had heard about Pojavis.
He grew up in Jurbarkas, a small town in western Lithuania. He has been a musician ever since he picked up a guitar for the first time at the age of seven. He can also recall how his father took him by the hand to a children's choir.
Andrius has been playing the guitar and singing ever since. He played in a school band and later become a member of a more serious band, Hetero. In 2006, it won EuroRock competition.
Despite this early hint of success, the band soon dissolved. “The time was simply not right,” Pojavis explains. The band members each went their separate ways. In Pojavis' case, the way led to Ireland.
“What motivated me to leave was a desire to use the opportunity to get to know the world and people in it, of different nations and races. I was curious to know what makes people tick in other places,” Pojavis says. He admits it was not an easy decision, one he deliberated on for a long time.
The musician is evasive about what he did in Ireland. Success probably did not find him there. He hints, however, that work was not difficult or challenging. He travelled a lot within Ireland, bettered his English.
One year later, however, he once again packed his things and boarded a plane home. “If you pack up and venture into the unknown once, you will likely want to do it again,” Andrius explains the change. “I still wanted to try my luck and see where it leads. I could have stayed in Ireland – I was doing well there.”
Pojavis, who was trained as a history teacher in Vilnius, decided to see how things would go in his homeland. He got a job at a school in Skirsnemunė, but only lasted a year there. Teaching was not his thing, he says, even though former students still speak highly of their teacher.
A week in Milan
Pojavis gives the impression of a modest and occasionally shy person – someone not used to talking about himself. His life story must be pieced together from bits and pieces of information that slip through. “I kept searching for happiness, there's no secret in that,” he smiles when I ask what was it that he needed in Italy.
Pojavis went to Milan in 2010 and was only planning to spend there one week. What brought him there? Andrius got an unexpected offer from a local recording studio to do a demo of a song. So he came, did the record, and stayed on. “And here I am, three years already,” he grins.
While in Milan, Pojavis found himself a wife. Izabellita and Andrius now have two daughters. His life must have turned upside down again. On the contrary, Andrius objects, “I think this got my feet firmly on the ground.”
A loving family at home, a passion for music in the heart – but what about a job to make a living? Andrius evades the question: “It is easier to get by here – there's more sun, so we draw energy from it.”
Overnight star
As to his Eurovision bid, Pojavis assures that he worked hard and consistently to earn the right and privilege to represent Lithuania in the Eurovision finals in Malmö, Sweden.
Before the national Eurovision contest, Pojavis released his début album “Eight” which was recorded in the same Milanese studio that had invited him to Italy.
In Lithuania, however, no one knew the singer and few cared – neither record studios, producers, nor TV and radio stations showed the slightest interest. “Lithuanian radio stations would not play my songs. The national broadcaster alone, LRT, noted my work. I am thankful to them for that,” Pojavis says.
The team that helps him prepare for the Eurovision have devised an image of a lyric rock singer for Pojavis. He quite likes it, so he wears a leather jacket to all his concerts now.
Homesick
Even though Pojavis' life and family are now in Italy, he says he did not for one second consider to enter the Eurovision Song Contest anywhere else but Lithuania. “I am and feel Lithuanian. I feel good representing my native land, even if I live elsewhere,” he assures.
“My wish for you is that you value more what you have. Many things look differently from the outside,” he told his fans during one of his concerts in Vilnius. Then he performed his own song dedicated to Lithuania – and his eyes almost welled with tears. The concert anchor interviewed him about emigration, but he asked to change the subject, it was too much.
Andrius does not rule out the possibility of one day coming back. “Even now, I come back often enough. I can't give up my wish to bring more sun to Lithuania,” he smiles.
Eurovision finals
Pojavis is flying to Malmö on 5 May. His first rehearsal on the Eurovision stage is scheduled for 7 May.
Pojavis' will perform in the Eurovision semi-finals on 14 May. He will be number ten, between singers from Montenegro and Belarus. The first Eurovision semi-finals night will include 16 songs, ten of which will move on to the finals.
The Eurovision grand finale is on 18 May. Pojavis and the Lithuanian delegation are flying back the following day.
