Marijonas Mikutavičius

Marijonas Mikutavičius
Background information
Born	April 19, 1971 (1971-04-19) (age 40)
Origin	Vilnius, Lithuania
Genres	Soft Rock, Alternative Rock, Pop, Blues,
Occupations	TV presenter, Songwriter, Performer, Journalist
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Promostar

Marijonas Mikutavičius (born 19 April 1971 in Lazdijai) is a popular Lithuanian singer, musician and songwriter, a television journalist, a comedian and a talk show host from Vilnius. He is best known for his sports anthem Trys Milijonai as well as an official Eurobasket 2011 song Celebrate Basketball and for representing his country at Eurovision Song Contest 2006 as part of LT United.

Born in Lazdijai, at the age of 9 Mikutavičius moved with the family to Vilnius where he later entered, and in 1994 graduated the Faculty of Communication of the Vilnius University as a master in journalism.

While studying at the university, Mikutavičius worked for periodicals and as a Vakaro žinios (Evening News) reporter for Lithuanian television. He also played in a rock band Bovy, toured around Europe and sang in the Scandinavian countries, Germany, and Eastern Europe, and gained recognition as the best vocalist at the Liepājas dzintars (Liepāja's amber) music festival in 1995.

He has been working as a screenwriter and a participant in a variety of programs, usually youth oriented, on Lithuanian National Radio and Television and on major commercial TV channels LNK and Lithuanian TV3. He has hosted Vakaras su Marijonu (An Evening with Marijonas), a talk show on LNK. He also works as a Lietuvos rytas daily (Lithuanian Morning) correspondent.

Mikutavičius is the author of a number of hit songs which stand at the top of the music charts in Lithuania. As the author of the popular song Trys Milijonai, he became a Bravo 2000 music award winner (Bravo is a Lithuanian analogue of BRIT Awards voted by the music industry people); he is also a recipient of the Radiocentras music award (voted by the listeners).

In 2004, a Lithuanian music recording company "Intervid" released his album Pasveikinkit vieni kitus (Greeting Each Other), which included 2 versions of "Trys Milijonai". This album reached the platinum award for sales in Lithuania (sold 20,000 copies early in 2004 and more than 30,000 copies by 2005). February–March 2005 saw a controversy in the media, which arose from the rumors that Mikutavičius apparently, unilaterally sold the rights of the song for 5 years to "Intervid".

Albums

• "Baigėme Mokyklą" ("We Finished the School") (2008)
• "Pasveikinkit vieni kitus" ("Say Hello to Each Other" or "Greeting Each Other") (2004)

Singles

• "Velnias, man patinka Kalėdos" ("Damn, I Like Christmas")
• "Pakeliui Namo" ("On Our Way Home")
• "Aš miręs" ("I'm Dead")
• "Trys Milijonai" ("Three Million"), a hit song; the official song for Lithuania at the Sydney Olympic Games and a popular unofficial Lithuanian sports anthem
• "Nebetyli Sirgaliai" (Celebrate Basketball), a hit song; which is extremely catchy; the official basketball hymn for the 2011 Basketball Euro Championships (hosted in Lithuania); represent the nation's faith and passion for Basketball

External links

• Marijonas Mikutavičius biography
• Marijonas "Pasveikinkit vieni kitus" introduction, The Baltic Times, early 2004
• (Lithuanian) Intervid: Marijonas "Pasveikinkit vieni kitus" album
• Marijonas Mikutavicius's Unnoficial Fan Website

Persondata
Name	Mikutavicius, Marijonas
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	19 April 1971
Place of birth	Lazdijai
Date of death
Place of death