On Saturday, Monika Liu will sing together with Stasa Laurinaityte, a Lithuanian pop singer of great memory and her mother's aunt, on the show "Dream Duets" - she will perform "Mother's Name". Monika is open about the importance of her mother's role in her life and dreams of becoming a mother herself.
"The first thought that popped into my head was that I had to sing together with Stase Laurinaityte, because she is my relative and was a very famous Lithuanian pop singer. Unfortunately, I have never met her, but we will meet now," says the singer about her choice. - Stasė had a very specific timbre, unlike anyone else, low, beautiful. And my mother can sing like that."
The role of her mother is particularly important in her life: "This song is close to my heart because my relationship with my mother is very deep and I love her very much. I'm so old that sometimes I really dream that I would like to be a mother, too. Because it's about my mother, it's very special, very sensitive and very beautiful."
The singer suffered a shock as a child, which left her deeply afraid of losing her parents: 'When I was a child, maybe 5 years old, my brother and I saw my mother lying unconscious in the house. That was the first time I was very scared of losing her.
I remember lying down under the sofa and just seeing a lot of walking feet. An ambulance came and took her away, then she didn't come home for a long time. Since then, I have had an inhuman fear. It's still there now, and probably will be for the rest of my life."
According to the singer, it is her mother who has been a huge influence on her musical career: 'I would say that my mother is my main music teacher, because she works as a music teacher in a music school. I didn't go to kindergarten when I was a kid, I used to sit in her classroom from the age of 3 or 4 and listen to her teach others."
"When I lived abroad, I realised the importance of your roots and where you come from. I have felt a great longing and lack. That's probably why I fell in love with the Lithuanian language and Lithuanian singing," she says. "I know that my aunts will call and they will all be excited, because when there is a blood connection, it is very deep and special."
As every week, the sixth edition of "Dream Duets" will feature four more contestants. After Monica Liu, who started the evening, opera soloist Rafailas Karpis will see himself singing with a singer from one of the most influential bands of the 20th century.
The audience will also see Girmantė Vaitkutė, who will perform the world-famous love ballad she released a year ago.
Singer and TV presenter Liepa Norkevičienė will bring more good mood and Latin American and pop rhythms to the eyes and ears of the audience. The evening will be closed by singer Vaida Genytė, who will perform a lifelong favourite.
The sixth edition of "Dream Duets" is coming this week Saturday, 9pm, on LRT TELEVISION and LRT.lt. All programmes after the premiere can be watched on In the LRT media centre.