| Aistė Pilvelytė | |
| Birth Date: | 1979 7, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Kaunas, Lithuania |
| Genre: | Pop |
| Occupation: | Singer |
| Instrument: | Vocals |
| Years Active: | Since 1990 |
Aistė Pilvelytė (born 27 July 1979) is a Lithuanian singer.
Pilvelytė was born to Stasė Pilvelienė and Algirdas Pilvelis.[1] [2] In 1986, she learned choral conducting and pop music at the Balys Dvarionas Music School in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. By 1990, she appeared in various singing shows for children. She also sang in the groups Pagalvėlės and Exem. In 1995, she continued her singing lessons with Nijolė Maceikaitė. In the following years she took part in various music competitions in Ireland, Malta, Kazakhstan and Turkey.[3]
In 2006, Pilvelytė won the television show "Lietuvos dainų dešimtukas".[4] In 2008, together with Romas Bubnelis, she won the show "Žvaigždžių duetai 2".[5] She continued to take part in the shows "Duo kartos" and "Delfinai ir žvaigždės".[6]
She has competed repeatedly in Lithuania's national selections for the Eurovision Song Contest. After twelve failed attempts, in an interview with a Lithuanian media DELFI in August 2022, she stated: "No matter how old I will be, 50, 60, or 93 – I will go to Eurovision."[7] Her first participation came in 1999, when she placed 11th in the final with the song "Nubudusi širdis". She was also set to compete in 2002, but was disqualified for admitted plagiarism. She then returned in 2004, placing 12th with the song "Amor (te quiero aqui)", and participated in 2005 and 2006 as well. Her first success in the country's selection show came in 2007, when she placed 2nd in the final and subsequently qualified to the superfinal, where she placed 3rd. Pilvelytė then finished in 2nd place in both 2008 and 2010 with the songs "Troy On Fire" and "Melancolia", and later went on to also finish runner-up in 2017 with the song "I'm Like a Wolf". In 2014 she took part in the competition, this time under a talent show format with covers, and was eliminated. She also participated in 2016 and 2020 placing 5th both times, and 2023 where she didn't progress past the heat stage.
Pilvelytė was married to Vladas Motieka from 2005 to 2012. From this marriage, she has a daughter.[8]
At the end of December 2014, the Klaipėda District Court granted Pilvelytė's application to open bankruptcy proceedings.[9] At the beginning of the same year, several of her properties were sold in order to reduce the debt burden that had arisen in the course of the global financial crisis. In June 2019, the Klaipėda District Court announced the conclusion of the case.[10]