Long-awaited dates and useful experiences – “KK2 on Friday” tonight at 7:30 p.m. through LNK.
The audience is also waiting for an exclusive meeting with Gintara Jautakaite, a singer who rarely visits Lithuania and has been living in the USA for 40 years, the performer of the legendary song “Kregždutės, kregždutės”.
The singer’s life is like the most interesting thriller. She made her debut at the age of 16 in Giedrias Kuprevičius’s musical “Ugnies medziklė su varovais” and became one of the most famous performers in Lithuania. However, Gintarė’s fame and secret activities turned into more than just euphoria. When she was only 24 years old, she was forced to flee her homeland, because there were only two options: either prison or a monastery.
“There was no other way. No one knows anymore, neither my parents, nor my friends, nor the music world, that I had to take such a step, I had to disappear from music, but stay alive. There was such an offer, because after making so much money, to put it nicely, as a politician, there was no other way for me”, G. Jautakaitė said.
During the Soviet era, when Lithuanians could only dream of a distant foreign country, and anti-Soviet activities were threatened with repression, a miracle saved the life of the popular singer Gintarė Jautakaitė. At the age of 23, she met great love at one of her concerts.
Amber’s lover was an educated and wealthy American. Soon she left her homeland and settled across the Atlantic. There, the singer fell into a real dream, where there were no household worries, no one talked or pointed fingers on the street.
“I fell into a very wonderful, easy life, we traveled a lot, I had drivers, I had someone to cook, I was never bothered by household chores. It was amazing that in New York I can go without make-up, dress however I want, and no one knows me, and no one cares about me, I go with my hair flying and no one looks at me. It was such a discovery for me, I have never lived like this, I have never been in such freedom”, said G. Jautakaitė in the program.
Stability and opportunities made it possible to enjoy life, travel a lot, and raise children. However, Gintare had to accept: the roads to Lithuania, to her parents’ house, to the stage where she is loved, were closed.
“It was not always possible for me to come. When I could enter, it was only with a KGB car, the KGB driver sat at my parents’ Christmas table.”
Despite all the obstacles, Gintarė says she has not forgotten Lithuania. As soon as the borders opened, they brought their children here every summer. And in America they were taught to speak Lithuanian. Now, when two sons and a daughter are independent, when they can freely travel around the world, Gintarė Jautakaitė visits Lithuania at least once a year. Although she has been in emigration for more than four decades, she is always tempted to return by freedom, her parents’ home, the smell of her homeland and… food.
“Bacon! We don’t have bacon. Now I’ve got the hang of it, I get black Lithuanian bread in America. But even the coffee here smells different, everything here is amazing to me. Sit down, turn on the TV and watch various channels, as many interesting shows as possible.”
Almost every return of Gintarė Jautakaitė is also a concert, where there are always crowds of people. Her legendary songs are sentiments, a part of freedom struggles, and a hopeful future that allows you to believe that nothing is impossible.
“Every year I keep thinking that, well, now I’ve really forgotten it, now I can really walk the streets without hats and glasses. And every year it turns out that it is not, and I am surprised again and again”, said Gintarė about the fact that she is still a recognizable celebrity in Lithuania.
How did a simple emigrant in America turn into a lady of high society and a world-famous performer? Why did the Lithuanian woman renounce her career and start painting after achieving her dream? The story of the most famous emigrant – “KK2 on Friday” tonight at 7:30 p.m. through LNK.
