Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993

Romania attempted to debut in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993, held that year in Millstreet, Ireland, being one of seven countries interested in taking part in the contest for the first time. A national final, Selecția Națională 1993 organized by Romanian Television (TVR), was held in January 1993, and "Nu pleca" (English: "Don't go"), written and performed by the Romanian singer Dida Drăgan and composed by Adrian Ordean, was selected to be the Romanian entry. For a place in the finals of the contest, Romania had to compete in a pre-qualifying round, Kvalifikacija za Millstreet, that took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The song ranked last, and so failed to qualify for the finals in Ireland. Predominantly negative reactions from Romanian media followed as a result of Drăgan's poor performance.

Eurovision Song Contest 1993
Country Romania
National selection
Selection processSelecția Națională 1993
Selection date(s)16 January 1993
Selected entrantDida Drăgan
Selected song"Nu pleca"
Selected songwriter(s)Drăgan
Finals performance
Final resultFailed to qualify from pre-selection (7th, 38 points)
Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest
1993 • 2005►

Before Eurovision
Romanian singer Dida Drăgan (pictured) won TVR's national selection with her entry "Nu pleca".[1] She had been famous in Romania since the late 1980s for her rock music.[2]

Romanian Television (TVR) organized the Selecția Națională 1993 on 16 January 1993, a national final to select Romania's entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 1993. A winner out of the 11 competing entries—"Nu pleca" by Dida Drăgan—was announced by Institutul Român de Sondare an Opiniei Publice (IRSOP), who added up the votes of 1100 households in Romania. Although the rest of the result was not publicly revealed, local media speculated that Laurenţiu Cazan and Laura Stoica reached second and third place respectively. The competing entries were:[1]
Draw Artist Song
1
 Mioara Feraru "Seară de seară"
2
 Laurenţiu Cazan "Hai, spune"
3
 Nicoleta Alexandru "Balerina"
4
 Corina Dogaru "Plec"
5
 Mădălina Manole "Să nu mă minţi"
6
 Monica Anghel "Dintr-un vis"
7
 Laura Stoica "Dă-mi din nou curajul de-a trăi"
8
 Dida Drăgan "Nu pleca"[lower-alpha 1]
9
 Carmen Trandafir "Micul meu univers"
10
 Elena Cârstea "Vreau să pierd"
11
 Elena Cârstea "Te-aș numi iubire"
  1. Written by Dida Drăgan and produced Adrian Ordean.[3]

At Kvalifikacija za Millstreet

With the breakup of Yugoslavia, many countries became interested in competing in the Eurovision Song Contest. Subsequently, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) decided to hold the pre-qualifying round Kvalifikacija za Millstreet to select three out of seven interested countries to join the ones already competing in the 1993 contest in Millstreet, Ireland. The pre-qulaifying round was hosted on 3 April 1993 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, by Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV SLO). Romania was the fifth country to perform its song, following Hungary and preceding Slovenia. Drăgan came in last place and failed to qualify, receiving 38 points. 12 points were awarded by Croatia, six by Slovakia and five by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia.[1] The Eurovision site does not count the year in Romania's list of appearances.[4]

Reactions and reception

Drăgan's poor result attracted overwhelming criticism from the Romanian media. An editor of Evenimentul Zilei accused IRSOP of conspiracy and arranged voting, seeing Laurențiu Cazan as the real winner of Selecția Națională. They also stated that TVR failed to inform the Romanian public about Eurovision, resulting in the rock-inspired "Nu pleca" being sent to the pop-centered Eurovision Song Contest. Adevărul also noted the rock nature of Drăgan's performance, attributing it to her outfit, vocal delivery and movements. Libertatea saw the event as the "artistic suicide of Dida Drăgan", and România Liberă criticized her vocals. Contrary to the negative reviews of 1993, an editor of EuroVisionary, looking retrospectively at Drăgan's performance, stated: "Undoubtedly, the most passionate and dramatic performance of the evening. Dida moved her hands as if life depended on them, and her voice was giving life to the lyrics". However, they slightly criticized her show as being over-the-top.[1]

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References
  1. Mincan, Mihai (18 May 2013). "Prima participare a României la Eurovision: "capcana culturală" Dida Drăgan" [Romania's first participation at Eurovision: the "cultural trap" Dida Drăgan]. Adevărul (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 2 July 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  2. "Dida Dragan implineste varsta de 72 de ani" [Dida Dragan celebrates her 72nd anniversary]. Cancan (in Romanian). 14 September 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  3. Mi-e dor de ochii tăi (Liner notes). Dida Drăgan. Romania: Electrecord (AP759680). 2002.CS1 maint: others (link) Note: The song was renamed to "Unde ești" for the album's release.
  4. "Romania – Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 13 May 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
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