Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest

Romania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 20 times since its debut in 1994, and has placed in the top ten six times. Its best results were achieved by Luminița Anghel and Sistem in 2005, and by Paula Seling and Ovi in 2010, who both finished in third place. Selecția Națională[lower-alpha 1] (English: The National Selection), a song contest that takes place every year in Romania, is used to select the country's entrant for that year's Eurovision Song Contest. Its voting system and format have changed over the years.

Romania
Member stationTVR
National selection eventsNational final
(Selecția Națională[lower-alpha 1])
Participation summary
Appearances20 (18 finals)
First appearance1994
Best result3rd: 2005, 2010
External links
TVR's official website
Romania's page at Eurovision.tv
For the most recent participation see
Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

In 1993, the year before its first appearance, Romania attempted to debut in the contest, but came last in the pre-qualifying round. After successfully joining the following year, poor placements followed until 2002, resulting in relegation several times. This changed with the introduction of semi-finals to the contest in 2004, after which Romania qualified for the Grand Final every year except 2018 and 2019. In 2016, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) suspended broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR) from all EBU member services due to repeated non-payment of debts, which in turn disqualified its entry from participating in the contest. In 2020, despite having selected a representative, the nation was unable to take part due to the contest's coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related cancellation. Romania's most recent Grand Final appearance in 2017 saw Ilinca and Alex Florea reach seventh place.

Contest history

Paula Seling and Ovi (pictured) placed third with their 2010 entry "Playing with Fire".[1]

Romania unsuccessfully attempted to debut in the 1993 contest, selecting "Nu pleca" by Dida Drăgan for the pre-qualifying round Preselection for Millstreet (Slovenian: Kvalifikacija za Millstreet); Drăgan came in last place.[2] A non-qualification was also achieved in 1996 when there was a pre-qualifier for all countries excluding hosts Norway.[3][4] The Eurovision site does not count either year in Romania's list of appearances.[1] The country's first official participation occurred in 1994 when Dan Bittman's "Dincolo de nori" placed 21st in the contest's Grand Final. The following years saw similar low placements and non-participations in 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2001.[1]

Romania's first top ten result was achieved in 2002, when Monica Anghel and Marcel Pavel finished ninth with their song "Tell Me Why". The country placed within the top 20 every year from 2004 to 2015, claiming third place in 2005 with "Let Me Try" by Luminița Anghel and Sistem. As of 2019, this remains Romania's best result in the contest, alongside Paula Seling and Ovi's 2010 entry "Playing with Fire", which also finished third. Since 2010, the country's only other top ten placement was in 2017, when Ilinca and Alex Florea reached seventh place with "Yodel It!".[1] 2019 was broadcaster Televiziunea Română's (TVR) first year to significantly invest in a performance; the costs for the use of graphics and special effects during the show for Ester Peony's "On a Sunday" amounted to 100,000 euros.[5][6] Romania had previously introduced the first ever use of holograms at Eurovision in 2014.[7]

Romania has participated in the contest 20 times, having qualified for the final every year since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004 except for 2018 and 2019.[1] In 2016 the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) suspended TVR from all EBU member services due to the repeated non-payment of debts and the threat of insolvency. This in turn disqualified their 2016 entry, "Moment of Silence" sung by Ovidiu Anton from participating in the contest.[8][9] It led to strong reactions against the decision from several observers.[10][11] Although TVR had selected Roxen to perform "Alcohol You" in 2020,[12] the contest was cancelled due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries.[13] Roxen was internally selected for 2021 nonetheless.[14]

Selection process and accolades

Selecția Națională[lower-alpha 1] (English: The National Selection), a song contest which takes place every year in Romania, has been used to select its entry for the contest. The first edition was held in 1993, with the winner chosen by 1100 households in the country.[2] Since then, several voting procedures have been used, often combining televoting with the votes of a jury panel.[17][18][19] The selection of the winner either occurred during one show,[20] or through a varying amount of semi-finals.[18][21] For the first time, a part of Romania's entry was determined internally in 2020. Roxen was selected by TVR out of exclusive partner Global Records's roster, and was appointed five songs for a jury and the public to choose from.[22][23][24][25]

In 2008, Nico and Vlad won Romania's first and only Marcel Bezençon Award for "Pe-o margine de lume", in the Composer Award category,[26] and Sanda received the infamous Barbara Dex Award in 2004.[27] A number of Romania's Eurovision entries have experienced commercial success over the years. While "Let Me Try" reached number nine on the Romanian Top 100,[28] 2006's "Tornerò" by Mihai Trăistariu peaked within the top ten in Finland and Greece.[29][30] Elena's "The Balkan Girls" topped the Romanian chart in 2009, and similar success was attained by Mandinga's "Zaleilah" in 2012, obtaining number two in the country's Airplay 100 ranking and a Gold certification for digital downloads exceeding 10,000 copies in Romania.[31][32]

Contestants

Table key
1
Winner
2
Second place
3
Third place
Last place
X
Entry selected but did not compete
Year Artist Language Title Final Points Semi Points
Dida Drăgan Romanian "Nu pleca" Failed to qualify
7 ◁
38
Dan Bittman Romanian "Dincolo de nori"
21
14
No semi-finals
Monica Anghel and Sincron Romanian "Rugă pentru pacea lumii" Failed to qualify
29 ◁
11
Mălina Olinescu Romanian "Eu cred"
22
6
No semi-finals
Taxi English "The Moon"
17
25
No semi-finals
Monica Anghel and Marcel Pavel English "Tell Me Why"
9
71
No semi-finals
Nicola English "Don't Break My Heart"
10
73
No semi-finals
Sanda English "I Admit"
18
18
Top 11 previous year[lower-alpha 2]
Luminița Anghel and Sistem English "Let Me Try"
3
158
1
235
Mihai Trăistariu English, Italian "Tornerò"
4
172
Top 11 previous year[lower-alpha 2]
Todomondo English, Italian, Spanish, Russian, French, Romanian "Liubi, Liubi, I Love You"
13
84
Top 10 previous year[lower-alpha 2]
Nico and Vlad Romanian, Italian "Pe-o margine de lume"
20
45
7
94
Elena English "The Balkan Girls"
19
40
9
67
Paula Seling and Ovi English "Playing with Fire"
3
162
4
104
Hotel FM English "Change"
17
77
4
111
Mandinga Spanish, English "Zaleilah"
12
71
3
120
Cezar English "It's My Life"
13
65
5
83
Paula Seling and Ovi English "Miracle"
12
72
2
125
Voltaj Romanian, English "De la capăt (All Over Again)"
15
35
5
89
Ovidiu Anton English "Moment of Silence" Disqualified X
Ilinca and Alex Florea English "Yodel It!"
7
282
6
174
The Humans English "Goodbye" Failed to qualify
11
107
Ester Peony English "On a Sunday" Failed to qualify
13
71
Roxen English "Alcohol You" Contest cancelled X
Roxen[14] TBA

Heads of delegation

The public broadcaster of each participating country in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the contestants, songwriters, composers and backing vocalists, among others.[34]

Year Head of delegation Ref.
Dan Manoliu
Ioan Duma
Dan Manoliu
Liana Stanciu
Iuliana Marciuc
Smaranda Vornicu-Shalit
Liana Stanciu

Jury members

A five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals is made up for every participating country for the semi-finals and Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest, ranking all entries except for their own country's contribution. The juries' votes constitute 50% of the overall result alongside televoting.[46]

Year 1st member 2nd member 3rd member 4th member 5th member Ref.
Mădălin Voicu Mirela Fugaru Mihai Stoica Alexandru Călin Geambasu Nico
Viorel Gavrilă Mihai Pocorschi Ovi Anca Lupeș Alexandra Cepraga
Luminița Anghel Mihai Trăistariu Tavi Colen Paula Seling Cezar
Nicu Patoi Anca Lupeș Sanda Cepraga Gabriel Cotabiță Mihai Alexandru
Ozana Barabancea Liana Stanciu Monica Anghel Andrei Kerestely Bogdan Pavlică

Commentators and spokespersons

For the show's broadcast on TVR,[1] various commentators and dual commentators have been hired throughout the years, with Leonard Miron notably having done the job on seven occasions.[52] At Eurovision, after all points are calculated, the presenters of the show call upon each voting country to invite their respective spokesperson to announce the results of their vote on-screen.[53]

Year Commentator Dual commentator Spokesperson Refs.
Gabriela Cristea None Cristina Țopescu [54][55]
Leonard Miron None Anca Țurcașiu [52][56]
Leonard Miron None Did not participate [52]
Leonard Miron None Andreea Marin [52][57]
Leonard Miron Unknown Did not participate [52]
Unknown Unknown Leonard Miron [58]
Unknown Unknown Leonard Miron [59]
Unknown Unknown Andreea Marin [60]
Unknown Unknown Berti Barbera [61]
Unknown Unknown Andreea Marin Bănică [62]
Unknown Unknown Andreea Marin Bănică [63]
Leonard Miron Unknown Alina Sorescu [52][64]
Unknown Unknown Alina Sorescu [65]
Leonard Miron Gianina Corondan Malvina Cservenschi [52][66][67]
Liana Stanciu Bogdan Pavlică Malvina Cservenschi [68][69]
Leonard Miron Gianina Corondan Paula Seling [52][70][71]
Liana Stanciu None Sonia Argint-Ionescu [72][73][74]
Unknown Unknown Sonia Argint-Ionescu [75][74]
Unknown Unknown Sonia Argint-Ionescu [53][74]
Liana Stanciu Radu Andrei Tudor Sonia Argint-Ionescu [76][77][74]
Liliana Ștefan Radu Andrei Tudor Sonia Argint-Ionescu [78][79][74]
Liana Stanciu Bogdan Stănescu Ilinca [80][81]

See also

Notes

  1. The contest is sometimes referred to by local media and TVR as Eurovision România (English: Eurovision Romania).[15][16]
  2. According to the then-Eurovision rules, the top ten non-Big Four countries from the previous year along with the Big Four automatically qualified for the Grand Final without having to compete in semi-finals. For example, if two Big Four countries were placed inside the top ten, the 11th and 12th spots would be advanced to next year's Grand Final, along with all countries ranked in the top ten.[33]

References

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