Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the entry "On a Sunday" performed by Ester Peony who wrote the song together with Alexandru Șerbu and Ioana Victoria Badea. The song was selected through a national final organized by the Romanian broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR).

Eurovision Song Contest 2019
Country Romania
National selection
Selection processSelecția Națională 2019
Selection date(s)Semi-finals:
27 January 2019
10 February 2019
Final:
17 February 2019
Selected entrantEster Peony
Selected song"On a Sunday"
Selected songwriter(s)Ester Alexandra Crețu
Alexandru Șerbu
Ioana Victoria Badea
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (13th, 71 points)
Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2018 2019 2020►

Background

Prior to the 2019 contest, Romania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest nineteen times since its first entry in 1994.[1] Its highest placing in the contest, to this point, has been third place, which the nation achieved on two occasions: in 2005 with the song "Let Me Try" performed by Luminița Anghel and Sistem and in 2010 with the song "Playing with Fire" performed by Paula Seling and Ovi. In 2018, Romania failed to qualify to the final, placing 11th in the second semi-final with the song "Goodbye" performed by The Humans. This marked the first time that Romania failed to qualify to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004.[2]

Before Eurovision

Selecția Națională 2019

As a consent from a conference regarding changes to be implemented for Romania's next Eurovision participation following 2018's "failure",[3] Selecția Națională 2019 has been announced as the national selection organized by TVR and its regional studios in order to select the country's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.[4] Romania had previously confirmed its participation in the contest on 20 September 2018.[5] Selecția Națională 2019, having the slogan "Împlineşte visul!" ("Fulfill the dream!"), consisted of three shows: two semi-finals in Arad and Iași and a final in Bucharest.[4] They were sponsored by Ford.[6]

Format

11 songs competed in the first semi-final and 12 songs in the second semi-final, with the five entries in each attracting the most points from a national jury — consisting of Adi Cristescu, Mihai Georgescu, Crina Mardare, Andy Platon and Mugurel Vrabete — qualifying for the final.[7] A further one entry from the remaining, non-qualified ones with the most votes from the audience were passed into the final.[8]

Competing entries

TVR opened a submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries between 9 November and 10 December 2018, during which a total of 126 entries were received.[4][9] 24 semi-finalists for Selecția Națională 2019 were announced by TVR on 20 December 2018, chosen by an 11-piece professional jury consisting of:[4]

  • George Balint – Realitatea Muzicală music journalist
  • Felix Crainicu – Radio România Actualități host
  • Horea Ghibuţiu – unsitedemuzica.ro music journalist
  • Bogdan Miu – DigiFM music journalist and host
  • Bogdan Pavlică – Radio România Actualități host
  • Răzvan Popescu – Radio ZU host
  • Andreea Remeţan – Virgin Radio Romania host
  • Gabriel Scîrlet – TVR musical director
  • Oliver Simionescu – Kiss FM disc jockey
  • Liana Stanciu – TVR music journalist
  • Dragoş Vulgaris – Pro FM and Chill FM music journalist

Soon after, Dan Bittman withdrew his entry "Pierd" from the contest due to conflicting schedules.[10] Out of the nine submissions received and rated by the aforementioned jury,[11] Bella Santiago's "Army of Love" and Linda Teodosiu's "Renegades" replaced the latter as wildcards.[12] After the announcement of the two wildcard acts, Mihai withdrew his entry "Baya" from the contest; he cited the unclear organization of the Selecția Națională, as well as allegedly "favoured" contestants as reasons.[13] Xandra would also later withdraw her song "Independent" for unknown reasons.[14]

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final took place on 27 January 2019. Eleven songs competed and six qualified to the final.[40] A jury panel first selected five songs to advance: "We Are the Ones" performed by Claudiu Mirea, "Army of Love" performed by Bella Santiago, "Destin" performed by Trooper, "Without You (Sin ti)" performed by Dya and Lucian Colareza and "Skyscraper" performed by Teodora Dinu. The remaining six entries then faced a public televote which determined an additional qualifier: "Underground" performed by Vaida.[41]

  Jury qualifier   Public vote qualifier

Semi-final 1 – 27 January 2019
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Result
Votes Place Votes Place
1 Trooper "Destin" 36 3[lower-alpha 2] Advanced
2 Berniceya "The Call: Dynasty of Love" 8 9 104 6 Eliminated
3 Ommieh and Anakrisez "Rock This Way" 23 8 262 4 Eliminated
4 Teodora Dinu "Skyscraper" 27 5 Advanced
5 Dya and Lucian Colareza "Without You (Sin ti)" 37 4[lower-alpha 2] Advanced
6 Nicola "Weight of the World" 27 6 255 5 Eliminated
7 Steam "The Way It Goes" 6 10 394 3 Eliminated
8 Vaida "Underground" 26 7 1,825 1 Advanced
9 Claudiu Mirea "We Are the Ones" 48 1 Advanced
10 The Four "Song of My Heart" 5 11 661 2 Eliminated
11 Bella Santiago "Army of Love" 47 2 Advanced
Semi-final 2

The second semi-final took place on 10 February 2019. Twelve songs competed and six qualified to the final.[42] A jury panel first selected five songs to advance: "Dear Father" performed by Laura Bretan, "Renegades" performed by Linda Teodosiu, "On a Sunday" performed by Ester Peony, "Daina" performed by Letiția Moisescu and Sensibil Balkan and "Right Now" performed by Olivier Kaye. The remaining seven entries then faced a public televote which determined an additional qualifier: "Your Journey" performed by Aldo Blaga.[41]

  Jury qualifier   Public vote qualifier

Semi-final 2 – 10 February 2019
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Result
Votes Place Votes Place
1 2 Gents "Ielele" 18 7 295 2 Eliminated
2 Georgy "Tears" 5 10 191 4 Eliminated
3 Olivier Kaye "Right Now" 30 5 Advanced
4 Xonia "Discrete" 14 9 154 5 Eliminated
5 TMW "Make Me Your Man" 1 12 254 3 Eliminated
6 Johnny Bădulescu "Give Up Now" 16 8 142 6 Eliminated
7 Echoes "High Heels On" 3 11 141 7 Eliminated
8 Aldo Blaga "Your Journey" 19 6 539 1 Advanced
9 Letiția Moisescu and Sensibil Balkan "Daina" 37 4 Advanced
10 Laura Bretan "Dear Father" 54 1 Advanced
11 Ester Peony "On a Sunday" 41 3 Advanced
12 Linda Teodosiu "Renegades" 52 2 Advanced
Final

The final took place on 17 February 2019.[43] Twelve songs competed and the winner was determined by the combination of the votes from a six-member international jury panel (6/7) and public televoting (1/7). Each member of the jury voted by assigning scores from 1–8, 10 and 12 points to their preferred songs. The members of the jury were William Lee Adams (journalist and Wiwibloggs editor), Deban Aderemi (composer, vlogger and Wiwibloggs editor), Alex Calancea (artist, producer and composer), Șerban Cazan (producer for HaHaHa Production), Tali Eshkoli (entrepreneur, show producer and content editor) and Emmelie de Forest (singer, Eurovision Song Contest 2013 winner).[44] The seventh set of votes were the results of the public televote, which had a weighing equal to the votes of a single jury member.[8] After the votes from the jury panel and televote were combined, Ester Peony was the winner of the competition with the song "On a Sunday".[45]

The final featured guest performances by Emmelie de Forest ("Sanctuary" and "Only Teardrops"), winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, as well as Inis Neziri ("Piedestal" and "Man's World"), as well as by Netta Barzilai ("Toy" and "Bassa Sababa").[6]

Final – 17 February 2019
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
Votes Points
1 Linda Teodosiu "Renegades" 36 771 6 42 4
2 Olivier Kaye "Right Now" 26 151 1 27 8
3 Laura Bretan "Dear Father" 48 4,685 12 60 2
4 Teodora Dinu "Skyscraper" 7 139 0 7 12
5 Claudiu Mirea "We Are the Ones" 19 134 0 19 9
6 Aldo Blaga "Your Journey" 10 455 4 14 10
7 Ester Peony "On a Sunday" 62 356 3 65 1
8 Letiția Moisescu and Sensibil Balkan "Daina" 35 572 5 40 5
9 Bella Santiago "Army of Love" 50 1,161 8 58 3
10 Trooper "Destin" 19 1,425 10 29 7
11 Dya and Lucian Colareza "Without You (Sin ti)" 8 332 2 10 11
12 Vaida "Underground" 28 988 7 35 6

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2019, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Romania was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 16 May 2019, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[46]

Once all the competing songs for the 2019 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Romania was set to perform in position 6, following the entry from Latvia and preceding the entry from Denmark.[47]

Semi-final

Romania performed sixth in the second semi-final, following the entry from Latvia and preceding the entry from Denmark. At the end of the show, Romania was not announced among the top 10 entries in the second semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Romania placed thirteenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 71 points: 24 points from the televoting and 47 points from the juries.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.[48]

Points awarded to Romania

Points awarded to Romania (Semi-final 2)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Romania

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Romanian jury:[48]

  • Liana Stanciu – Chairperson – presenter
  • Ozana Barabancea – artist, singer
  • Monica Anghel – artist, singer, represented Romania in the 2002 contest
  • Andrei Kerestely – producer, somposer
  • Bogdan Pavlică – music journalist
Split voting results from Romania (Semi-final 2)
Draw Country Jury Televote
O. Barabancea L. Stanciu M. Anghel A. Kerestely B. Pavlică Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Armenia178119121314
02 Ireland1612917151616
03 Moldova21256112112
04  Switzerland15512778347
05 Latvia1414131591515
06 Romania
07 Denmark13161416161713
08 Sweden1261513374101
09 Austria3151681310117
10 Croatia119814111211
11 Malta10710456592
12 Lithuania913710101112
13 Russia4331245638
14 Albania511611149283
15 Norway817176171465
16 Netherlands725223856
17 North Macedonia11011821074
18 Azerbaijan6443147210
Split voting results from Romania (final)
Draw Country Jury Televote
O. Barabancea L. Stanciu M. Anghel A. Kerestely B. Pavlică Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Malta1210101191122
02 Albania48816109221
03 Czech Republic277723820
04 Germany22181120202023
05 Russia1342955647
06 Denmark14171221171713
07 San Marino23252526252626
08 North Macedonia62111164717
09 Sweden166136610114
10 Slovenia9261623221819
11 Cyprus109171981318
12 Netherlands113185465112
13 Greece24111917242115
14 Israel713912261283
15 Norway1716204191474
16 United Kingdom20232118212525
17 Iceland25242625142465
18 Estonia15201414181916
19 Belarus18191522152224
20 Azerbaijan3163121056
21 France26222413715101
22 Italy19122215111638
23 Serbia51548138311
24  Switzerland855101274210
25 Australia1232311292
26 Spain21142324232312

Notes

  1. Ielele is the definite form of iele, which are mythical creatures in Romanian mythology akin to nymphs or fairies. The song is sung bilingually in English and Romanian.
  2. It is unclear why Trooper was ranked above Dya and Lucian Colareza, despite getting one point less.

References

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  43. Final Draw
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