Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest

Balance sheet

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Broadcasting company

TVR

First participation

1993

Number of participations

21 (as of 2019)

Highest ranking

3 ( 2005 , 2010 )

Highest Score

282 ( 2017 )

Lowest Score

6 ( 1998 )

Points average (since first post)

82.40 (as of 2019)

Average points per voting country in the 12-point system

2.00 (as of 2019)

This article looks at the history of Romania as a participant in the Eurovision Song Contest .

Regularity of participation and successes in competition

Paula Seling & Ovi took 3rd place in 2010 and thus the best Romanian result to date

Romania took part in the Eastern European preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest as early as 1993 and came last among seven participants. Thus, da country with the singer Dida Drăgan and her song Nu pleca could not qualify for Millstreet. So it came to the debut in 1994, which was not very successful. The singer Dan Bittman only finished 21st out of 25. In the following year Romania had to take a break due to the bad position of the previous year. In 1996 the EBU then organized an internal preliminary decision on the song contest. The contribution Rugă pentru pacea lumii , sung by Monica Anghel & Sincron , ended up only in last place in the preliminary round, with Romania not taking part in 1996 either. Only in 1998 did the country take part in the final again, but only finished 22nd out of 25 with six points. To date, this is Romania's lowest score in the competition. Due to the poor ranking in 1998, the country had to take a forced break in 1999. In 2000 the band Taxi took part, but only achieved a place in the middle field with place 17 out of 24. This placement then led to another forced break for Romania in 2001. The country was only allowed to participate again in 2002 and was significantly more successful from now on.

In 2002 the duo Monica Anghel & Marcel Pavel performed the song Tell Me Why for Romania. Anghel already represented the country in 1996 in the internal preliminary decision of the EBU, but only came in last. In 2002, however, together with Marcel Pavel, they achieved 9th place in the final, which up until then had been the best placement in the country in the competition. After this success Romania also took part in 2003 and was able to place in the top ten again with 10th place. In 2004, however, the Romanian contribution again only reached 18th place. In 2005, the country therefore had to compete in the semi-finals for the first time. The singer Luminița Anghel and the band Sistem took first place in the semi-finals, with Romania successfully reaching the final. There came the big success, because in the end the country booked 3rd place with 158 points, which was the best Romanian placement and number of points up to that point. In 2006, the country was therefore again pre-qualified for the finals and was once again placed among the top five. The singer Mihai Trăistariu ended up in fourth place and with 172 points even got a higher number of points than the representatives of the previous year. In 2007, the country was again pre-qualified for the final, but only reached 13th place. Even the entries in 2008 and 2009 with 20th and 19th place could not build on their previous successes. Only in 2010 was there another success to celebrate for Romania.

The duo Paula Seling & Ovi came third in the final with 162 points, which is still the best Romanian result in the competition. In 2011, however, the Romanian contribution took 4th place in the semifinals, but only ended up in 17th place in the final. In 2012, the band Mandinga reached 3rd place in the semifinals, but only finished 12th in the final. In 2013, Cezar achieved a similar placement in the final and landed in 13th place, Paula Seling & Ovi, who took third place in 2010, represented the country again. After a second place in the semifinals, in the final there was only one placement in midfield for Romania with position 12. In 2015, the country only ended up in midfield with position 15. 2016 was originally planned for Romania to participate. TVR already held a national preliminary decision and thus already had a selected contribution. Due to debts of the Romanian broadcaster TVR 1 with the EBU totaling 16 million Swiss francs (around 14.5 million euros), Romania was disqualified for the competition on April 22, 2016, shortly before the ESC. According to the EBU, the Romanian broadcaster TVR has accumulated debts since January 2007. This made Romania the first country to be disqualified from the competition because of unpaid debts to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). However, Romania returned to the competition in 2017.

So in 2017 the country sent Ilinca feat. Alex Florea with the song Yodel It! . After successfully qualifying for the final, the duo took 7th place and thus the best Romanian position since 2010. With 282 points, they also got a new high score for the country. After this success, the country also participated in 2018. In contrast to the previous year, the disappointment came there. The band The Humas only finished 11th in the semifinals, which meant that Romania was eliminated in the semifinals for the first time. Thus, in the same year as Azerbaijan and Russia , the country lost the status of having qualified for the final every time. However, while Azerbaijan and Russia made it to the finals again in the following year and both were among the top 10 in the final, Romania was eliminated again in the semi-finals. With 13th place, Ester Peony even got the worst Romanian result in the competition to date.

A total of nine of the 21 entries ended up in the left half of the table. Overall, Romania was eliminated twice in the semi-finals and has never finished last. With two third places and many places in the upper midfield, Romania is one of the average successful countries in the competition.

List of posts

Color legend: - 1st place. - 2nd place. - 3rd place. - Equal points with last place. - Eliminated in the semifinals / in the qualification / in the Eastern European preliminary decision. - no participation / not qualified. - Cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest.      

year	Interpreter	Title Music (M) and Text (T)	language	translation	final		Semi-final / qualification		National preliminary decision
					space	Points	space	Points
1993	Dida Dragan	Nu pleca M: Dida Dragan ; T: Adrian Ordean	Romanian	Do not go	Not qualified Eastern European preliminary decision		7/7	38	Selecția Națională 1993
1994	Dan Bittman	Dincolo de nori M: Antonio Furtuna; T: Antonio Furtuna, Dan Bittman	Romanian	Beyond the clouds	21/25	14th	Qualified directly for the final		Selecția Națională 1994
1995	Not qualified
1996	Monica Anghel & Sincron	Rugă pentru pacea lumii M: Cornel Fugaru; T: Mirela Voiculescu Fugaru	Romanian	Prayer for world peace	Not qualified qualifying round		29/29	11	Selecția Națională 1996
1997	No participation
1998	Mălina Olinescu	Eu cred M: Adrian Romcescu; T: Liliana Ștefan	Romanian	I think	22/25	6th	Qualified directly for the final		Selecția Națională 1998
1999	Not qualified
2000	taxi	The Moon M / T: Dan Teodorescu	English	The moon	17/24	25th	Qualified directly for the final		Selecția Națională 2000
2001	Not qualified
2002	Monica Anghel & Marcel Pavel	Tell Me Why M: Ionel Tudor; T: Mirela Voiculescu Fugaru	English	tell me why	9/24	71	Qualified directly for the final		Selecția Națională 2002
2003	Nicola	Don't Break My Heart M: Mihai Alexandru; T: Nicola	English	Don't break my heart	10/26	73			Selecția Națională 2003
2004	Sanda Ladoși	I Admit M: George Popa; T: Irina Gligor	English	I confess	18/24	18th			Selecția Națională 2004
2005	Luminița Anghel & Sistem	Let Me Try M / T: Cristian Faur	English	Let me try	3/24	158	1 / 25th	235	Selecția Națională 2005
2006	Mihai Trăistariu	Tornerò M: Eduard Cîrcotă; T: Cristian Hriscu, Mihaela Deac	English, Italian	I will turn back	4/24	172	Qualified directly for the final		Selecția Națională 2006
2007	Todomondo	Liubi liubi, I Love You M: Mister M ; T: Mister M , Vlad Creţu , Ghedi Kamara	English, Italian, Spanish , Russian , French , Romanian	Love, love, i love you	13/24	84			Selecția Națională 2007
2008	Nico & Vlad Miriță	Pe-o margine de lume M: Andrei Tudor; T: Andreea Andrei, Adina Șute	Romanian, Italian	At the edge of the world	20/25	45	7/19	94	Selecția Națională 2008
2009	Elena Gheorghe	The Balkan Girls M: Laurenţiu Duţă, Ovidiu Bistriceanu, Daris Mangal; T: Laurenţiu Duţă, Alexandru Pelin	English	The girls from the Balkans	19/25	40	9/18	67	Selecția Națională 2009
2010	Paula Seling & Ovi	Playing with Fire M / T: Ovidiu Cernăuțeanu	English	Play with fire	3/25	162	4/17	104	Selecția Națională 2010
2011	Hotel FM	Change M: Gabriel Băruță ; T: Gabriel Băruță , Alexandra Ivan	English	Change	17/25	77	4/19	111	Selecția Națională 2011
2012	Mandinga	Zaleilah M: Costi Ionita; T: Elena Ionescu, Dihigo Omar Secada , Costi Ionita	Spanish, English	-	12/26	71	3/18	120	Selecția Națională 2012
2013	Cezar	It's My Life M / T: Cristian Faur	English	It's my life	13/26	65	5/17	83	Selecția Națională 2013
2014	Paula Seling & Ovi	Miracle M / T: Ovi , Philip Halloun, Frida Amundsen , Beyond51	English	wonder	12/26	72	2/15	125	Selecția Națională 2014
2015	Voltaj	De la capăt - All Over Again M: Călin Gavril Goia , Gabriel Constantin , Adrian Cristescu , Silviu-Marian Păduraru, Victor-Răzvan Alstani; T: Călin Gavril Goia , Gabriel Constantin , Adrian Cristescu , Silviu-Marian Păduraru, Victor-Răzvan Alstani, Monica-Ana Stevens, Andrei-Mădălin Leonte	Romanian, English	From the beginning - the same again	15/27	35	5/16	89	Selecția Națională 2015
2016	Ovidiu Anton	Moment of Silence M / T: Ovidiu Anton	English	Moment of silence	Disqualification by the EBU Outstanding fees				Selecția Națională 2016
2017	Ilinca feat. Alex Florea	Yodel It! M: Mihai Alexandru; T: Alexandra Niculae	English	Yodel it!	7/26	282	6/18	174	Selecția Națională 2017
2018	The Humans	Goodbye M: Matei Alexandru , Alin Neagoe ; T: Cristina Caramarcu	English	Goodbye	Eliminated		11/18	107	Selecția Națională 2018
2019	Ester Peony	On a Sunday M: Ester Alexandra Creţu , Alexandru Şerbu; T: Ioana Victoria Badea	English	On a Sunday	Eliminated		13/18	71	Selecția Națională 2019
2020	Roxen	Alcohol You M: Ionuţ Armaşs, Viky Red; T: Ionuţ Armaş, Breyan Isaac	English	I'll call you 1	Cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic by the EBU				Selecția Națională 2020
2021	Roxen

¹ The original title is a corruption of "I'll call you" (I call you) while drinking heavily

National preliminary decisions

So far, all Romanian contributions to the Eurovision Song Contest have been chosen as part of the national preliminary decision Selecția Națională , with the selection process changing.

1993 to 2002, 2005, 2010 to 2012, 2014 and 2015

From 1993 to 2002 the Romanian representative was elected in a “classic” preliminary decision, with between eleven and 20 contributions being presented each year in a show. A singer often presented two or more contributions. In 1993, the winner was determined by a survey of 1,100 households, in which not only Romanian but also Moldovan households were interviewed. In 1994 and 1996 the winner was determined by regional juries, in 1998 the juries were supplemented by televoting . In 2000, the first time voting took place exclusively by telephone, which led to a scandal: the composers of the runner-up title Why sued the Romanian television station because they were in the lead after the phone lines were open and the vote was only supposed to take an hour. For reasons unknown, the lines were open for two more hours, leaving Taxi to the top. This system was also used in 2005, 2010 to 2012, 2014 and 2015, but the winner was determined by 50% jury voting and 50% televoting.

2003 and 2004 as well as 2006 and 2007

In 2003 a new preliminary decision mode was developed, whereby two semi-finals should take place before the final. A total of six candidates per semi-final (with around twelve participants) should qualify for the final round, which did not always happen in the end: In 2003 only ten singers took part in the final after one entry was disqualified and a second was withdrawn. In 2007 the preliminary round proved to be particularly scandalous: after two disqualifications, only 22 singers took part in the semi-finals instead of 24. Before the final, three more titles were disqualified and a fourth was voluntarily withdrawn, leaving only eight songs.

2016 and 2017

In 2016 and 2017 there was a semi-final before the final. In 2016 there was a semi-final with twelve participants before the final. Six of them qualified for the final, with tele and jury voting each choosing three artists directly. In the final, six participants competed against each other, with only the televoting determining the winner. In 2017, however, there was a public casting before the semifinals, where a jury selected the 15 semifinalists. In the semi-finals, ten participants qualified for the finals through 100% jury voting. In the final, 100% of the winner was determined by televoting.

2018

In 2018, for the 100th anniversary of Romania, there was a large-scale preliminary decision with a total of five semi-finals with 12 performers each. A jury selected three performers for the final from each semi-final, so that in the end 15 performers took part in the final. As in the previous year, the televoting alone decided the winner.

2008, 2009, 2013 and 2019

In 2008 and 2009 there were two semi-finals with twelve participants each, of which six participants each qualified for the final. Voting was 50% by jury and 50% by televoting. This mode was also used in 2013, but with 16 participants per semi-final. In 2019, for the first time in six years, there were two semi-finals before the final. Twelve participants should compete in each semi-final, but since one interpreter withdrew shortly before the broadcast, there was a semi-final with eleven and a semi-final with twelve performers. A jury then determined five finalists for each semi-final, while another interpreter was determined by televoting. In the final, twelve performers competed against each other, with an international jury determining 85% of the winner and the televoting accounting for only 15% of the final result.

languages

After the fall of the language rule in 1999, no Romanian contribution was made entirely in the national language; most of the time, English was used. In 2006 Tornerò was sung with an English verse and an Italian refrain; In 2007, Liubi liubi, I Love You, was sung in six languages: English, Italian, Spanish, Russian, French and Romanian all appeared to the same extent. The 2008 contribution was sung in Romanian and Italian, while Zaleilah 2012 included Spanish and English. De le capăt from 2015 is mostly sung in Romanian, the last refrain in English. Furthermore, English versions of the 1994 and 1998 contributions, an English-Italian-Greek version of the 2000 contribution and the 2006 contribution were sung.

Commercial success

Some Romanian contributions became national hits: in 1994 Dincolo de nori was voted the most popular song of the year despite poor performance. Further hits were achieved in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Internationally Tornerò was particularly successful and achieved high sales figures in Malta , Iceland and Greece ; the singer alone earned around one million euros on the song. Playing with Fire , the 2010 post, hit the top 50 on the charts in Finland, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden.

Scoring

The following countries received the most points from or awarded the most points to Romania (as of 2019):

Most of the points awarded in the final space country Points 1  Moldova 133 2  Greece 107 3  Russia 080 4th  Turkey 070 5  Sweden 067

Most in the final received points space country Points 1  Moldova 149 2  Spain 128 3  Israel 096 4th  Portugal 065 5  Greece 060  Malta 060

Most of the points awarded space country Points 1  Moldova 245 2  Greece 166 3  Hungary 136 4th  Russia 128 5  Turkey 107

Most total obtained points space country Points 1  Moldova 257 2  Israel 182 3  Spain 169 4th  Greece 113 5  Ireland 110

Award of the highest rating

Since 1993 Romania has given the highest number of points in the final to 13 different countries, nine of them to Moldova. In the semifinals, however, Romania awarded the maximum number of points to ten different countries, seven of them to Moldova.

Highest rating (final) year country Place (final) 1993 Not qualified 1994  Germany 3 1995 1996 Not qualified 1997 No participation 1998  United Kingdom 2 1999 Not qualified 2000  Russia 2 2001 Not qualified 2002  North Macedonia 19th 2003  Sweden 5 2004  Greece 3 2005  Moldova 6th 2006  Moldova 20th 2007  Moldova 10 2008  Greece 3 2009  Moldova 14th 2010  Denmark 4th 2011  Moldova 12 2012  Moldova 11 2013  Moldova 11 2014  Sweden 3 2015  Italy 3 2016 Disqualified 2017  Netherlands (J) 11  Moldova (T) 3 2018  Austria (J) 3  Moldova (T) 10 2019  Australia (J) 9  Netherlands (T) 1 2020 Competition canceled

Highest rating (semi-finals) year country Place (semifinals) 2004  Greece 3 2005  Moldova 2 2006  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 2007  Moldova 10 2008  Greece 1 2009  Turkey 2 2010  Denmark 5 2011  Moldova 10 2012  Greece 4th 2013  Azerbaijan 2 2014  Austria 1 2015  Russia 1 2016 Disqualified 2017  Netherlands (J) 4th  Hungary (T) 2 2018  Moldova (J&T) 3 2019  Moldova (J&T) 12 2020 Competition canceled

various

• Before they were allowed to represent their country, some singers had already taken part in the Romanian preliminary decision many times, above all Monica Anghel 2002 (five times with a total of seven contributions), Nicola 2003 (six times) and Mihai Trăistariu (five times). With a total of eight contributions, Monica Anghel tops the list of the most frequent preliminary decision participants.

Impressions

• 

  Todomondo 2007

• 

  Nico & Vlad Miriță 2008

• 

  Elena Gheorghe 2009

• 

  Mandinga 2012

• 

  Cezar 2013

• 

  Paula Seling & Ovi 2014

• 

  Voltaj 2015

• 

  Ilinca feat. Alex Florea 2017

• 

  The Humans 2018

• 

  Ester Peony 2019

Individual evidence

1. ↑ NDR: Romania excluded from the ESC 2016. In: www.eurovision.de. Retrieved October 17, 2016 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} [1]
3. ↑ [2]
4. ↑ [3]
5. ↑ [4]
6. ↑ [5]
7. ↑ [6]
8. ↑ [7]
9. ↑ Mihai Traistariu performing with sport stars ( Memento from July 13, 2007 in the Internet Archive )