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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Selecția Națională
Romania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 23 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, a song contest that has been taking place every year in Romania except for 2021, has been used to select the country's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.

In 1993, the year before its first appearance, Romania attempted to debut in the contest, but came last in the qualifying round. After successfully joining the following year, poor placements followed until 2002, resulting in several relegations. This changed with the introduction of semi-finals to the contest in 2004, after which Romania reached the final 14 times, failing to qualify from the semi-finals in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023, the latter finishing with no points.

Contest history

A man and a woman sitting at a table and smiling at the camera.
Paula Seling and Ovi (pictured) placed third with their 2010 entry "Playing with Fire".

After having had broadcast the contest several times during the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, Romania unsuccessfully attempted to debut in the 1993 contest, selecting "Nu pleca" by Dida Drăgan for the qualifying round Kvalifikacija za Millstreet (English: Preselection for Millstreet); Drăgan came in last place. A non-qualification was also achieved in 1996 when there was a qualifying round for all countries excluding hosts Norway. The Eurovision site does not count either year in Romania's list of appearances. The country's first official participation occurred in 1994 when Dan Bittman's "Dincolo de nori" placed 21st in the contest's final. The following years saw similar low placements and non-participations in 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2001.

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 2023, 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!". 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. Romania had previously introduced the first-ever use of overlays at Eurovision in 2014.

Romania has participated in the contest 22 times, having qualified for the final 14 times since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, failing to qualify in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023. 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" by Ovidiu Anton, from participating in the contest. Although TVR had selected Roxen to perform "Alcohol You" in 2020, the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Roxen was internally selected for 2021 nonetheless, performing "Amnesia". After failing to qualify for the final in four out of its latest five participations, Romania opted not to take part in the 2024 contest.

Selection process and accolades

See also: National selections for the Eurovision Song Contest

Selecția Națională, a song contest which has been taking place every year in Romania except for 2021, 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. Since then, several voting procedures have been used, often combining televoting with the votes of a jury panel. The selection of the winner either occurred during one show, or through a varying amount of semi-finals. 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. The broadcaster and the label also collaborated the following year for the internal selection of Roxen and her entry.

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, and Sanda received the infamous Barbara Dex Award in 2004. 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, 2006's "Tornerò" by Mihai Trăistariu peaked within the top ten in Finland and Greece. 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. "Llámame", the nation's 2022 entry, also peaked atop the charts in Romania.

Participation overview

Table key
1 First place
2 Second place
3 Third place
◁ Last place
X Entry selected but did not compete
Participation history
Year Artist Song Language Final Points Semi Points
1993 Dida Drăgan "Nu pleca" Romanian Failed to qualify X 7 ◁ 38
1994 Dan Bittman "Dincolo de nori" Romanian 21 14 No semi-finals
1996 Monica Anghel and Sincron "Rugă pentru pacea lumii" Romanian Failed to qualify X 29 ◁ 11
1998 Mălina Olinescu "Eu cred" Romanian 22 6 No semi-finals
2000 Taxi "The Moon" English 17 25
2002 Monica Anghel and Marcel Pavel "Tell Me Why" English 9 71
2003 Nicola "Don't Break My Heart" English 10 73
2004 Sanda "I Admit" English 18 18 Top 11 in 2003 contest
2005 Luminița Anghel and Sistem "Let Me Try" English 3 158 1 235
2006 Mihai Trăistariu "Tornerò" English, Italian 4 172 Top 11 in 2005 final
2007 Todomondo "Liubi, Liubi, I Love You" English, Italian, Spanish, Russian, French, Romanian 13 84 Top 10 in 2006 final
2008 Nico and Vlad "Pe-o margine de lume" Romanian, Italian 20 45 7 94
2009 Elena "The Balkan Girls" English 19 40 9 67
2010 Paula Seling and Ovi "Playing with Fire" English 3 162 4 104
2011 Hotel FM "Change" English 17 77 4 111
2012 Mandinga "Zaleilah" Spanish, English 12 71 3 120
2013 Cezar "It's My Life" English 13 65 5 83
2014 Paula Seling and Ovi "Miracle" English 12 72 2 125
2015 Voltaj "De la capăt" Romanian, English 15 35 5 89
2016 Ovidiu Anton "Moment of Silence" English Disqualified X
2017 Ilinca feat. Alex Florea "Yodel It!" English 7 282 6 174
2018 The Humans "Goodbye" English Failed to qualify 11 107
2019 Ester Peony "On a Sunday" English 13 71
2020 Roxen "Alcohol You" English Contest cancelled X
2021 Roxen "Amnesia" English Failed to qualify 12 85
2022 Wrs "Llámame" English, Spanish 18 65 9 118
2023 Theodor Andrei "D.G.T. (Off and On)" Romanian, English Failed to qualify 15 0

Related involvement

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.

Year Head of delegation Ref.
2000 Dan Manoliu
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008 Ioan Duma
2009 Dan Manoliu
2010 Marina Almăşan
2011
2012 Dan Manoliu
2013
2014 Liana Stanciu
2015
2016 Iuliana Marciuc
2017
2018
2019 Smaranda Vornicu-Shalit
2020 Liana Stanciu
2021
2022 Iuliana Marciuc
2023 Mihai Predescu

Stage directors

The appointed stage directors are responsible for directing the country's live performance, for camerawork and for the visuals used.

Year Stage director Ref.
2009 Bobo Bărbulescu
2015 Daniel Klinger
2018 Petre Năstase
2019
2021 Bogdan Păun and Dan Manoliu
2022 Aurel Badea

Jury members

A five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals is made up for every participating country for the semi-finals and 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.

Year 1st member 2nd member 3rd member 4th member 5th member Ref.
2014 Mădălin Voicu Mirela Fugaru Mihai Stoica Alexandru Călin Geambasu Nico
2015 Viorel Gavrilă Mihai Pocorschi Ovi Anca Lupeș Alexandra Cepraga
2017 Luminița Anghel Mihai Trăistariu Tavi Colen Paula Seling Cezar
2018 Nicu Patoi Anca Lupeș Sanda Cepraga Gabriel Cotabiță Mihai Alexandru
2019 Ozana Barabancea Liana Stanciu Monica Anghel Andrei Kerestely Bogdan Pavlică
2021 DJ Andy Ilinca Liviu Teodorescu Luminița Anghel Răzvan Popescu
2022 Sanda Ladoși Luminiţa Anghel Ovi Liviu Elekeş Mihai Pocorschi
2023 Bogdan Strătulă Răzvan Petre Alexandra Cepraga Christina Săvulescu Monica Anghel

Commentators and spokespersons

For the show's broadcast on TVR, various commentators and dual commentators have been hired throughout the years, with Leonard Miron notably having done the job on seven occasions. 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.

Year Commentator(s) Spokesperson Refs.
1991 Unknown Did not participate
1992
1994 Gabriela Cristea Cristina Țopescu
1995 Unknown Did not participate
1996 Doina Caramzulescu and Costin Grigore
1997
1998 Leonard Miron Anca Țurcașiu
1999 Doina Caramzulescu and Costin Grigore Did not participate
2000 Leonard Miron Andreea Marin
2001 Did not participate
2002 Unknown Leonard Miron
2003
2004 Andreea Marin
2005 Berti Barbera
2006 Andreea Marin Bănică
2007
2008 Leonard Miron Alina Sorescu
2009 Unknown
2010 Leonard Miron and Gianina Corondan Malvina Cservenschi
2011 Liana Stanciu and Bogdan Pavlică
2012 Leonard Miron and Gianina Corondan Paula Seling
2013 Liana Stanciu Sonia Argint-Ionescu
2014 Bogdan Stănescu
2015
2017 Liana Stanciu and Radu Andrei Tudor
2018 Liliana Ștefan and Radu Andrei Tudor
2019 Liana Stanciu and Bogdan Stănescu Ilinca
2021 Bogdan Stănescu Cătălina Ponor
2022 Bogdan Stănescu and Kyrie Mendél None
2023 Eda Marcus

Conductors

In contests where an orchestra was provided, a conductor was required to lead the musicians during each country's performance. Broadcasters were able to provide their own conductors, or could call upon the services of the conductor appointed by the host broadcaster. For 1993's Kvalifikacija za Millstreet pre-selection round, George Natsis conducted the Romanian entry. In 1994 and 1998, Irish host conductor Noel Kelehan and Romanian conductor Adrian Romcescu – also the composer of "Eu cred" – were hired, respectively.

Photo gallery

See also