Eurovision Song Contest 2020 | ||||
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Country | ![]() | |||
National selection | ||||
Selection process | Artist: Internal selection Song:Selecția Națională 2020 | |||
Selection date(s) | Artist: 11 February 2020 Song: 1 March 2020 | |||
Selected entrant | Roxen | |||
Selected song | "Alcohol You" | |||
Selected songwriter(s) |
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Finals performance | ||||
Final result | Contest cancelled | |||
Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Romania was scheduled to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands before its cancellation due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries. Romania's artist, Roxen, was internally selected and announced on 11 February 2020. Their competing entry, "Alcohol You", was chosen during the national selection competition Selecția Națională 2020 on 1 March. Prior to the 2020 contest, Romania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 20 times since its first entry in 1994. Its highest placing had been third place, which the nation achieved in 2005 and 2010. In 2019, they failed to qualify for the contest's final for the second consecutive year. Prior to the scheduled Eurovision Song Contest 2020, "Alcohol You" was promoted by a lyric video, while Roxen appeared on several native talk shows and radio stations.
Prior to the 2020 contest, Romania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 20 times since its first entry in 1994. Its highest placing in the contest, to this point, had 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 "Playing with Fire" by Paula Seling and Ovi. In 2019, Romania failed to qualify to the final, placing 13th in the second semi-final with Ester Peony's "On a Sunday". This marked the second consecutive time that the nation failed to qualify to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, after 2018. [1] In September 2019, Televiziunea Română (TVR) confirmed Romania's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. [2] As of December 2019, the broadcaster was discussing the method to select a representing entry, [3] which evolved as the subject of online controversy since precise information surrounding Romania's Eurovision participation had been given that time in preceding years. In addition, the mayors of Baia Mare and Buzău claimed the cities were potential hosts of a national final that was yet to be confirmed by TVR. [4]
On 31 January 2020, TVR confirmed their collaboration with native label Global Records for the selection of a Eurovision entry, citing their recent relevancy and success within Romania's music industry as reasons for the decision. Furthermore, it was announced that Liana Stanciu would return as the country's head of delegation. [5] While Global Records was not remunerated, the project had cost TVR a reported €69,000. [6] A jury panel—consisting of Luminița Anghel, Liviu Elekes, Dan Manoliu, Crina Mardare, Bogdan Păun, Lucian Ștefan and Andrei Tudor [7] —was hired to select Romania's representing artist out of the label's roster. [8] [9] Having brought together several composers such as David Ciente, [10] a songwriting camp was organised in January 2020, with the five best-written songs being selected by music experts to proceed to Selecția Națională 2020. [8] [9] The segment Destinația Eurovision was aired by TVR, documenting the internal artist selection and songwriting camp. [9]
In an online interview two days after TVR's announcement, Global Records's manager Ștefan announced that a male and two female artists had been shortlisted to represent Romania at Eurovision; [11] they were later reported to be Cezar Gună, Diana V and Roxen. [12] [13] The latter was revealed as Romania's representative on 11 February, and the competing songs were released on 21 February. [12] [14] Roxen had risen to prominence in the country upon being featured on producer Sickotoy's "You Don't Love Me" in 2019, which reached number three on the Airplay 100 chart and was playlisted in several other territories. [15] [16]
Selecția Națională 2020 was the national final format organised by TVR in order to select Romania's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The competition consisted of five songs—"Alcohol You", "Beautiful Disaster", "Cherry Red", "Colors" and "Storm"—out of which the winner was determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and a public televote (the latter would decide the winning song in case of a tie). [8] [9] The jury—consisting of Luminița Anghel, Crina Mardare, Alin Oprea, Edward Sanda and Andrei Tudor—awarded a set of points from five to zero, which was based on each member's individual set of votes from five to zero. The televoting was rendered down using the same scores. [17]
With an audience of around 200,000 viewers, [18] Selecția Națională was broadcast at 21:00 (EET) and hosted by Elena Gheorghe and Connect-R at Sala Sporturilor "Romeo Iamandi" in Buzău. The hosts also served as interval acts alongside Loreen, Sandro Nicolas, Ulrikke Brandstorp, Dora Gaitanovici and Natalia Gordienco. [7] [19] [20] Roxen's performances were directed by Bogdan Păun with the assistance of the director of photography Dan Manoliu, and made use of a circular stage and a LED screen sized around 300 square metres (3,200 sq ft). [7] [19] CocoRico, Cotnari and Top Line were among the sponsors of the event, [17] while Buzău itself contributed with €200,000 towards it. [21] Writing for Eurovision.de, Irving Wolther lauded Selecția Națională, calling it "so opulent that one might think that a future [Eurovision] winner is actually celebrating here". [22] The full results of the national final were: [23] [24]
Draw | Song | Songwriter(s) | Jury | Televote | Total | Place |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Beautiful Disaster" | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
2 | "Cherry Red" |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
3 | "Colors" |
| 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
4 | "Alcohol You" |
| 5 | 5 | 10 | 1 |
5 | "Storm" |
| 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
Prior to Selecția Națională, Roxen was promoted as Romania's Eurovision representative on various native talk shows and radio stations, occasionally performing one of the five songs. [25] Lyric videos to all entries were released on YouTube, eventually alongside "alternative" live versions (Crystal Freckles Session). [26] Additionally, Global Records released merchandise related to Roxen. [27] Upon selecting "Alcohol You" as the Romanian entry, Roxen performed it live on Virgin Radio Romania, [28] and appeared on multiple other Romanian radio stations to give interviews. [29]
The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was originally scheduled to take place at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands and consist of two semi-finals on 12 and 14 May, and the final on 16 May 2020. [30] According to Eurovision rules, each country, except the host nation and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), would have been required to qualify from one of two semi-finals to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final would have progressed to the final. [31] [32] [33] In January 2020, it was announced that Romania would be performing in the second half of the first semi-final of the contest. [34] However, on 18 March, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced the event's cancellation due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries. [35] Although TVR had considered sending "Alcohol You" to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, [36] EBU announced soon after that entries intended for 2020 would not be eligible for the following year. [37] Roxen was nonetheless internally selected for 2021. [38]
Some of the broadcasters scheduled to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 have organised alternative competitions. Austria's ORF aired Der kleine Song Contest in April 2020, which saw every entry being assigned to one of three semi-finals. A jury consisting of ten singers that had represented Austria at Eurovision before was hired to rank each song; the best-placed in each semi-final advanced to the final round. [39] In the first semi-final on 14 April, "Alcohol You" placed seventh in a field of 14 participants, achieving 61 points. [40] The song also unsuccessfully took part in Norddeutscher Rundfunk's Eurovision 2020 – das deutsche Finale and Sveriges Television's Sveriges 12:a on 9 May. [41] [42]
Romania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 22 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.
Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens, Greece. They selected their entry, "Tornerò", by Romanian singer Mihai Trăistariu through the national selection competition Selecția Națională 2006 in February 2006. Controversy surrounded the event, as seventh-placed duo Indiggo accused the organising broadcaster, Romanian Television (TVR), of vote rigging. Prior to the 2006 contest, Romania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest eight times since its first entry in 1994. Its highest placing in the contest had been third place, which the nation achieved in 2005.
Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 in Kyiv, Ukraine. They selected their entry, "Let Me Try" by Romanian singer Luminița Anghel and group Sistem, through the national selection Selecția Națională 2005 in March 2005. Controversy surrounded the event, as second-placed singer Loredana accused the organising broadcaster, Romanian Television (TVR), of vote rigging. Prior to the 2005 contest, Romania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest seven times since its first entry in 1994. Its highest placing in the contest, to this point, had been ninth place, which the nation achieved in 2002. In 2004, they placed 18th in the final.
Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki, Finland. They selected their entry, "Liubi, Liubi, I Love You" by Romanian group Todomondo through the national selection competition Selecția Națională 2007 in February 2007. Controversy surrounded the event, as Romanian Television (TVR) disqualified several entries over the course of the competition. Prior to the 2007 contest, Romania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest nine times since its first entry in 1994. Its highest placing in the contest had been third place, which the nation achieved in 2005. In 2006, Romania finished in fourth place. Prior to Eurovision, "Liubi, Liubi, I Love You" was promoted by a music video and a promotional tour in Belarus. Todomondo ultimately achieved 13th place in the contest's Grand Final on 12 May 2007, scoring 84 points. Their performance saw the use of pyrotechnics.
Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia. They selected their entry, "Pe-o margine de lume", by Romanian singers Nico and Vlad through the national selection competition Selecția Națională 2008 in February 2008. Controversy surrounded the event, as the organising broadcaster, Romanian Television (TVR), was accused of conspiracy, and the song reviewed for plagiarism. Prior to the 2008 contest, Romania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest ten times since its first entry in 1994. Its highest placing in the contest had been third place, which the nation achieved in 2005. In 2007, Romania finished in 13th place.
Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia. They selected their entry, "The Balkan Girls", by Romanian singer Elena through the national selection competition Selecția Națională 2009 organised by Romanian Television (TVR) in January 2009. Prior to the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, Romania competed eleven times since its first entry in 1994. Its highest placing in the contest had been third place, which the nation achieved in 2005. In 2008, Romania finished in 20th place. "The Balkan Girls" attained local commercial success, topping the Romanian Top 100 in April.
Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "Playing with Fire" written by Ovidiu Cernăuțeanu. The song was performed by Paula Seling and Ovi. The Romanian broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR) organised the national final Selecția Națională 2010 in order to select the Romanian entry for the 2010 contest in Oslo, Norway. Sixteen entries were selected to compete in the national final on 6 March 2010 where "Playing with Fire" performed by Paula Seling and Ovi was selected as the winner after scoring top marks from five regional juries and a public televote.
Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "Change" written by Gabriel Băruță and Alexandra Ivan. The song was performed by the band Hotel FM. The Romanian broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR) organised the national final Selecția Națională 2011 in order to select the Romanian entry for the 2011 contest in Düsseldorf, Germany. Thirteen entries were selected to compete in the national final on 31 December 2010 where "Change" performed by Hotel FM was selected as the winner after scoring top marks from an eleven-member jury panel and a public televote.
Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "It's My Life" written by Cristian Faur. The song was performed by Cezar. The Romanian broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR) organised the national final Selecția Națională 2013 in order to select the Romanian entry for the 2013 contest in Malmö, Sweden. The national final consisted of three shows: two semi-finals on 23 and 24 February 2013, respectively, and a final on 9 March 2013. A total of thirty-two entries were selected and sixteen competed in each semi-final where six entries were selected to advance to the final. The twelve qualifiers competed in the final where "It's My Life" performed by Cezar was selected as the winner after scoring top marks from a seven-member jury panel and a public televote.
Romania had originally applied and selected an entry to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden, however, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) removed the Romanian national broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR) from all EBU member services, including the contest, following repeated non-payment of debts on 22 April 2016. With TVR's inability to broadcast the contest, the Romanian entry became ineligible to compete and was removed from the contest.
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