Televiziunea Română, more commonly referred to as TVR, is the short name for Societatea Română de Televiziune, the Romanian public television. It operates nine channels: TVR 1, TVR 2, TVR 3, TVR Cultural, TVR Folclor, TVR Info, TVRi, TVR Moldova and TVR Sport along with six regional studios in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Timișoara, Craiova, and Târgu Mureș.
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 with "Let Me Try" by Luminița Anghel and Sistem in 2005, and "Playing with Fire" by Paula Seling and Ovi in 2010, who both finished in third place. The Romanian participant broadcaster in the contest is Televiziunea Română (TVR), which select its entrant with Selecția Națională, a song contest organised every year since 1993, except for 2021.
TVR Internațional (Romanian pronunciation:[ˌtevereˌinternat͡si.oˈnal], abbreviated as TVRi, is the international channel of Televiziunea Română, Romania's government-funded television network. TVR International provides free-to-air 24-hour broadcast throughout Europe, Canada and the US. In July 2005, it introduced broadcasts to Australia and New Zealand.
Telejurnalul is the main news program of the Romanian public television network TVR, broadcast daily on TVR1, TVRi at 14:00, 20:00 and on TVR2.
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.
Television in Romania started in August 1955. State television started to broadcast on 31 December 1956. The second television channel followed in 1968, but between 1985 and 1990, there was only one Romanian channel before the return of the second channel. Color television was introduced in 1983. Private broadcasters arrived in December 1991, with SOTI which was the first private nationwide television station in Central and Eastern Europe. Romania has the highest penetration rates for pay television in the world, with over 98% of all households watching television through cable or satellite.
TVR HD was a Romanian free-to-air high definition channel, owned by TVR, the Romanian state-owned broadcasting corporation. It broadcast programming of TVR1 and TVR2 in HD. It was launched on the first day of June 2008, during the children's international day of 2008. The channel got its license in April 2008.
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 2012 with the song "Zaleilah" written by Elena Ionescu, Costi Ioniță and Omar Secada. The song was performed by the band Mandinga. The Romanian broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR) organised the national final Selecția Națională 2012 in order to select the Romanian entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Fifteen entries were selected to compete in the national final on 10 March 2012 where "Zaleilah" performed by Mandinga was selected as the winner after scoring top marks from a nine-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 participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "Miracle" written by Ovi, Phillip Halloun, Frida Amundsen and Beyond51. The song was performed by Paula Seling and Ovi, both of them which had previously represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2010 where they placed third in the final with the song "Playing with Fire". The Romanian broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR) organised the national final Selecția Națională 2014 in order to select the Romanian entry for the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark. Twelve entries were selected to compete in the national final on 1 March 2014 where "Miracle" performed by Paula Seling and Ovi was selected as the winner after scoring top marks from a five-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.
Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Yodel It!" written by Mihai Alexandru and Alexandra Niculae. The song was performed by Ilinca and Alex Florea. In October 2016, the Romanian broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR) announced that they would be returning to the Eurovision Song Contest after a one-year absence following their forced withdrawal in 2016 due to repeated non-payment of debts to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). TVR organised the national final Selecția Națională 2017 in order to select the Romanian entry for the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. The national final consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final. Fifteen entries were selected to compete in the semi-final on 26 February 2017 where a five-member jury panel selected ten entries to advance to the final. The ten qualifiers competed in the final on 5 March 2017 where "Yodel It!" performed by Ilinca and Alex Florea was selected as the winner entirely by a public vote.
Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Goodbye" written by Alexandru Matei, Alin Neagoe and Cristina Caramarcu. The song was performed by the Humans. The Romanian broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR) organised the national final Selecția Națională 2018 in order to select the Romanian entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. The national final consisted of six shows: five semi-finals and a final. A total of sixty entries were selected and twelve competed in each semi-final where a five-member jury panel selected three entries to advance to the final. The fifteen qualifiers competed in the final on 25 February 2018 where "Goodbye" performed by The Humans was selected as the winner entirely by a public vote.
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.
"Amnesia" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Roxen, digitally released by Warner Music Poland on 4 March 2021. It was written by Adelina Stîngă and Victor Bouroșu, while the production was solely handled by the latter. A dark ballad, the song's lyrics discuss combatting self-neglection in modern society, referring to this phenomenon as "self-love amnesia". Music critics generally applauded the song, with praise concentrated on its catchiness and commercial appeal, as well as on Roxen's vocal delivery. For promotional purposes, a music video was released simultaneously with the digital premiere of the song and was directed by Bogdan Păun. Filmed at an empty National Theatre Bucharest, the visual shows Roxen and several dancers performing contemporary dance to portray the story of a person who manages to gain control over their surrounding fears.
Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with "Llámame" performed by Wrs. The Romanian broadcaster, Televiziunea Română (TVR), organised the national final Selecția Națională 2022 in order to select the Romanian entry for the 2022 contest. The national final consisted of three shows, including two semi-finals and a final. A total of 46 entries were selected and 10 qualifiers ultimately competed in the final on 5 March 2022, where the winner scoring top marks from both a jury panel and a public televote was selected.
Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, with "D.G.T. " performed by Theodor Andrei. The Romanian broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR) organised the national final Selecția Națională 2023 in order to select the Romanian entry for the 2023 contest. Twelve entries were selected to compete in the national final on 11 February 2023 where "D.G.T. " performed by Theodor Andrei was selected as the winner entirely by a public vote.
