Selecția Națională, Romania’s national selection for Eurovision 2016 – just kicked off in Baia Mare. After an interesting show in the north of the country, 6 participants were announced as the finalists of the Romanian competition and are going to compete in the national final on the 6th of March.
12 songs took part in Romania’s semi-final and competed for the 6 places in Sunday’s final. Initially the British singer Hayley Evetts was one of the 12 contestants, being replaced later on by the Romanian band Gașca de Acasă due to medical problems.
The songs
Doru Todoruț & Irina Baianț – The Voice
The duet competed with a song that contains various musical elements. It starts as a slow ballad, builds up step by step and finally ends up as an up-tempo Eurodance song. This musical diversity is further enlarged by opera elements which can be found in Irina’s vocals. As a result of this mixture, the song can’t be categorized in a genre and opened the show in a surprising way.
Andra Olteanu – Nai Nai
The only dance act in the selection consists of ethno-Romanian and latin elements. The tempo of the verses is constantly increasing until the song comes to a danceable up-tempo chorus. Nai Nai seems to be a reminder of the pre-jury Eurovision time between 2003 and 2008, a period of time in which many countries competed with cheerful dance songs.
Dream Walkers – Let It Shine
The Romania boyband, consisting of Teodor Manciulea, Cristian Prăjescu, Emilian Nechifor and Gabriel Cîndea participated with a typical Eurovision ballad. The song builds up step by step and finally reaches a climax in the end of the ballad.
Irina Popa – Letting Go
Initially the singer planned to compete with the Romanian version Lasă-Mă, Eu Te Las but finally has decided to change the lyrics into english. The ballad which picked out a broken love as a central theme, is completely carried by Irina’s voice and is only marginally extended by a piano accompaniment.
Jukebox – Come On Everybody
The band which consists of two singers, two guitarists, a drummer and a keyboard player participated with an up-tempo ethno-song. Therefore the six musicians from Bucharest mixed up Romanian with english lyrics. Rhythm and tempo were almost constant during the full three minutes.
Mihai Băjinaru – Never Too Late
The 43-year old singer deals with the themes of lonliness and love within his slow ballad Never Too Late. The instrumentalization largely consists of a piano but also includes a violin and drums. The build-up happens slowly and the song finally reaches a climax in the end.
Vanotek feat. The Code & Georgian – I’m Coming Home
Probably the most modern song in Romania’s national selection for Eurovision 2016. The song I’m Coming Home has a constant and contemporary sound over the full three minutes and stood out because of its memorable chorus which doesn’t include any vocals of the singer Vanotek, but is only put together by the background music of the musicians The Code & Georgian.
M I H A I – Paradisio
The singer Mihai Trăistariu returned to the competition exactly 10 years after his 4th place in Athens, back in 2006. His song Paradisio is a mid-tempo pop song with a commercial, euro-friendly sound. The highlight was reached when the singer has managed to hold a note for more than 20 seconds in the end of the song.
Florena – Behind The Shadows
The 16-year old singer was expected to be one of the main favourites to win the Romanian selection. Her mysterious ballad Behind The Shadows has a constant rhythm and melody, but a modern sound as well and obviously stood out because of Florena’s powerful vocals.
Gașca de Acasă – Tu Ești Povestea
The Romanian band, consisting of a singer, a guitarist, a bass player, a keyboard player and a piano player is taking part in the national selection with a dreamy pop-ballad. The musicians from Baia Mare were included in the semi-final after Hayley Evetts withdrawal back in February.
Ovidiu Anton – Moment Of Silence
The rock-anthem represents Ovidiu’s 5th attempt at Romania’s Selecția Națională, after a second place back in 2015. The only rock song of the Romanian competition has a strong message behind: Back in November 2015, 63 people died in Bucharest after a fire during a rock concert, a tragedy that could easily have been prevented. Within his song the musician tries to show the impacts of corruption which made this sad event possible.
Xandra – Superhuman
The pop-ballad seems to be a typical Eurovision song which is slowly building up and finally comes to a powerful chorus. The production of the song is modern and has been realized in the United Kingdom respectively in Sweden.
The results
4 of the 6 finalists have been chosen by a national jury, consisting of Alexandra Cepraga, Horia Moculescu, Randi, Zolit Toth and Cezar Ouatu, Romania’s 2013 representant. Further 2 more songs were saved by televote.
The four jury picks were:
- Ovidiu Anton – Moment Of Silence
- Dream Walkers – Let It Shine
- Florena – Behind the Shadows
- Mihai – Paradisio
The two televote picks are:
- Vanotek feat. The Code & Georgian – I’m Coming Home
- Doru Todoruț feat. Irina Baianț – The Voice
Romania in Eurovision
Since the introduction of the Semi-Finals in the Eurovision Song Contest back in 2004, Romania have always qualied for the Grand Final, placing third in 2005 respectively in 2010 and coming fourth in 2006.
The country from Southeast Europe had its first appearance in the contest back in 1994, when Dan Bittman took part with his song Dincolo De Nori. Since then Romania reached the final 17 times.
Last year Voltaj and their pop ballad De La Capăt (All Over Again) represented the country in Vienna and finally finished 15th in the Grand final.
In the video below you can see the Romanian Eurovision highlights of the last 6 participations – we included clips from various concerts, press conferences and of course Eurovision itself in order to find something you probably haven’t seen before. Do check it out.
