Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016
| Eurovision Song Contest 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Romania | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Selecția Națională 2016 | |||
| Selection date(s) | Semi-final: 4 March 2016 Final: 6 March 2016 | |||
| Selected entrant | Ovidiu Anton | |||
| Selected song | "Moment of Silence" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) | Ovidiu Anton | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Disqualified | |||
| Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
The Romanian entry for the 2016 contest would have been the song "Moment of Silence" written and performed by Ovidiu Anton. TVR organised the national final Selecția Națională 2016 in order to select the Romanian entry. The national final consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final. Twelve entries were selected to compete in the semi-final on 4 March 2016 where a five-member jury panel selected four entries to advance to the final, while a public vote selected an additional two entries to enter the final. The six qualifiers competed in the final on 6 March 2016 where "Moment of Silence" performed by Ovidiu Anton was selected as the winner entirely by a public vote.
Background
Prior to the 2016 contest, Romania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 17 times since its first entry in 1994. To this point, its highest placing in the contest has 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 the song "Playing with Fire" performed by Paula Seling and Ovi. To this point, Romania has qualified to the final on every occasion since the introduction of semi-finals to the format of the contest in 2004. In 2015, "De la capăt" by band Voltaj placed 15th in the final.[1]
The Romanian national broadcaster,
Before Eurovision
Selecția Națională 2016
Selecția Națională 2016 was the national final organised by TVR in order to select Romania's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. The competition consisted of two shows: a semi-final featuring twelve songs and a final featuring six songs to be held on 4 and 6 March 2016, respectively. Both shows took place at the Sala Sporturilor in
Competing entries
TVR opened a submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries between 18 January 2016 and 7 February 2016.
On 17 February 2016, "Brand New Day", written by Martyn Baylay and Phil Bates and to have been performed by Hayley Evetts, was withdrawn from the competition and replaced with the song "Tu ești povestea" performed by Gașca de acasă.[11] An additional back-up entry was selected in the event that another participant withdrew; the entry was "The Reason", written by Nora Deneș and performed by Nora Deneș and The Fridays.[12]
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Andra Olteanu | "Nai nai" | Andra Olteanu, Sever Selim |
| Doru Todoruț feat. Irina Baianț | "The Voice" | Doru Todoruț, Irina Baianț |
| Dream Walkers | "Let It Shine" | Cristian Faur |
| Florena | "Behind the Shadows" | Gabriel Huiban, Laurențiu Duță |
| Gașca de acasă | "Tu ești povestea" | Călin Ionce, Florin Pop, Glad Berindei |
| Irina Popa | "Letting Go" | Irina Popa, George Lazăr, Alexandru Tudor, Eduard Taraș |
| Jukebox | "Come On Everybody" | Jukebox |
| Mihai | "Paradisio" | Mihai Trăistariu, Robby G., Dumi Pădure |
| Mihai Băjinaru | "Never Too Late" | Andrei Tudor, Cristian Faur |
| Ovidiu Anton | "Moment of Silence" | Ovidiu Anton |
| Vanotek feat. The Code and Georgian | "I'm Coming Home" | Vanotek, Ionuț Catană, Alex Cotoi, Sorin Seniuc, Adriana Rusu, Anastasia Sandu |
| Xandra | "Superhuman" | Will Taylor, Jonas Gladnikoff |
Shows
Semi-final
The semi-final took place on 4 March 2016. Twelve songs competed and six qualified to the final. A jury panel first selected four songs to advance.[13] The remaining eight entries then faced a public televote which determined an additional two qualifiers.[13] The members of the jury panel that voted during the semi-final were: Alexandra Cepraga (music director), Horia Moculescu (composer, producer), Randi (singer, producer), Zoli Toth (musician, represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 as part of Sistem) and Cezar Ouatu (countertenor, represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013).[14] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval acts featured performances from the show hosts Cornel Ilie with his band Vunk, Ioana Voicu and Ioana Anuța–Jo.[15]
Jury qualifier Public vote qualifier
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Place | Votes | Place | ||||
| 1 | Doru Todoruț feat. Irina Baianț | "The Voice" | 32 | 5 | 852 | 2 | Advanced |
| 2 | Andra Olteanu | "Nai nai" | 5 | 11 | 111 | 8 | Eliminated |
| 3 | Dream Walkers | "Let It Shine" | 47 | 2 | — | — | Advanced |
| 4 | Irina Popa | "Letting Go" | 12 | 8 | 196 | 7 | Eliminated |
| 5 | Jukebox | "Come On Everybody" | 27 | 6 | 333 | 5 | Eliminated |
| 6 | Mihai Băjinaru | "Never Too Late" | 0 | 12 | 337 | 4 | Eliminated |
| 7 | Vanotek feat. The Code and Georgian | "I'm Coming Home" | 18 | 7 | 984 | 1 | Advanced |
| 8 | Mihai | "Paradisio" | 33 | 4 | — | — | Advanced |
| 9 | Florena | "Behind the Shadows" | 44 | 3 | — | — | Advanced |
| 10 | Gașca de acasă | "Tu ești povestea" | 10 | 9 | 237 | 6 | Eliminated |
| 11 | Ovidiu Anton | "Moment of Silence" | 54 | 1 | — | — | Advanced |
| 12 | Xandra | "Superhuman" | 8 | 10 | 563 | 3 | Eliminated |
| Draw | Song | Randi | C. Ouatu | A. Cepraga | Z. Toth | H. Moculescu | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Voice" | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 32 |
| 2 | "Nai nai" | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |
| 3 | "Let It Shine" | 10 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 47 |
| 4 | "Letting Go" | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 12 | |
| 5 | "Come On Everybody" | 6 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 27 |
| 6 | "Never Too Late" | 0 | |||||
| 7 | "I'm Coming Home" | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 18 |
| 8 | "Paradisio" | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 33 |
| 9 | "Behind the Shadows" | 12 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 44 |
| 10 | "Tu ești povestea" | 5 | 3 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 11 | "Moment of Silence" | 8 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 54 |
| 12 | "Superhuman" | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
Final
The final took place on 6 March 2016. Six songs competed and the winner, "Moment of Silence" performed by Ovidiu Anton, was selected exclusively by public televoting.[16] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval acts featured performances by 2010 and 2014 Romanian Eurovision entrant Paula Seling, 2016 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Lidia Isac performing her Eurovision song "Falling Stars", as well as performances by the members of the jury panel from the semi-final; among their performances, Zoli TOTH Project presented a performance titled "Cocoon", Horia Moculescu, Randi and Uddi performed the song "Vagabondul vieții mele" and Cezar Ouatu performed the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 winning song "Rise Like a Phoenix".[7][15]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florena | "Behind the Shadows" | 3,491 | 3 |
| 2 | Doru Todoruț feat. Irina Baianț | "The Voice" | 1,235 | 6 |
| 3 | Dream Walkers | "Let It Shine" | 2,332 | 4 |
| 4 | Vanotek feat. The Code and Georgian | "I'm Coming Home" | 4,702 | 2 |
| 5 | Ovidiu Anton | "Moment of Silence" | 6,585 | 1 |
| 6 | Mihai | "Paradisio" | 2,142 | 5 |
Promotion
Ovidiu Anton made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Moment of Silence" as the Romanian Eurovision entry. On 9 April, Ovidiu Anton performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Hera Björk.[17] Between 11 and 13 April, Ovidiu Anton took part in promotional activities in Tel Aviv, Israel and performed during the Israel Calling event held at the Ha'teatron venue.[18] On 17 April, Ovidiu Anton performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell.[19]
TVR disqualification from EBU services
On 22 April 2016, the EBU announced that the Romanian national broadcaster TVR was withdrawn from all EBU member services following the repeated non-payment of debts. The withdrawal disqualified TVR from broadcasting the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 and therefore made the selected Romanian entry ineligible to compete. TVR had a deadline until 20 April to pay their debts totaling CHF 16 million to the EBU to avoid disqualification. EBU General Director Ingrid Deltenre stated: "It is regrettable that we are forced to take this action. We are disappointed that all our attempts to resolve this matter have received no response from the Romanian government. In recent weeks the EBU has taken note of the Ministry of Finance’s suggestion that TVR may be placed into insolvency proceedings which may in turn lead to a profound restructuring of the broadcaster. The EBU is a not-for-profit association which represents 73 Public Service Broadcasters in 56 countries. The continued indebtedness of TVR jeopardizes the financial stability of the EBU itself."[20]
Romania, originally set to perform in position 12 in the second semi-final of the contest on 12 May 2016, was removed from the running order for the competition. The EBU confirmed that the Romanian entry, already released on the official compilation album for the contest, would continue to be made available for digital download and streaming as a courtesy to the artist and that all accredited press from Romania would retain their accreditation under the International Delegation of press and fans from non-participating countries.[20] The Executive Supervisor for the Eurovision Song Contest, Jon Ola Sand, commented: "This is of course disappointing for the artist chosen to represent Romania, for our colleagues at TVR who have prepared their participation so well this year and, not least, for Romanian viewers and the many Eurovision fans in the country. As with all participants, SVT has been preparing for Romania's act thoroughly over the past weeks. To take an act out at such late stage is of course a little disruptive, but it will not negatively affect the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in any other way."[20]
References
- ^ "Romania Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
- TVR. 7 September 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
- ^ TVR. 15 January 2016. Archived from the originalon 19 January 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
- ^ Leon, Jakov I. (2 February 2016). "Romanian 'Selecția Națională' this year live from Baia Mare". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
- ^ Cerban, Madalina (15 February 2016). "Eurovision 2016: Cântărețul Cornel Ilie și Ioana Voicu, fiica lui Mădălin Voicu, vor prezenta semifinala și finala națională". mediafax.ro (in Romanian). Mediafax. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
- ^ TVR. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
- ^ TVR. 5 March 2016. Archived from the originalon 6 July 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- ^ "Watch tonight: The final of Romanian Selecţia Naţionala". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 6 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- TVR. 15 January 2015. Archived from the original(PDF) on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
- TVR. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
- TVR. 17 February 2016. Archived from the originalon 2 March 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
- TVR. 11 February 2016. Archived from the originalon 2 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
- ^ a b Juhász, Ervin (4 March 2016). "Meet the six finalists of Selectia Nationala in Romania!". escbubble.com. ESC Bubble. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ^ "Cine sunt membrii juriului de la Eurovision 2016". libertatea.ro (in Romanian). Libertatea. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
- ^ TVR. 26 February 2016. Archived from the originalon 6 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
- ^ Leon, Jakov I. (6 March 2016). "Ovidiu Anton wins Selecţia Naţionala in Romania!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (10 April 2016). "Highlights of the 8th Eurovision In Concert". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (14 April 2016). "First ever preview party held in Israel". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
- ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (18 April 2016). "Review of the London Eurovision Party". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
- ^ a b c "TVR (Romania) no longer entitled to take part in Eurovision 2016". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 22 April 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.