The first three qualifiers for the final of Selecţia Naţională 2018, the Romanian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest have been revealed.
The first semi-final of the largest Romanian selection process to date takes place this evening in Focșani. Tonight’s show is the first of five semi-finals which will determine the 15 artists taking part in the final.
The three qualifiers were chosen by a jury of music professionals. On the jury were Marian Ionescu, Ilinca Băcilă, Nicu Patoi, Liliana Ştefan and Viorel Gavrilă. The jury members voted according to the Eurovision system of points 1-8, 10 and 12.
The three qualifiers were:
- Alexia & Matei – Walking On Water (53 points)
- Echoes – Mirror (38 points)
- Eduard Santha – Mesom Romales (35 points)
The entries that failed to qualify were:
- Lina – A Love Worth Falling For
- Johnny Badulescu – Devoted
- Hellen – From Underneath
- Alex Florea – Nobody Told Me It Would Hurt
- Waleska – Renacer
- Liviu Anghel – Rise Up
- CornEL – Take Me Away
- Elena Turcu – The Perfect Fall
Tom Hartis, who was due to take part in tonight’s show, had to withdraw due to illness. It is unknown if the singer will be allowed to take part in another semi-final.
The hosts of the show tonight were Cezar Ouatu and Diana Dumistrescu, Cezar represented Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013.
The final of the selection will be held on February 25 in Bucharest. The winner will represent Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon.
Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest
Romania first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994, the country had tried to participate in 1993 but failed to get through the pre-qualifying round. At the 1994 contest Dan Bittman finished 21st in the final scoring 14 points, Romania didn’t make it through to another final until 1998. Romania’s best results in the contest are two third place finishes. In 2005 Luminita Anghel & Sistem finished 3rd scoring 158 points, while Paula Seling & Ovi finished 3rd in Oslo with the song “Playing with Fire”. Romania missed the 2016 contest due to TVR being removed from the EBU.
