Romania – Selecţia Naţională 2018 – Semi-Final One – 21:00 CET
The second semi-final of the largest Romanian selection process to date takes place this evening in Timisoara. Tonight’s show is the second of five semi-finals which will determine the 15 artists taking part in the final.
The hosts of the show tonight are Cezar Ouatu and Diana Dumistrescu, Cezar represented Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013.
Taking part in the first semi-final are:
- Jukebox feat Bella Santiago – Auzi Cum Bate
- Alessandro Dănescu – Breaking Up
- Meriem – End The Battle
- MIHAI – Heaven
- Jessie Baneş – Lightning Strikes
- Romeo Zaharia – Maybe This Time
- Othello – Noi Suntem Pădure
- Miruna Diaconescu – Run For You
- Serena – Safari
- Pragu ‘de Sus – Te Voi Chema
- Endless feat. Maria Grosu – Thinking About You
- RAFAEL & ANDY – We Are One
During the semi-finals a jury will select the fifteen finalists will be selected by a jury of music professionals. On the jury are Marian Ionescu, Ilinca Băcilă, Nicu Patoi, Liliana Ştefan and Viorel Gavrilă. The jury members will vote according to the Eurovision system of points 1-8, 10 and 12.
The show will be opened by Portuguese-born Ricardo Caria, who will perform Salvador Sobral’s winning Eurovision entry Amar Pelos Dois. He will return to the stage at the end of the broadcast with a song dedicated to the city of Lisbon.
The evening promises to bring guest acts by both Neda Ukraden, a best-selling artist in Serbia, as well as Roma music artist Lavinia Raducanu. Before the results are announced, there will be final guest performance by one of the most famous rock bands in Romania, Cargo. The group will give a debut performance of their new single I’m crying along with some of their previous hits.
The acts that have already passed through to the final show are Alexia & Matei with the song Walking On Water, Echoes with Mirror and Eduard Santha with Mesom Romales.
After the show has ended, the winners, jury members and presenters will hold a press conference which will be broadcast on TVR 1, TVR HD, TVR International, TVR Moldova and TVR +.
Watch the show live on TVR from 21:00 CET here.
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.
