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Playing with Fire (Paula Seling and Ovi song)

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"Playing with Fire"
Song

"Playing with Fire" is a song by Romanian singer-songwriter Paula Seling and Romanian-born Norwegian singer-songwriter Ovidiu Cernăuţeanu as Ovi. The song was written by Ovidiu Cernăuţeanu under his writing-name Ovi Jacobsen and it was produced by himself and Norwegian producer Simen Eriksrud. Additional mixing was provided by Seling. The duo performed the song as the Romanian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 after winning the Selectia Nationala 2010 on March 6, 2010 at the Globus Circus, Bucharest. The song was selected from 16 participating songs at the Selecţia Naţională 2010. It gained the maximum number of points from both the juries and the televotes.[1] This is only the third time both judges and voters have a common sense in Eurovision in Romania and the last time since 2006.[2] The song passed the semi-final and qualified for the great final. They finished on the third place (second runner-up song) on May 27, 2010. Following Ovi and Seling's performance during the Eurovision final the song entered some major European charts, including the VG-lista or the UK Singles Chart. An accompanying music video was shot for the video in April, 2010 in Romania and in Vienna, Austria. It premiered in time for Easter and it managed to gather over 5 million views on YouTube as of 2012.

Background

In early September, 2009 Paula Seling was member of the jury at the Golden Stag festival. There she met Ovi (by then a contestant) and congratulated him for winning the People's Choice Award. Ovi wrote "Playing with Fire" in late 2009. In November, 2009 he asked Paula Seling (Golden Stag winner in 2002) to sing the song along with him. They recorded the song from November 21 to early December, 2009 and submitted the song as their entry in the 2010 Internal Selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. In January it was announced that "Playing With Fire" passed the pre-selection and qualified to the National Final. On March 6, 2010 the duo was present to perform their entry. Seling was also in the competition with another song, a collaboration with Kamara Ghedi. "Playing With Fire" received most of the votes both from the juries and the audience, being the first time this is happening since 2006 when Mihai Traistariu won the selection with Tornero. It was chosen to represent Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 held at the Telenor Arena next to Oslo, Norway.

Shortly after "Playing with Fire" won Selecţia Naţională 2010 there were reports that the song was registered in Norway as being co-written by a Norwegian composer, Simen Eriksrud, which would have broken TVR regulations as participants and songwriters must all be Romanian. This was followed by calls for the song to be disqualified and a new national final held to select another song. Eriksrud, also Ovi's producer, confirmed that Ovi was the only songwriter, with Eriksrud and Ovi only sharing publishing rights as his producer.[3]

Marina Almasan, the Romanian Head of Delegation, confirmed on 11 March that Ovi was the only writer of the song, after consulting with TONO, the Norwegian copyright association, Ovi's record label, and the Romanian Copyright Office.[4]

Eurovision Song Contest 2010

"Playing With Fire" was chosen to represent Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. It passed through the second semi-final on May 27, 2010. Seling and Ovi performed "Playing With Fire" as the nineteenth song in the final of May 29, 2010 after "Allez Ola Olé" by Jessy Matador (France) and before "Lost and Forgotten" by Peter Nalitch and Friends (Russia). The song was acclaimed live and received twelve points from Moldova, as well as ten points from Spain, Norway, Portugal and Sweden. It only got nul points from eight countries. The song finished as the second runner-up, third placed with a total of 162 points, only behind "Satellite" and "We Could Be the Same" (Germany respective Turkey).

Reception

Paula Seling performing at Eurovision Song Contest 2010.

The song received mostly favourable reviews. The music critics noticed that "Playing with Fire" was the favourite songs for both the juries and the televoters, saying that it would be the best Romanian entry since Tornerò. The day after the National Final, an article appeared in Bravo magazine, in which some Romanian music critics talked about Ovi's song and their performance. Dalma, another contestant on the National Final started a campaign against Seling and Ovi's winning. She, along with other participants, said that they tried to vote but they weren't able to, so it must have been a boycott against the other artists. So far, Seling and Ovi haven't commented about the incident. In the "OK!" magazine's first Romanian issue, Monica Anghel compared "Playing with Fire" with ones of the most known Eurovision winning songs. The song was lyrically compared to Kesha's "Tik Tok" for the "Don't stop/Make it pop" lines while musically it was compared to the work of Sandra with Seling's high notes being compared with some that Mariah Carey would perform.

"Playing with Fire" first entered the Romanian Radio Airplay Chart in late March 2010, where it managed to enter the top forty. In the official Romanian Top 100 it debuted at number sixty-nine and it has since moved only one position higher to its peak at number sixty-eight in late May. Prior to Eurovision, the song entered the Norvegian Airplay Chart, peaking at number-eighteen there. After the duo's performance at Eurovision the song re-entered the Romanian Top 100 and debuted at number twenty-eight on the Finnish Download Chart where it lasted for five weeks on the top forty. In Sweden the song entered the Sverigetopplistan at number thirty before moving a position higher to its peak of number twenty-nine. It has then left the chart. It was also present for a week during the Swiss Singles Chart at number fifty-one. In the UK Singles Chart it debuted at number two-hundred the week after Eurovision, selling over 1,500 downloadable units. It has then exited the chart, with 1,200 sales less. "Playing with Fire"'s highest position was at number-twelve Norwegian VG-lista. The next week it dropped out of the chart. The song also entered the European Digital Chart at number sixty-six.

Music videos

Promotional music video

In order to promote the finalist songs, TVR filmed in the week-ending 5–7 February 2010 promotional music videos to all the entries. The videos showed the idea of the participants' choreography for the final. In their video, Seling and Ovi are playing two pianos, similar to the ones in the final performance.[5][6]

File:Playing with fire video.JPG
Paula Seling and Ovi in the music video.

Official music video

Another music video, the official one was confirmed on 6 March 2010, during the press conference. The video was filmed from 19 to 23 March 2010. The first part of the video was shot in Sibiu and Alba Iulia, two Romanian cities from Transylvania while the second part was shot between 21 and 23 March, in Wien, Austria.[7] The director of the video is Edy Schneider, who directed some of Paula Seling's previous music videos, such as "Believe". Half of the video was filmed in 3D and soon it will be converted into a video game-like format.[8] On 19 March, Schneider stated they are "Late, but it will be an outstanding video with many special effects and we are going to use in premiere for Romania some new technologies[...] Also, we'll have some surprises in the video[...] We're sorry of being that late, but, to be perfect, we have to cut off all the possible boring scenes and make sure that the edit is perfect., while interviewed by Adevarul newspaper.[7] The music video is scheduled to premiere on Paula Seling's official web site in the week before Easter and it's expected to premiere on MTV on Monday, 12 April 2010 on MTV Fresh.[9] They announced that once with the releasing of the CD single in late April, the deluxe edition will feature a pair of 3D glasses, in order to watch the video in 3D. Paula Seling praised the video to the Moldovan entry, mentioning that the Romanian video will be finished just before the Easter, whilst there video is already finished.[10] On 3 April, a few film stills appeared on TVR.ro/eurovision and on the same date a making of and a sneak peek to the music video have been shown on Ne Vedem la TVR!. The video premiered online on Eurovision.tv on 6 April 2010 and it is yet to premiere on the TV channels.

When invited on Ne Vedem la TVR! in early March, Paula Seling and Ovi said that they (both of them and their crew) have an outstanding idea for the music video. Since then, they never talked about the concept of the video before 18 March 2010, keeping the idea of the video covered in mystery. On 18 March, when they were interviewed by a reporter from ESCToday.com they said the video involves many special effects and it will be shot the next week (19–23 March 2010).[8] The concept of the music video is a musical fight from two lovers from the future,[7] being shown as a computer–video game battle.

Live performance

The song was performed for the very first time on "Ne vedem la TVR!", a TVR show produced by Malina Almăsan, who directed the final, but the performance wasn't sung live, but lip synced. Seling and Ovi performed "Playing With Fire" at SuperBingo Metropolis, an Antena 1 TV show.[11] On Antena 1 Paula Seling and Ovi have also sung "Playing With Fire" on Access Direct, a chat show, when Seling also sung a cover of "Simply the Best", of Tina Turner. "Playing with Fire" was the third song on the National Final, after "Save Their Lives" by Luminiţa Anghel&company and it was followed by "I'm Running", Dalma's entry. Ovi was playing a white piano in front of Seling, who was playing a piano two. This part of the performance was similar to Lady Gaga and Elton John's medley at the 2010 Grammy Awards. On the background there were shown pictures of flames and fires breaking out. As of the second bridge they were standing in line, smiling to each other. When the song was over they were holding on. The song is set to be performed on several Romanian TV shows and on the Greek final. "Playing with Fire" will be performed in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest on 27 May 2010.[12][13] The running order was announced on 22 March.[12][13] when it was revealed that "Playing With Fire" will be performed as the 10th entry of that night.

The song was most recently sung live on "Ne Vedem La TVR!", on 13 March when they also performed a cover of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". They performed live "Playing With Fire" at the Radio Romania Actualitati Music Awards in March, after Seling has won two awards[14]

After their performance in Belgium, they spent over two hours to give autographs to their fans. In May, Seling and Ovi were present on the Beyaz Show in Turkey, recording one of the biggest ratings in the last years, with over six million viewers, as they were performing "Playing With Fire".

Promo tour

Before the National Selection, Paula Seling and Ovi were invited on "Ne Vedem la TVR!", a show produced by Marina Almăşan, on 6 February 2010, in order to promote their song, as the rest of the contestants. Seling was also invited on Observator, a news forecast on Antena 1 and on În Puii Mei!, a satire show on the same channel. With three days before the final, she and Ovi sung live "Playing With Fire" on Pro TV's "Happy Hour", after being interviewed by Cătălin Măruţă about their entry. Paula Seling stated, when she was invited at "Tema Zilei", a TVR talk show, that she and Ovi will start the "Playing with Fire Tour" in March, in order to promote their entry in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest. She said that "We really wanna promote "Playing with Fire" among the whole Europe.(..) We'll sing our song in the Greek National Final, in Norway (laughing), in Moldova and other countries." At the same date they confirmed that they want to make a "real show", not only a promotional mini-concert, as the former Romanian representers did. They had also said that "We wanna go there, and play our own instrument, with samples from our final show and it ill be 100% live (the performance); Besides, we won't perform just "Playing with Fire", but some new songs we had record, in order to promote both the Eurovision entry and our future collaboration album.". A Romanian promo tour called "Paula Seling to Oslo" had taken place all through Romania from February to 3 March 2010, in order to promote their entry in the National Selection. In that tour Kamara Ghedi, who sung another entry at the National Final with Paula, titled "It's Not Too Late", was a guest artist on some dates.

Track listing

  • CD single (Norway & Romania)[15]
  1. Playing with Fire - 3:00
  2. Playing with Fire (Official Remix) - 4:51
  3. Playing with Fire (Karaoke/Instrumental) - 3:00
  • Digital download single[16]
  1. Playing with Fire - 3:00

Charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Finland (Suomen virallinen latauslista) 28
Norway (VG-lista)[17] 12
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 29
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 51
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[20] 200

Credits and personnel

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Romania[22] 15 February 2010 Airplay Roton, Unicorn
Europe[23] 22 March 2010 Digital download A&A
Norway April 2010 CD single

References

  1. ^ Schacht, Andreas (6 March 2010). "Romania sets its hopes on Paula & Ovi". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
  2. ^ Klier, Marcus (6 March 2010). "Romania sends Paula Seling & Ovi to the Eurovision Song Contest". ESCToday. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
  3. ^ Aris kalimeris (10 March 2010). "Romania: Media claim winning song is in breach of rules". ESCToday. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  4. ^ Aris kalimeris (11 March 2010). "Romania: Ovi is the only author of the song". ESCToday. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  5. ^ Kalimeris, Aris (9 December 2009). "Romania: New selection method for Eurovision 2010". ESCToday. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  6. ^ M. Escudero, Victor (9 December 2009). "TVR: Romania is looking for best song and voice". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  7. ^ a b c A. ALexandrescu, Stefan (19 March 2010). "Edy Schneider about the Playing with Fire music video". Adevarul.ro. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  8. ^ a b A. ALexandrescu, Stefan (21 March 2010). "Playing with fire...in 3D!". Ziare-Online. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  9. ^ "MTV Romania. Stiri, Videoclipuri, Emisiuni, VJ, Competitii". Mtv.ro. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  10. ^ media ţinută sub controlRADAR DE MEDIA (30 March 2010). "Paula Seling şi Ovi au promovat piesa "Playing with fire" in Republica Moldova | RADAR DE MEDIA". Radardemedia.ro. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  11. ^ Stefan, Angel (28 February 2010). "Playing With Fire at Super Bingo Metropolis". Antena 1. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  12. ^ a b Bakkar, Sieste (7 February 2009). "Results of the Semi-Final Allocation Draw". EBU. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  13. ^ a b Klier, Marcus (7 February 2009). "Semi final allocation for Oslo determined". ESCToday. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  14. ^ "Nominalizari premiile Radio Romania Actualitati". Monden Info. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  15. ^ "Joacă-te cu piesa "Playing With Fire" (AUDIO)". Adevarul.ro. 15 February 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  16. ^ "Playing with Fire- Official eurovision download", Argino, esctoday, retrieved 3 April 2010
  17. ^ "Topp 20 Single uke 23, 2010 – VG-lista. Offisielle hitlister fra og med 1958" (in Norwegian). VG-lista.
  18. ^ "Swedish ''Sverigetopplistan'' Singles Chart". Sverigetopplistan.se. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  19. ^ Steffen Hung. "Swiss Singles Chart". Swisscharts.com. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  20. ^ "UK Singles Chart". Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  21. ^ Stefan, Angel (6 February 2010). "TVR: The songs, the songwriters and the performers". TVR. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  22. ^ "Paula Seling .ro". Paula Seling .ro. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  23. ^ "Playing With Fire lyrics Romania Eurovision 2010 Paula Seling & Ovi Mar". Esceurovision.com. Retrieved 24 August 2010.

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