Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2009) |
Eurovision Song Contest 2008 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Country | Romania | |||
National selection | ||||
Selection process | Selectia Nationala | |||
Selection date(s) | Semi-finals 9 February 2008 16 February 2008 Final 23 February 2008 | |||
Selected artist(s) | Nico & Vlad Miriţă | |||
Selected song | "Pe-o margine de lume" | |||
Finals performance | ||||
Semi-final result | Qualified (7th, 94 points) | |||
Final result | 20th, 45 points | |||
Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
|
Romania selected its Eurovision Song Contest 2008 through Selecţia Naţională, a national final consisting of two-semifinals and a final. The eventual winners were Nico and Vlad Miriţă with the dual-language Romanian/Italian "Pe-o margine de lume". Romania took part in the first semi-final on 20 May 2008, and qualified to compete in the final. The duet has begun their European promotional tour starting with the Greek national selection on February 27, 2008.
National final
The Romanian National Final Selecţia Naţională 2008 was held on February 23, 2008. Artists were able to start submitting songs in December. A professional jury had to select 24 songs out of 282 to compete in the national final. Four reserve songs were also chosen in case of any disqualifications or withdrawals before the first semifinal.[1]
Maya from Slovenia was among one of the artists chosen to compete in the national final, but withdrew her song because it had been accepted in the Irish national selection. Maya & the composer of the song, Ziga Pirnat, thought that they would have a better chance in the Irish National Final because they would only have to compete against five other songs, as opposed to 23 in Romania.[1]
The band 3rei Sud Est had also announced their participation with the song Vorbe care dor but withdrew long before the semifinals.
Following the second semifinal, on the 19th of February, Catalin Josan decided to withdraw "When We're Together" from the contest so as to increase his chances for a better result (so fan votes would not be split between the two songs). Having the next best score, RailRoad, RailRoad by Rednex feat. Ro-mania entered the contest.
VH2 also withdrew their song, "Follow Me" because of a possible plagiarism claim. TVR received an email from a source wishing to remain anonymous, pointing out that the song was very similar to a 10-year-old song. Even though the band denied all accusations of plagiarism, they admitted that the two songs are very similar. Tied for the next finalist alongside New Effect feat. Gentiana, Nico decided to withdraw her solo song (Fight for Life) and only play the duet with Vlad Mirita. However, since New Effect, as well as Adrian Enache (who had the next closest score) announced they would be unavailable for the evening of the final, Yana with their song Ce'est la vie became that last lucky finalists.
In order to give all of the songs an equal change, a new jury was selected for the national final because the first jury would most likely have voted the same way as they had in the semifinals.[2]
Semifinals
Before the final there were be two Semi-Finals: on February 9 and February 16, 2008. A total of twelve songs participated in each Semi-Final and the top 6 from each qualified for the National Final. The voting was a mix of Televoting (50%) and a professional jury (50%). The National Final was held on Saturday, February 23, 2008.[3]
Semifinal 1
The 1st semifinal took place on the 9th of February and aired on TVR 1 & TVRi from 20:15 to 22:00
№ | Singer | Song | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Nico & Vlad Mirita | Pe-o margine de lume | 284 |
2 | Inesa | La storia della pioggia | 89 |
3 | Adrian Enache | Te Iubesc | 114 |
4 | LaGaylia Frazier | Dr. Frankenstein | 174 |
5 | New Effect feat. Gentiana | Zamira | 119 |
6 | Tabasco | Love Is All I Need | 170 |
7 | Cătălin | When We're Together | 217 |
8 | Daniela Nicol | Why | 112 |
9 | Yanna | C'est la Vie | 113 |
10 | Leo Iorga & Pacifica | Prea mici sunt cuvintele | 206 |
11 | Ana Mardare & Irvin Doomes | Heaven | 87 |
12 | Simona Nae | The Key of Life | 229 |
- Song #7 was withdrawn from the competition
- Songs #5, respectively #3 would have qualified, but singers were unavailable for the evening of the final
- Song #9 qualified to the NF because of the withdrawal of several songs
Semifinal 2
The second semifinal took place on the 16th of February. It aired on TVR 1 & TVRi from 20:15
№ | Singer | Song | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Monique | Vânt de vară | 45 |
2 | Lucia Dumitrescu | Dragostea Mea | 99 |
3 | Nico | Fight For Life | 119 |
4 | Nicola | Fairytale Story | 206 |
5 | Zero | Come This Way | 189 |
6 | Rednex feat. Ro-mania | Railroad, Railroad | 158 |
7 | VH2 | Follow Me | 186 |
8 | V!per | Mas Conmigo | 63 |
9 | Cătălin Josan | Run Away | 206 |
10 | Imba | Yeke, Yeke | 95 |
11 | Biondo | Shine | 278 |
12 | Paula Seling & Provincialii | Seven Days | 228 |
- Song #7 was withdrawn
- Song #6 qualified for the NF because of the withdrawal of song #7
- Song #3 could have qualified for the NF, but was also withdrawn
Final
The final took place on Saturday, February 23, 2008. Six songs from the first semifinal and six songs from the second semifinal had competed in order to decide which song will be sent to the Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade.
№ | Singer | Song | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Leo Iorga & Pacifica | Prea mici sunt cuvintele | 164 |
2 | Zero | Come This Way | 181 |
3 | Paula Seling & Provincialii | Seven Days | 208 |
4 | Nicola | Fairytale Story | 162 |
5 | Tabasco | Love Is All I Need | 126 |
6 | Rednex feat. Ro-mania | Railroad, Railroad | 96 |
7 | LaGaylia Frazier | Dr. Frankenstein | 93 |
8 | Biondo | Shine | 264 |
9 | Cătălin Josan | Run Away | 197 |
10 | Simona Nae | The Key of Life | 73 |
11 | Yanna | C'est la Vie | 37 |
12 | Nico & Vlad Mirita | Pe-o margine de lume | 271 |
At Eurovision
Romania qualified from Semi Final 1 to the Final. In the final they performed in 1st position, before United Kingdom where they picked up 45 points.
Points Awarded by Romania[4]
Semi final
|
Final
|
12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
---|---|---|---|---|
5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
---|---|---|---|---|
5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |