Romania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 23 times since its debut in 1994, and has placed in the top ten six times. Its best results were achieved with "Let Me Try" by Luminița Anghel and Sistem in 2005, and "Playing with Fire" by Paula Seling and Ovi in 2010, who both finished in third place. The Romanian participant broadcaster in the contest is Televiziunea Română (TVR), which select its entrant with Selecția Națională,[a] a song contest organised every year since 1993,[b] except for 2021.
In 1993, the year before its first appearance, Romania attempted to debut in the contest, but came last in the qualifying round. After successfully joining the following year, poor placements followed until 2002, resulting in several relegations. This changed with the introduction of semi-finals to the contest in 2004, after which Romania reached the final 14 times, failing to qualify from the semi-finals in 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2023, the latter finishing with no points.
Televiziunea Română (TVR) is a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 1 January 1993, thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest since then. It has participated in the contest representing Romania since its 39th edition in 1994. Before becoming a member of the EBU, TVR had broadcast the contest several times during the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s.[3][4][5][6]
TVR unsuccessfully attempted to debut in the 1993 contest, selecting "Nu pleca" by Dida Drăgan for the qualifying round Kvalifikacija za Millstreet (English: Preselection for Millstreet); Drăgan came in last place.[7] A non-qualification was also achieved in 1996 when there was a qualifying round for all countries excluding hosts Norway.[8][9] The Eurovision site does not count either year in Romania's list of appearances.[2] The country's first official participation occurred in 1994 with "Dincolo de nori" by Dan Bittman placing 21st in the contest's final. The following years saw similar low placements and non-participations in 1995, 1997, 1999, and 2001.[2]
Romania's first top ten result was achieved in 2002, when "Tell Me Why" by Monica Anghel and Marcel Pavel finished ninth. The country placed within the top 20 every year from 2004 to 2015, claiming third place in 2005 with "Let Me Try" by Luminița Anghel and Sistem. As of 2023,[update] this remains Romania's best result in the contest, alongside "Playing with Fire" by Paula Seling and Ovi in 2010, which also finished third. Since 2010, the country's only other top ten placement was in 2017, when "Yodel It!" by Ilinca and Alex Florea reached seventh place.[2]2019 was TVR's first year to significantly invest in a performance; the costs for the use of graphics and special effects during the show for "On a Sunday" by Ester Peony amounted to 100,000 euros.[10][11] Romania had previously introduced the first-ever use of overlays at Eurovision in 2014.[12]
Romania has participated in the contest 23 times, having qualified for the final 14 times since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, failing to qualify in 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2023.[2] In 2016, the EBU suspended TVR from all its member services due to the repeated non-payment of debts and the threat of insolvency. This in turn disqualified their 2016 entry, "Moment of Silence" by Ovidiu Anton, from participating in the contest.[13][14][15][16] Although TVR had selected "Alcohol You" by Roxen to be performed in 2020,[17] the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[18] Roxen was internally selected for 2021 nonetheless, performing "Amnesia".[19][20] After failing to qualify for the final in four out of its latest five participations, Romania opted not to take part in the 2024 contest.[21]
Since 1993, TVR organises Selecția Națională,[a] a song contest which has been taking place every year except for 2021, to select its entry for Eurovision. The winner of the first edition was chosen by 1100 households in the country.[7] Since then, several voting procedures have been used, often combining televoting with the votes of a jury panel.[24][25][26] The selection of the winner either occurred during one show,[27] or through a varying amount of semi-finals.[25][28] For the first time, a part of Romania's entry was determined internally in 2020. Roxen was selected by TVR out of exclusive partner Global Records's roster, and was appointed five songs for a jury and the public to choose from.[29][30][31][1] The broadcaster and the label also collaborated the following year for the internal selection of Roxen and her entry.[32][33]
Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others.[44]
The participating broadcaster usually appoints a stage director responsible for directing the live performance of the song at the contest, its camerawork for the television broadcast, and the visuals and props used on stage.[63]
Each participating broadcaster assembles a five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals for the semi-finals and final of the Eurovision Song Contest, ranking all entries except their own. The juries' votes constitute 50% of the overall result alongside televoting.[70]
For the show's broadcast on TVR,[2] various commentators and dual commentators have been hired throughout the years, with Leonard Miron notably having done the job on seven occasions.[81] At the contest, after all points are calculated, the presenters of the show call upon each voting broadcaster to invite their respective spokesperson to announce the results of their vote.[82]
In contests where an orchestra was provided, a conductor was required to lead the musicians during each country's performance. Broadcasters were able to provide their own conductors, or could call upon the services of the conductor appointed by the host broadcaster.[122] For 1993's Kvalifikacija za Millstreet pre-selection round, George Natsis conducted the Romanian entry.[123] In 1994 and 1998, Irish host conductor Noel Kelehan and Romanian conductor Adrian Romcescu – also the composer of "Eu cred" – were hired, respectively.[124][125]
^ abPronounced [seˈlektsi.anatsi.oˈnalə], meaning "The National Selection". The contest is sometimes referred to by local media and TVR as Eurovision România.[22][23]
^Only the song was chosen through Selecția Națională in 2020, with the artist having been internally selected.[1]
^A qualifying round was held for new countries looking to make their debut at the 1993 contest. Romania failed to progress from this round; entries which failed to progress have subsequently been discounted by the EBU and do not feature as part of the countries' list of appearances.
^In order to reduce the number of participating countries at the 1996 event a qualifying round was held among all countries except the hosts. Romania failed to progress from this round; entries which failed to progress have subsequently been discounted by the EBU and do not feature as part of the countries' list of appearances.
^ abcAccording to the then-Eurovision rules, the top ten non-Big Four countries from the previous year along with the Big Four automatically qualified for the final without having to compete in semi-finals. For example, if two Big Four countries were placed inside the top ten, the 11th and 12th spots would be advanced to next year's final, along with all countries ranked in the top ten.[43]
^The results of the Romanian jury were not taken into consideration for the contest's second semi-final and final since the EBU detected alleged "irregular voting patterns" in them. As a result, Romania was given a "substitute aggregated result" based on countries with similar voting patterns.[77][78]
^Eda Marcus was supposed to announce Romania's results during the final, however she was replaced by the EBU with the contest's executive supervisor Martin Österdahl due to alleged technical difficulties. Contradictory to the EBU, TVR claimed that no technical difficulties had occurred during the jury voting segment of the final.[120][121]
^Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 369–381. ISBN978-1-84583-065-6.
^Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 352–365. ISBN978-1-84583-093-9.
^Roxburgh, Gordon (2016). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Three: The 1980s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 86–103. ISBN978-1-84583-118-9.
^Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs For Europe - The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Four: The 1990s. UK: Telos Publishing. pp. 65–76. ISBN978-1-84583-163-9.
^Firtat, Simona (23 March 2005). "Ne permitem sa castigam Eurovision-ul?" [Do we afford winning Eurovision?] (in Romanian). BaniiNostri.ro. Archived from the original on 16 June 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2019 – via HotNews.ro.
^Kvalifikacija za Millstreet. Ljubljana, Slovenia. 3 April 1993.
^Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. p. 175. ISBN978-1-84583-163-9.
^Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. p. 336. ISBN978-1-84583-163-9.