Eurovision 2008 - Romania

Pe-o margine de lume
Nico & Vlad Mirita

Music: Andrei Tudor
Lyrics: Andreea Andrei, Adina Şuteu

History (1956 to 2007):

Romania's previous appearances: 9 year(s) out of 52
Years participated: 1994; 1998; 2000; 2002-
Best result: 3rd (2005)

Romania made a rather inconspicuous start to its Eurovision career, finishing in 21st place in 1994. After that, the country appeared to give up on the contest, not returning until 1998, though that was partly due to its intended 1996 entry - 'Ruga pentru pacea lumii' by Monica Anghel and Sincron - failing to make it through that year's qualifying round. The Romanians might as well not have bothered to come back, their 1998 effort - Malina Olinescu's 'Eu cred' - scraping a meagre 6 points and 22nd place, despite being popular among Eurovision fans. Reappearing in 2000 for a third attempt, Taxi's gentle song 'The Moon' managed a slightly more impressive 17th, though it was not enough to prevent Romania missing out on the 2001 contest due to relegation.

Since 2002, however, Romania has slowly established itself in people's minds as a country that WILL win Eurovision one day in the near future. Romania's 2002 entry was what many thought was the worst song of the contest, the Disney-esque ballad 'Tell me why'. Despite being tipped as a likely candidate for 'nul points', Monica Anghel - finally getting her chance after the abortive 1996 effort - and Marcel Pavel gave one of the evening's most professional and powerful performances; in a notable north-south divide, the song was shunned in the voting by the UK, Scandinavia and the Baltic States, but picked up enough support from the Mediterranean countries (and Russia) to finish in 9th place with a healthy 71 points. 2003 represented the first time that Romania had appeared in two consecutive contests, this time with the unusual 'Don't break my heart', performed by Nicola. If the song was slightly strange, the stage performance - featuring giant compact discs and bright colours reminiscent of Teletubbyland - was even stranger. However, it evidently stuck in televoters' minds, as the song finished in 10th place, probably higher than it deserved.

As a result, the Romanians found themselves in the happy position of qualifying directly for the 2004 final. However, after two impressive results Romania's record had to slip sometime, Sanda Ladosi finishing a disappointing 18th with 18 points, and ensuring that Romania would have to take part in the Semi Final in 2005. Sanda's song, 'I admit', deserved better, but the performance was poor, and the singer looked like she had forgotten to finish dressing before going on stage. Still, the Spanish obviously approved, awarding Sanda's cleavage a perky 10 points.

Romania's national finals always seem to feature some very contemporary songs, and 2005 was no exception, with its winning entry - 'Let me try', by Luminita Anghel and Sistem - featuring a powerful vocal and oil drum-wielding percussionists over a thumping techno beat. With a spectacular stage performance, including the creative use of angle grinders, it proved a recipe for great success. Romania won the Semi Final by some margin (235 points, including the maximum 'douze points' from six countries), before going on to finish 3rd in the Final, easily the Romanians' best ever result at Eurovision. Qualified for the Final in 2006, many people believed that Mihai Traistariu was in with a chance of winning the whole thing, his uptempo 'Tornerò' topping many of the fan polls. Though falling short of victory, Mihai gave a vocal performance to be proud of, his deserved 4th place with 172 points ensuring that Romania was once again in the Final in 2007.

In 2007 Romania was represented by Todomondo with the catchy 'Liubi, liubi, I love you' - a world away from the contemporary pop-dance tracks that Romania has tended to favour in recent years.


This year's entry:






My opinion & prediction:

Well, If you want Eurovision scandal, you can watch ,,Selectia Nationala” from Romania. After last years disqualifiquasions & retirements, this year was the same. It started with the disqualification of Paradise and de retirements of 3 Sud Est and Maya. After the Semifinals, another retirements: Catalin, VH2, New Effect & Gentiana, Nico and Adrian Enache. Overall the Contest was won by Nico & Vlad Mirita singing a beautiful ballad called ,,Pe-o margine de lume” (On the edge of the world), they won by 3 points ahead of Biondo . The lyrics are in Romanian & Italian, and the vocals are strong, much better than last year. I voted in the final for ,,Seven days”, but when I saw they had no chance, I sent another vote for ,,Pe-o margine de lume”. This song is great, it reminds me of the 2002 Romanian entry ,,Tell me why” (the composer of ,,Pe-o margine de lume” is the son of the composer of ,,Tell me why”). After the song won the accuses of plagiarism appeared but nothing was proved.

My prediction for the Semi Final: 3th to 5th
My prediction for the Final: Definite qualifier; 2th to 4th, possible winner