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Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

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Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Country Romania
National selection
Selection processArtist: Internal selection
Song: Selecția Națională 2020
Selection date(s)Artist: 11 February 2020
Song: 1 March 2020
Selected artist(s)Roxen
Selected song"Alcohol You"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Final resultContest cancelled
Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2019 • 2020 • 2021►

Romania was scheduled to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, Netherlands before its cancellation due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries. Romania's artist, Roxen, was internally selected and announced on 11 February 2020. Their competing entry, "Alcohol You", was chosen during the national selection competition Selecția Națională 2020 on 1 March. Prior to the 2020 contest, Romania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 20 times since its first entry in 1994. Its highest placing had been third place, which the nation achieved in 2005 and 2010. In 2019, they failed to qualify for the contest's final for the second consecutive year. Prior to the scheduled Eurovision Song Contest 2020, "Alcohol You" was promoted by a lyric video, while Roxen appeared on several native talk shows and radio stations.

Background

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Main article: Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2020 contest, Romania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 20 times since its first entry in 1994. Its highest placing in the contest, to this point, had been third place, which the nation achieved on two occasions: in 2005 with the song "Let Me Try" performed by Luminița Anghel and Sistem, and in 2010 with "Playing with Fire" by Paula Seling and Ovi. In 2019, Romania failed to qualify to the final, placing 13th in the second semi-final with Ester Peony's "On a Sunday". This marked the second consecutive time that the nation failed to qualify to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, after 2018.[1] In September 2019, Televiziunea Română (TVR) confirmed Romania's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020.[2] As of December 2019, the broadcaster was discussing the method to select a representing entry,[3] which evolved as the subject of online controversy since precise information surrounding Romania's Eurovision participation had been given that time in preceding years. In addition, the mayors of Baia Mare and Buzău claimed the cities were potential hosts of a national final that was yet to be confirmed by TVR.[4]

Before Eurovision

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Artist selection

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Logo for Romania's 2020 Eurovision Song Contest participation, with the slogan "E altceva" (Romanian: "It's something different").

On 31 January 2020, TVR confirmed their collaboration with native label Global Records for the selection of a Eurovision entry, citing their recent relevancy and success within Romania's music industry as reasons for the decision. Furthermore, it was announced that Liana Stanciu would return as the country's head of delegation.[5] While Global Records was not remunerated, the project had cost TVR a reported €69,000.[6] A jury panel—consisting of Luminița Anghel, Liviu Elekes, Dan Manoliu, Crina Mardare, Bogdan Păun, Lucian Ștefan and Andrei Tudor[7]—was hired to select Romania's representing artist out of the label's roster.[8][9] Having brought together several composers such as David Ciente,[10] a songwriting camp was organised in January 2020, with the five best-written songs being selected by music experts to proceed to Selecția Națională 2020.[8][9] The segment Destinația Eurovision was aired by TVR, documenting the internal artist selection and songwriting camp.[9]

In an online interview two days after TVR's announcement, Global Records's manager Ștefan announced that a male and two female artists had been shortlisted to represent Romania at Eurovision;[11] they were later reported to be Cezar Gună, Diana V and Roxen.[12][13] The latter was revealed as Romania's representative on 11 February, and the competing songs were released on 21 February.[12][14] Roxen had risen to prominence in the country upon being featured on producer Sickotoy's "You Don't Love Me" in 2019, which reached number three on the Airplay 100 chart and was playlisted in several other territories.[15][16]

Selecția Națională 2020

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Sala Sporturilor "Romeo Iamandi" in Buzău (pictured in 2010).

Selecția Națională 2020 was the national final format organised by TVR in order to select Romania's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The competition consisted of five songs—"Alcohol You", "Beautiful Disaster", "Cherry Red", "Colors" and "Storm"—out of which the winner was determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and a public televote (the latter would decide the winning song in case of a tie).[8][9] The jury—consisting of Luminița Anghel, Crina Mardare, Alin Oprea, Edward Sanda and Andrei Tudor—awarded a set of points from five to zero, which was based on each member's individual set of votes from five to zero. The televoting was rendered down using the same scores.[17]

With an audience of around 200,000 viewers,[18] Selecția Națională was broadcast at 21:00 (EET) and hosted by Elena Gheorghe and Connect-R at Sala Sporturilor "Romeo Iamandi" in Buzău. The hosts also served as interval acts alongside Loreen, Sandro Nicolas, Ulrikke Brandstorp, Dora Gaitanovici and Natalia Gordienco.[7][19][20] Roxen's performances were directed by Bogdan Păun with the assistance of the director of photography Dan Manoliu, and made use of a circular stage and a LED screen sized around 300 square metres (3,200 sq ft).[7][19] CocoRico, Cotnari and Top Line were among the sponsors of the event,[17] while Buzău itself contributed with €200,000 towards it.[21] Writing for Eurovision.de, Irving Wolther lauded Selecția Națională, calling it "so opulent that one might think that a future [Eurovision] winner is actually celebrating here".[22] The full results of the national final were:[23][24]

Selecția Națională 2020 – 1 March 2020
Draw Song Songwriter(s) Jury Televote Total Place
1 "Beautiful Disaster"
0 0 0 5
2 "Cherry Red"
1 2 3 3
3 "Colors"
  • Breyan Isaac
  • Alexandru Cotoi
  • Julie Frost
 2 1 3 4
4 "Alcohol You"
5 5 10 1
5 "Storm"
3 3 6 2

Promotion

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Prior to Selecția Națională, Roxen was promoted as Romania's Eurovision representative on various native talk shows and radio stations, occasionally performing one of the five songs.[25] Lyric videos to all entries were released on YouTube, eventually alongside "alternative" live versions (Crystal Freckles Session).[26] Additionally, Global Records released merchandise related to Roxen.[27] Upon selecting "Alcohol You" as the Romanian entry, Roxen performed it live on Virgin Radio Romania,[28] and appeared on multiple other Romanian radio stations to give interviews.[29]

At Eurovision

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The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was originally scheduled to take place at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands and consist of two semi-finals on 12 and 14 May, and the final on 16 May 2020.[30] According to Eurovision rules, each country, except the host nation and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), would have been required to qualify from one of two semi-finals to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final would have progressed to the final.[31][32][33] In January 2020, it was announced that Romania would be performing in the second half of the first semi-final of the contest.[34] However, on 18 March, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced the event's cancellation due to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China and its spread to other countries.[35] Although TVR had considered sending "Alcohol You" to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021,[36] EBU announced soon after that entries intended for 2020 would not be eligible for the following year.[37] Roxen was nonetheless internally selected for 2021.[38]

Alternative song contests

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Some of the broadcasters scheduled to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 have organised alternative competitions. Austria's ORF aired Der kleine Song Contest in April 2020, which saw every entry being assigned to one of three semi-finals. A jury consisting of ten singers that had represented Austria at Eurovision before was hired to rank each song; the best-placed in each semi-final advanced to the final round.[39] In the first semi-final on 14 April, "Alcohol You" placed seventh in a field of 14 participants, achieving 61 points.[40] The song also unsuccessfully took part in Norddeutscher Rundfunk's Eurovision 2020 – das deutsche Finale and Sveriges Television's Sveriges 12:a on 9 May.[41][42]

References

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  1. ^ "Romania – Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  2. ^ Jiandani, Sergio (16 September 2019). "Romania: TVR confirms participation in Eurovision 2020". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  3. ^ Sturtridge, Isaac (11 December 2019). "Romania still discussing selection process for 2020". ESCXTRA. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  4. ^ Tudose, Mircea (23 January 2020). "A inceput scandalul in cazul Eurovision-ului 2020!" [The scandals surrounding Eurovision 2020 have begun!]. Cancan (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 1 February 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  5. ^ "TVR și Global Records, parteneri pentru Eurovision Song Contest 2020" [TVR and Global Records, partners for the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest] (in Romanian). Romanian Television. 31 January 2020. Archived from the original on 1 February 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  6. ^ Crăițoiu, Andrei (1 February 2020). "Documente interne: TVR îi pune Eurovisionul în brațe unei case de producție private" [Intern documents: TVR collaborates with a private record label for Eurovision]. Libertatea (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  7. ^ a b c "Roxen, faţă-n faţă cu provocările Eurovision 2020" [Roxen, face to face with the challenges of Eurovision 2020]. Adevărul (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  8. ^ a b c Gallagher, Robyn (1 February 2020). "Romania: TVR confirms partnership with Global Records for internal selection of 2020 artist". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 1 February 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d "Romania to combine internal selection and public vote for 2020". European Broadcasting Union. 31 January 2020. Archived from the original on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  10. ^ "Destinaţia Eurovision Song Contest 2020 – ediţia din 3 februarie (@TVR1)". YouTube. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  11. ^ "Totul despre Eurovision, cu fondatorul Global. Propunerea TVR a venit în noiembrie. Toate vocile vor fi de la Global" [Everything about Eurovision, with Global's founder. TVR's proposal was made in November. All singers are signed to Global] (in Romanian). Pagina de Media. 2 February 2020. Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  12. ^ a b Muntean, Marco (4 February 2020). "Romania will reveal the representative on 10th February". ESCBubble. Archived from the original on 4 February 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  13. ^ Muldoon, Padraig (10 February 2020). "Romania: Roxen, Cezar and Diana V are the final three artists in contention for Eurovision 2020". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  14. ^ "Roxen will represent Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020". European Broadcasting Union. 11 February 2020. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  15. ^ Arvunescu, Victor (25 November 2019). "Top Airplay 100 – Fie iarnă, fie vânt, pe "Străzile din București" ne luăm avânt!" [Top Airplay 100 – Be it winter or wind, on the streets of Bucharest we are thriving!] (in Romanian). Un site de muzică. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  16. ^ Scutaru, Cristina (3 February 2020). "Roxen cucerește topurile muzicale!" [Roxen attains success on music charts!] (in Romanian). DC News. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  17. ^ a b "Cum se votează duminică, 1 martie, în Finala Naţională Eurovision 2020" [How to vote in the national final for Eurovision on Sunday, 1 March] (in Romanian). Romanian Television. 28 February 2020. Archived from the original on 29 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  18. ^ Bambu, Raul (2 March 2020). "Câți români s-au uitat la Eurovision într-o seară cu Asia Express? Tot mai puțini" [How many Romanians have watched Eurovision in the same night of Asia Express? Less and less] (in Romanian). Pagina de Media. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  19. ^ a b "Eurovision: finala naţională" [Eurovision: the national final]. Bursa (in Romanian). 26 February 2020. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  20. ^ Luukela, Sami (1 March 2020). "Roxen to sing "Alcohol You" in Rotterdam!". ESCXtra. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  21. ^ Crăițoiu, Andrei (18 March 2020). "Roxen rămâne acasă, după ce ediția din acest a Eurovision a fost anulată" [Roxen stays home after this year's Eurovision has been cancelled]. Libertatea (in Romanian). Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  22. ^ Wolther, Irving (2 March 2020). "Roxen singt "Alcohol You" für Rumänien" [Roxen sings "Alcohol You" for Romania] (in German). Eurovision.de. ARD. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  23. ^ Citations regarding TVR's livestream of the broadcast:
  24. ^ "Eurovision 2020: "Alcohol You", piesa cu care Roxen va reprezenta Romania" [Eurovision 2020: "Alcohol You", the song Roxen will represent Romanian with]. Ziare (in Romanian). 2 March 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  25. ^ Citations regarding Roxen's promotional endeavours:
  26. ^ Christou, Costa (26 February 2020). "Romania: Roxen releases alternative versions of Selecția Națională entries". ESCXtra. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  27. ^ "Tricou Roxen" [Roxen T-Shirt] (in Romanian). Global Records. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  28. ^ "Roxen – Alcohol You | Live @ Virgin Radio Romania". YouTube. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  29. ^ Citations regarding Roxen's appearances on radio stations:
  30. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest Rotterdam 2020". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 6 March 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  31. ^ "Rules – Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 20 June 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  32. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2020 – First Semi-Final". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  33. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2020 – Second Semi-Final". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  34. ^ Groot, Evert (28 January 2020). "Which country performs in which Eurovision 2020 Semi-Final". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  35. ^ "Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam is cancelled". European Broadcasting Union. 18 March 2020. Archived from the original on 18 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  36. ^ Luukela, Sami (18 March 2020). "Roxen and TVR release statements regarding Eurovision". ESCXtra. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  37. ^ "Intention to honour Eurovision 2020 songs and artists". European Broadcasting Union. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  38. ^ "TVR a decis: Roxen va reprezenta Romania la Eurovision Song Contest 2021" [TVR has decided: Roxen will represent Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021] (in Romanian). Romanian Television. 31 March 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  39. ^ "Mr. Song Contest proudly presents – Der kleine Song Contest am 14., 16. und 18. April in ORF 1" (in German). ORF. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  40. ^ "Iceland Wins Der kleine Song Contest Semi-Final One". Eurovoix. 14 April 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  41. ^ Dahlander, Gustav (3 April 2020). "Klart för Eurovision-vecka i SVT" (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  42. ^ "Eurovision 2020 special public broadcasting plans". European Broadcasting Union. 5 May 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
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