We are just a few hours away from the National Final of Romania, at the end of which we will find out who will proudly carry our flag in Malmo, at the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.
I, Andreea, will provide you, once again, with a LIVE coverage from the Green Room, exclusively for Florin's blog. I hope to hear from you as much as possible: your comments and impressions DO matter, especially tonight!
First of all, let's take a moment to remember the former winners of Selectia Nationala, the exotic band Mandinga, who obtained a good 12th place last year in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Curious to find out who will follow in their steps? Keep an eye on this article tonight, starting from 20:00 CET!
The participants of the Romanian National Final, in the order they will perform:
I have just arrived in the Green Room! The atmosphere is still calm, there is no one around except for the press, the bloggers and the TVR team. Stand by for updates!
Less than 20 minutes until the start of the show!!
Due to the fact that Romania has always proved to be among the top countries in the Eurovision Song Contest, it will be interesting to see who will represent it this year. It is also known tonight is the final of the very famous Melodifestivalen, the competition which will select the host state's entrant for Malmo. However, I hope you all agree with me that the Romanian National Selection will be far more interesting, as it is quite obvious who will win in Sweden, as a result of several polls...
Only five minutes to go! The countdown is on! T-5 minutes!
Here we go! The show starts NOW!! Expect a great show tonight, I have a feeling that it's going to be an amazing one!
My mother is in the audience and will provide me with photos from the other side of the stage from time to time!
Less than 20 minutes until the start of the show!!
Due to the fact that Romania has always proved to be among the top countries in the Eurovision Song Contest, it will be interesting to see who will represent it this year. It is also known tonight is the final of the very famous Melodifestivalen, the competition which will select the host state's entrant for Malmo. However, I hope you all agree with me that the Romanian National Selection will be far more interesting, as it is quite obvious who will win in Sweden, as a result of several polls...
Only five minutes to go! The countdown is on! T-5 minutes!
Here we go! The show starts NOW!! Expect a great show tonight, I have a feeling that it's going to be an amazing one!
My mother is in the audience and will provide me with photos from the other side of the stage from time to time!
The hosts are now introducing the rules to the public. The judges will be responsible for 50% of the final votes, while the other 50% will be given by the public.
The public voting rules are presented. For the Romanian readers of Florin's blog, you will be able to vote for your favourite by either phone call or SMS. You can vote up to 11 times from one telephone.
The cameras are now in the Green Room, for the first time tonight! The Green Room has changed its name all over again thanks to the great humour of the hosts.
The show is now ready to start! The first competitor is ready to perform.
ONE: CASA PRESEI are now on the stage, the band that surprisingly walked away with the most votes after the first semi-final. Since then, the public and media have been going on and on about the unexpected victory of this politically biased journalist. This is the only song with lyrics in Romanian and it will be interesting to see whether it will once again get the votes of the people.
TWO: NARCIS IUSTIN IANAU, the 18-year-old countertenor is now up. He is performing "Seven", the song which he has written himself. The vocals are impressive and he seems to have changed his performance a bit by putting on a show, the difference from the semi-final performance being that this time he is accompanied by dancers. This decision came as a result of asking his fans for their opinion.
THREE: FREESTAY are singing "Criminal Mind". They have recently been remarked for their rather bitter comments regarding their opponents, but the performance itself is great. Strong, confident, vocals and catchy rock tune, which might just be the right combination for a good number of votes from both the public and jury.
We are now waiting for the competitors to return from the stage. Robert Turcescu, the lead singer of Casa Presei is using his 30 seconds of speech for convincing the public to vote for him.
Narcis Iustin Ianau says that he is convinced that his song will catch on with the international public.
Freestay are very grateful for the votes they got in the semi-final and would really like to go to Sweden, because they have never been there before.
FOUR: ELENA CARSTEA with the ballad "Spinning". Gets a long round of applause from the public.
Next up: Luminita Anghel, one of the favourites!
FIVE: LUMINITA ANGHEL with "Unique". The same undeniable voice and the same amazing choreography. This time, she changed her outfit. We will see whether this new approach will be more appreciated by the public than her previous purple Cinderella dress.
SIX: OVIDIU ANTON with "Run away with me", very lively song with Irish influences. Another great voice.
SEVEN: CEZAR performing his pop-opera song "It's my life". Many people have recently been showing his support for him, so he might as well be viewed as one of the favourites. Massive change in the stage performance: suit instead of whatever he wore in the semi-final (how can that outfit be called?) and male dancers instead of the undecent ladies he came with last time. Another explosive round of applause from the audience.
Photos on their way:
Narcis Iustin Ianau
Freestay
Robert Turcescu interviewed by several TV channels
EIGHT: CRISTIAN PRAJESCU, performing "The best thing in life". Very sensible ballad, we will see whether he will beneficiate from the public vote as much as he did in the semi-final.
The bloggers are announced that in three minutes we will be live on eurovision.tv! Tune in now!
NINE: ELECTRIC FENCE, singing "Emilia". Sounds great! A really energetic performance! The audience is extremely excited about their entry. Huge crowd of supporters for Emilia on the social networks!
Short break, photos coming up. Three more acts to go later.
WE ARE LIVE ON EUROVISION.TV !
Luminita Anghel back from the stage
Cezar
The artists in the Green Room are unleashing their energy in front of the Eurovision.tv cameras.
You can watch LIVE from eurovision.tv here : http://www.eurovision.tv/esctv/main?program=75443
The favourites of the poll we had here on Florin's blog are now up: TEN: AL MIKE & RENEE SANTANA ft. STATION 4. The boyband we have seen in the first semi-final are now joining Carlos Santana's grand-niece on the stage as backing vocals. A catchy song which has also received the support of some international Eurovision fans.
Back in the Green Room. 2 more contestants left!
ELEVEN: TUDOR TURCU, Romania's latest X Factor winner with the song "Hello". Something interesting going on on the stage: our contestant, owning a degree in arts, is drawing a portrait and singing at the same time. A totally new show in comparison with what we saw in the semi-final.
Several artists in the Green Room are singing along with Tudor Turcu!
TWELVE: ANDREI LEONTE, performing "Paralyzed"! New show on the stage from Romania's first X Factor! Looks better to me, and sounds equally great. Lots of supporters in the audience!
Huge crowd in the Green Room for Al Mike and Renee Santana!
All the acts have been performed! Any favourites for tonight?
The voting lines are OPEN! 30 minutes for the public vote!
A lot of voting here in the Green Room. Time for a recap!
The countertenor Cezar with his pop-opera act is now first in the standings, but the voting goes on! Luminita Anghel is currently third and admits that she is not voting for herself. Surprisingly or not, Casa Presei are once again beneficiating from the public vote.
AND NOOOW... ALYONA LANSKAYA, representing Belarus, is performing "Solayoh" for the first time, after she changed her previous entry, :"Rhythm of love". Lots of flames on the stage and some dancers.
This might prove to be a good edition of the ESC for Belarus.
Another birthday cake, this time for the Green Room host, Teddy!
Meanwhile, the preliminary voting has been displayed. Cezar still in the lead! Recap time.
Electric Fence
Renee Santana
Support for Tudor Turcu
Andrei Leonte
Andreea Banica, one of the four hosts, is now performing a song on the stage.
More photos on their way.
Alyona Lanskaya
Voting lines closed!
PUBLIC VOTING:
12p: CEZAR
10p: CASA PRESEI
8p: LUMINITA ANGHEL
Cezar is thanking him fans for his votes and dedicates his achievement (but it's not over yet!) to his deceased father.
Eurovision.tv are doing a live broadcast in the Green Room. The blogger next to me is being interviewed.
Time for a break to recover from the madness caused by the public voting. We will be back with part three soon, when we will be able to see the jury votes.
Some more points from the public voting:
7p: Electric Fence
6p: Tudor Turcu
5p: Narcis Iustin Ianau
4p: Elena Carstea
3p: Cristian Prajescu
2p: Al Mike ft. Renee Santana & Station 4
1p: Andrei Leonte
We resume with the last part of the show. Paula Seling is on the stage.
Ovi is next.
The crowd goes crazy as Paula and Ovi perform their 2010 entry: "Playing with fire"! Why can't we send them to Eurovision again?
The first member of the jury, mr. Naftanaila, votes like this:
1p: Narcis Iustin Ianau
2p: Andrei Leonte
3p: Crisitan Prajescu
4p: Tudor Turcu
5p: Cezar
6p: Casa Presei
7p: Elena Carstea
8p: Freestay
10p: Renee Santana
12p: Electric Fence
Wait a minute: where is Luminita Anghel? The audience seems a bit shocked.
The second member of the jury, Mihai Ogasanu awards his points in the following way:
1p: Narcis Ianau
2p: Andrei Leonte
3p: Freestay
4p: Tudor Turcu
5p: Ovidiu Anton
6p: Al Mike ft. Renee Santana
7p: Elena Carstea
8p: Cezar
10p: Electric Fence
12p: Luminita Anghel
Back in the Green Room: Luminita Anghel is asked a few questions.
Third member of the jury, Alexandra Cepraga, says that her voting has changed significantly as a result of tonight's performances. She also regrets that the artists she had believed in let her down.
1p: Andrei Leonte
2p: Tudor Turcu
3p: Casa Presei
4p: Ovidiu Anton
5p: Freestay
6p: Renne Santana
7p: Elena Carstea
8p: Cezar
10p: Electric Fence
12p: Luminita Anghel
Fourth member of the jury, Eduard Carcota:
1p: Cristian Prajescu
2p: Ovidiu Anton
3p: Andrei Leonte
4p: Tudor Turcu
5p: Electric Fence
6p: Freestay
7p: Elena Carstea
8p: Al Mike& Renee Santana
10p: Cezar
12p: Luminita Anghel
Luminita Anghel says that she feels overwhelmed.
Jury member Andrei Tudor votes like this. He says that among all the songs, he had four favourites, all oh whom could do well in Malmo.
1p: Andrei Leonte
2p: Tudor Turcu
3p: Ovidiu Anton
4p: Casa Presei
5p: Renee Santana
6p: Freestay
7p: Elena Carstea
8p: Electric Fence
10p: Luminita Anghel
12p: Cezar
*pressure is building up*
Cezar admits that it is more difficult to wait than to sing.
Sixth member of the jury, Crina Mardare, says that it was very difficult to award her points and votes as follows:
1p: Cezar
2p: Casa Presei
3p: Freestay
4p: Ovidiu Anton
5p: Elena Carstea
6p: Renee Santana
7p: Luminita Anghel
8p: Andrei Leonte
10p: Tudor Turcu
12p: Electric Fence!
NOW: the head of the jury, Mr. George Nazis wants to congratulate the production team and the competitors on their work:
1p: Tudor Turcu
2p: Ovidiu Anton
3p: Cezar
4p: Casa Presei
5p: Renee Santana
6p: Cristian Prajescu
7p: Elena Carstea
8p: Freestay
10p: Electric Fence
12p: Luminita Anghel!!
The points will now be added up.
FINALLY, the results!!!!
Cezar will be representing Romania in Malmo!!!!!!! Congratulations!
What do you think about this choice?
He will perform his song "It's my life" once again right now.
Thank you for following my live coverage from the Green Room for Florin's blog. Feel free to express your opinion on the final results of Romania's Selectia Nationala by posting comments. :)
March 10th: As a result of the huge number of complaints and negative opinions observed after Cezar's selection as the Romanian entrant for Malmo, the media have been intensively talking about the scandals related to the blocked voting lines and the controversial jury votes. Several ESC fans from all around the country have even set up a Facebook page with the goal of boycotting the National Final and changing the artist who will represent Romania at this year's edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. We will see what happens from now on.
Some more photos from yesterday night: I had the chance of meeting a few of the artists!
Andrei Leonte, Renee Santana and a part of her team
Andrei Leonte and I
With Renee Santana
With Ovidiu Anton
