Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Encyclopedia
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.
The selection was notable for the number of foreign acts taking part. In particular, LaGaylia Frazier
, Biondo, and Rednex
were Swedish
artists present in the competition. Also, Maya Slatinsek from Slovenia was originally selected to be part of the national final, however, she withdrew her song after being accepted to compete in the Irish national selection
. In addition to foreign acts, former Eurovision participant Nicola
entered once again with the prospect of representing Romania for a second time at Eurovision.
After two semi-finals on February 9 and February 16, 2008, twelve songs had qualified to the final round. However, some changes to the running order did occur. Cătălin Josan qualified both of his song to the final but decided to withdraw "When We're Together" from the contest in order to achieve a better result and not split his vote amongst both of his songs. TVR decided to enter Rednex feat. Ro-mania with "Railroad, railroad" into the contest as a replacement. Furthermore, VH2 also withdrew their song, "Follow Me" because of a possible plagiarism claim. New Effect feat. Gentiana was in line to replace them in the national final, however, they were not available to compete due to prior engagements. After running through the non-qualified entries, Yana and "C'est la vie" were given a chance to enter the final.
& TVRi
from 19.15 to 21.00 CET. The group Yana qualified because the songs placed higher turned down the offer to replace VH2's withdrawn entry from the second semi-final.
& TVR i
from 19.15 to 21.00 CET. Rednex feat. Ro-mania qualified because Cătălin Josan withdrew his other song in the first semi-final from the competition.
& TVR i
from 19.15 to 22.00 CET.
where they picked up 45 points.
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
selected its Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Eurovision Song Contest 2008
The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Contest. It was hosted in Belgrade, Serbia after Marija Šerifović won the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, Finland. This year was the first contest to have two semi-finals which were held on 20 and 22 May, and the final held on 24 May 2008...
through Selecţia Naţională
Selectia Nationala
Selecţia Naţională is a song contest which takes place every year in Romania. This contest decides who will represent Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest.-Winners:-See also:* Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest...
, a national final consisting of two-semifinals and a final. The eventual winners were Nico
Nico (Romanian singer)
Nicoleta Matei, known by her stage name Nico, is a Romanian singer. She represented Romania along with Vlad in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.-Musical career:Nico started singing since she was a child...
and Vlad Miriţă
Vlad Mirita
Vlad Miriţă or Vlad is a Romanian pop and opera singer. He represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008....
with the dual-language Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
/Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
"Pe-o margine de lume
Pe-o margine de lume
"Pe-o margine de lume" is a song performed by the Romanian duet Nico and Vlad Miriţă. The song represented Romania in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade, Serbia...
". 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 road to Romania's Eurovision entry commenced when the competition was opened in December 2007, allowing artists of any nationality to submit songs that would then be judged by an internal panel of experts. The panel shortlisted 24 songs, out of 282 submitted compositions, to compete in the national final. Four reserve songs were also chosen in case of any disqualifications or withdrawals before the first semifinal. The songs where then equally divided into two semi-finals in which the top 6 songs voted by a 50/50 jury-televote combination would proceed to the final evening on February 23, 2008.The selection was notable for the number of foreign acts taking part. In particular, LaGaylia Frazier
LaGaylia Frazier
LaGaylia Frazier, born on the February 16, 1961 in Florida, USA, is an American singer who moved to Sweden in 2001. Since 2008 she is a Swedish citizen. She is the daughter of the American singer Hal Frazier.-Eurovision Song Contest:...
, Biondo, and Rednex
Rednex
Rednex is a Swedish techno/folk/bluegrass band. They had an international novelty hit with the song "Cotton Eye Joe" in 1994. Although extremely popular in Germany, where the band holds the record of most total weeks at No.1 on the German singles chart over the past 30 years—scoring such hits as...
were Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
artists present in the competition. Also, Maya Slatinsek from Slovenia was originally selected to be part of the national final, however, she withdrew her song after being accepted to compete in the Irish national selection
Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 after Radio Telefís Éireann held a national final, Eurosong 2008, to select the Irish entry for the contest, held in Belgrade, Serbia. For 2008, RTÉ reverted to their multi-song multi-singer format that had previously been used to select the...
. In addition to foreign acts, former Eurovision participant Nicola
Nicoleta Alexandru
Nicoleta Alexandru , whose stage name is Nicola, is a Romanian singer, best known for representing her country at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest.-Biography:...
entered once again with the prospect of representing Romania for a second time at Eurovision.
After two semi-finals on February 9 and February 16, 2008, twelve songs had qualified to the final round. However, some changes to the running order did occur. Cătălin Josan qualified both of his song to the final but decided to withdraw "When We're Together" from the contest in order to achieve a better result and not split his vote amongst both of his songs. TVR decided to enter Rednex feat. Ro-mania with "Railroad, railroad" into the contest as a replacement. Furthermore, VH2 also withdrew their song, "Follow Me" because of a possible plagiarism claim. New Effect feat. Gentiana was in line to replace them in the national final, however, they were not available to compete due to prior engagements. After running through the non-qualified entries, Yana and "C'est la vie" were given a chance to enter the final.
Semifinal 1
The first semifinal took place on February 9 and aired on TVR 1TVR 1
TVR1 is the main channel of the Romanian public broadcaster TVR.The most important show of the channel is Jurnalul TVR, whose motto is Jurnalul aşa cum ar trebui sǎ fie! , but on 28 March 2009 was replaced by Telejurnal...
& TVRi
TVRI
Televisi Republik Indonesia Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI) Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI) (formerly known as Televisi Indonesia (Indonesian Television in English) and Radio Indonesia (Indonesian Radio in English) is a state-owned television station, the oldest television station in...
from 19.15 to 21.00 CET. The group Yana qualified because the songs placed higher turned down the offer to replace VH2's withdrawn entry from the second semi-final.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nico & Vlad Mirita | Pe-o margine de lume | 284 | 1 |
| 2 | Inesa | La storia della pioggia | 89 | 11 |
| 3 | Adrian Enache | Te Iubesc | 114 | 8 |
| 4 | LaGaylia Frazier LaGaylia Frazier LaGaylia Frazier, born on the February 16, 1961 in Florida, USA, is an American singer who moved to Sweden in 2001. Since 2008 she is a Swedish citizen. She is the daughter of the American singer Hal Frazier.-Eurovision Song Contest:... |
Dr. Frankenstein | 174 | 5 |
| 5 | New Effect feat. Gentiana | Zamira | 119 | 7 |
| 6 | Tabasco | Love Is All I Need | 170 | 6 |
| 7 | Cătălin Josan | When We're Together | 217 | 3 |
| 8 | Daniela Nicol | Why | 112 | 10 |
| 9 | Yana | C'est la Vie | 113 | 9 |
| 10 | Leo Iorga & Pacifica | Prea mici sunt cuvintele | 206 | 4 |
| 11 | Ana Mardare & Irvin Doomes | Heaven | 87 | 12 |
| 12 | Simona Nae | The Key of Life | 229 | 2 |
Semifinal 2
The second semifinal took place on February 16 and aired on TVR 1TVR 1
TVR1 is the main channel of the Romanian public broadcaster TVR.The most important show of the channel is Jurnalul TVR, whose motto is Jurnalul aşa cum ar trebui sǎ fie! , but on 28 March 2009 was replaced by Telejurnal...
& TVR i
TVR i
TVR Internaţional is the international channel of Televiziunea Română, Romania's government-funded television network. TVR International provides free-to-air 24-hour broadcast throughout Europe, Canada and the US...
from 19.15 to 21.00 CET. Rednex feat. Ro-mania qualified because Cătălin Josan withdrew his other song in the first semi-final from the competition.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monique | Vânt de vară | 45 | 12 |
| 2 | Lucia Dumitrescu | Dragostea Mea | 99 | 9 |
| 3 | Nico | Fight For Life | 119 | 8 |
| 4 | Nicola Nicoleta Alexandru Nicoleta Alexandru , whose stage name is Nicola, is a Romanian singer, best known for representing her country at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest.-Biography:... |
Fairytale Story | 206 | 3 |
| 5 | Zero | Come This Way | 189 | 5 |
| 6 | Rednex Rednex Rednex is a Swedish techno/folk/bluegrass band. They had an international novelty hit with the song "Cotton Eye Joe" in 1994. Although extremely popular in Germany, where the band holds the record of most total weeks at No.1 on the German singles chart over the past 30 years—scoring such hits as... feat. Ro-mania |
Railroad, Railroad | 158 | 7 |
| 7 | VH2 | Follow Me | 186 | 6 |
| 8 | Viper | Mas Conmigo | 63 | 11 |
| 9 | Cătălin Josan | Run Away | 206 | 4 |
| 10 | Imba | Yeke, Yeke | 95 | 10 |
| 11 | Biondo | Shine | 278 | 1 |
| 12 | Paula Seling & Provincialii | Seven Days | 228 | 2 |
Final
The final took place on February 23 and aired on TVR 1TVR 1
TVR1 is the main channel of the Romanian public broadcaster TVR.The most important show of the channel is Jurnalul TVR, whose motto is Jurnalul aşa cum ar trebui sǎ fie! , but on 28 March 2009 was replaced by Telejurnal...
& TVR i
TVR i
TVR Internaţional is the international channel of Televiziunea Română, Romania's government-funded television network. TVR International provides free-to-air 24-hour broadcast throughout Europe, Canada and the US...
from 19.15 to 22.00 CET.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leo Iorga & Pacifica | Prea mici sunt cuvintele | 164 | 6 |
| 2 | Zero | Come This Way | 181 | 5 |
| 3 | Paula Seling & Provincialii | Seven Days | 208 | 3 |
| 4 | Nicola Nicoleta Alexandru Nicoleta Alexandru , whose stage name is Nicola, is a Romanian singer, best known for representing her country at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest.-Biography:... |
Fairytale Story | 162 | 7 |
| 5 | Tabasco | Love Is All I Need | 126 | 8 |
| 6 | Rednex Rednex Rednex is a Swedish techno/folk/bluegrass band. They had an international novelty hit with the song "Cotton Eye Joe" in 1994. Although extremely popular in Germany, where the band holds the record of most total weeks at No.1 on the German singles chart over the past 30 years—scoring such hits as... feat. Ro-mania |
Railroad, Railroad | 96 | 9 |
| 7 | LaGaylia Frazier LaGaylia Frazier LaGaylia Frazier, born on the February 16, 1961 in Florida, USA, is an American singer who moved to Sweden in 2001. Since 2008 she is a Swedish citizen. She is the daughter of the American singer Hal Frazier.-Eurovision Song Contest:... |
Dr. Frankenstein | 93 | 10 |
| 8 | Biondo | Shine | 264 | 2 |
| 9 | Cătălin Josan | Run Away | 197 | 4 |
| 10 | Simona Nae | The Key of Life | 73 | 11 |
| 11 | Yana | C'est la Vie | 37 | 12 |
| 12 | Nico & Vlad Mirita | Pe-o margine de lume | 271 | 1 |
At Eurovision
Romania qualified from Semi Final 1 to the Final. In the final they performed in 1st position, before United KingdomUnited Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
The United Kingdom chose their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 on the BBC programme Eurovision: Your Decision. It replaced the former selection programme, Making Your Mind Up after a string of bad results...
where they picked up 45 points.
Semi final
| 12 points | |
| 10 points | |
| 8 points | |
| 7 points | |
| 6 points | |
| 5 points | |
| 4 points | |
| 3 points | |
| 2 points | |
| 1 point | |
Final
| 12 points | |
| 10 points | |
| 8 points | |
| 7 points | |
| 6 points | |
| 5 points | |
| 4 points | |
| 3 points | |
| 2 points | |
| 1 point | |