ESCXTRA’s 2018 Hopefuls: Romania

Welcome to our brand new weekly series, ‘ESCXTRA’s 2018 Hopefuls’, in which we will tell you who we would like to see in Eurovision next year! This series will keep you entertained with new music from across Europe every Monday until the national final season begins next year, and may give you somebody new to root for to represent your country!  Today, we look at who we want to see represent Romania in Eurovision 2018. Let’s get started!

Andra

Our first hopeful, Andra, won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Romanian Act in 2014, and was also nominated for it in 2013. She is now a judge on Românii au talent, the Romanian edition of the Got Talent series. Andra is most well-known for her 2016 hit, Love Can Save It All, which has 150,000,000 views on YouTube!

 
Andra sings a range of songs, from powerful ballads to catchy pop songs. If she were selected to represent Romania, we may be kept waiting to see what sort of song she’ll sing for Romania in Eurovision! Regardless, all of her songs have gone on to become massive hits in Romania, so they could easily support her!

Alexandra Stan

Alexandra Stan made her worldwide breakthrough in 2011, with Mr. Saxobeat. You will probably recognise it, it was a hit across the globe, and reached number one in ten countries! The song resulted in her winning many awards, such as an MTV Europe Music Award for Best European Act, and two Romanian Music Awards!

After Mr. Saxobeat, Alexandra released Lemonade. It didn’t do as well as Mr. Saxobeat, but still did very well! She has a very addictive style; once you start listening, you just can’t stop. This would work great for Romania in Eurovision, since viewers will be left wanting to hear her entry again!

Randi

Randi’s career began as part of the Romanian boy band Morandi. They managed eight number one hits, 2 MTV Europe Music Awards nominations, and 2 million copies of their début album sold! Morandi seem to have disappeared, whilst Randi’s solo career has developed.

Randi’s music is very modern, and is exactly what you’d expect to hear on the radio outside of Eurovision. These sorts of songs tend to very well in Eurovision! Randi definitely knows how to perform, and how to sing a great song.

Alina Eremia

If you watched Junior Eurovision in 2005, you might recognise Alina Eremia’s face; she represented Romania as part of LaLa Band with the song Ţurai! Since then, she has launched her own solo career, and is also an actress in several TV series! In 2015, she had a hit in Romania with her song A fost o nebunie. Take a listen!

Alina has an outstanding voice, as well as her own distinct style. She tends to sing in Romanian too, so this could appeal to those Eurovision fans who like hearing non-English language songs! To see her represent Romania in Eurovision would be fantastic!

Mandinga

Mandinga, of course, took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song Zaleilah. They placed 12th in the final, giving one of Romania’s best results in the 10’s! Since their Eurovision participation, they’ve had limited success in Romania, and last year, lead singer Elena Ionescu left the band, and Barbara Isasi replaced her.

Mandinga have a very different style to most Romanian artists, since their music has a strong Spanish feel to it! Obviously, this will appeal very much to the Spanish audience, as it did in 2012 (Spain gave Romania 10 points in 2012). Although we miss Elena, Barbara works just as well with the band, and we feel that the time is perfect for a return from Mandinga!

Inna

Inna’s second album, I Am the Club Rocker, was a big success. Roton described it as one of the year’s best albums in Romania, and her single Sun Is Up made Inna the only Romanian artist to ever win the Eurodanceweb Award! She followed this success with her album Party Never Ends, which was nominated for two consecutive years for Best Album at the Romanian Music Awards!

Obviously, Inna is one of Romania’s most critically acclaimed electronic artists. Inna’s music would stand out for Romania in Eurovision, gaining her plenty of points; it’s super cool! Like Randi, Inna knows how to give a good performance. She would do fantastically at Eurovision!
Next week, we will look at who we want to see represent Albania!
What do you think of our hopefuls? Is there anybody else you’d like to see for Romania in Eurovision? Do the idea of any of these artists excite you? Tell us in the comments below!