Romanian broadcaster TVR have announced that they are changing their selection process for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam. The country will select their artist internally, before holding a national final on 1st March to select that artist’s song for the contest. This change comes off the back of two non-qualifications for Romania.
Power to the people!
The new format will see the public have more power and weighing in choosing the Romanian song for Rotterdam.
The artist that will represent Romania in Rotterdam will be selected internally by a “special jury”. The jury will assess criteria like vocals, artistry, empathy and expressiveness before selecting the artist. The chosen act will then attend a songwriting camp where songwriters and artists from Romania will create potential entries for the contest.
Five songs from the songwriting camp will then progress onto the national final. The five songs will be selected by a jury made up of composers, lyricists, musicologists, TV and radio producers and music directors. The jury will look at each entry based on its sound, originality, diversity of style and message of the song.
Then, on 1st March, the five songs will be performed by Romania’s artist during a live national final. The winning song will be selected by an equal 50/50 weighing of public vote and jury vote. This follows last year’s scandal after the public only had a 14% say in the winner, the rest of the say was down to a seven-strong jury. In the case of a tie at the 2020 national final, the public vote will stand.
Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest
Romania made their Eurovision debut in 1994, after failing to make it past the pre-selection show in 1993. Their first entry, “Dincolo de Nori” by Dan Bittman, finished in 21st place with 14 points.
Until the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Romania only made four more appearances in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2003. Romania’s first top 3 finish came in 2005, when semi-final winning “Let Me Try” – by Luminita Anghel & Sistem – placed 3rd in the final.
Romania was known for having a strong qualification streak at Eurovision, never missing a final between 2004 and 2017. However, this changed in Lisbon in 2018, when The Humans said “Goodbye” to the contest at the semi-final stage. Romania also failed to make the final in 2019 with Ester Peony and “On A Sunday”, which brought the country its worst result ever – 13th in the semi-final.
Are you excited for Romania’s new selection process? Do you have an artist in mind that they can select?
Let us know in the comments below and on social media @ESCXTRA.
