Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Let's continue the series and kill some time having a look at the last decade and see who were the Top-10 best scoring countries in the Eurovision song contest in the past ten years. The ways to calculate are many and here I have used the simple average placement method (and it's not all so serious). Next up is Romania at n.o 6. Romania has had a very steady finish in the contest last decade; only two top-10s but all the rest 12th-17th. Until two close non qualifications to end the decade with. And then there's of course the disqualification in 2016 for TVR for repeated non-payment of debts that made Ovidiu Anton stay home in the last minute with   Moment of silence . Moment of silence indeed that year!  Hotel FM is the one I have completely forgotten over the years.... but Romania has surely provided some unforgettable moments with Cezar, Ilinca and Alex for example 2010 Paula Seling & Ovi - Playing with fire - 3rd *** 2011 Hotel FM - Change - 17th * ...

Tonight's Romania's turn to select its entry for Eurovision 2019. Two semi-finals have dropped half the songs voted by a jury (five finalists per semi) and televoters (one of the leftovers per semi).  The season hasn't been saved of scandals and withdrawels. First Eurovision veteran Dan Bittman decided to withdraw due conflicting schedules and was soon replaced by two wildcards (Bella Santiago and Linda Teodosiu) and that angered the ultimate Eurovision Diva extraordinaire MIHAI who in turn withdraw. Later also Xandra withdraw without giving a reason. MIHAI on the other hand then tried to apply for Moldova and Belarus it seems, but didn't show up in either, and apparently even tried to get a wildcard to Romanian selection again. Or so they say.... And finally Laura Bretan  (of America's Got Talent fame) caused a storm in a glass with her views about gays apparently. Olivier Kaye, Golden Stag 2018 1st prize from The Voice Belgium has a song written by Ovi aka ...

Paula and Ovi joined the other artists supporting the Sammarinese Miracle! A final place! Good luck Romania, too!

Paula Seling (36) is a Romanian singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, performer, TV personality and entertainer. In her career she has won most every award in Romania. She is an outspoken supporter of personal freedoms, individual rights and human rights. Ovidiu Cernăuţeanu (39) aka OVI is a multitalented singer, songwriter, producer and musician making career also in Norway. They already came 3rd in Eurovision 2010 together. Now they are after a Miracle .  Robert: Romania had a pretty decent preselection this year. After hearing all the studio versions, it was Letting go by Renee Santana & Mike Diamondz that I loved the mos t . Unfortunately the song did not stand out “ live “in their national final. Paula & Ovi had definitely the most professional performance and their is also a certain charisma between them on stage that makes it very pleasant to watch them. I cannot help comparing the song Miracle with their former Eurovision song Playing with fire w...

Wow, what a surprise. Totally undeserved and re-announced victory. I can only hope now they will bomb big time in Copenhagen 2014. Sorry, but that's what I think. Miracle .The real miracle is they didn't win the televote. Thank you Romanians. The jury instead gave the victory to them with 12 points, followed by 10 to Vizi Imre (thank you!), 8 to Bere Gratis, 7 to Stefan Stan, 6 to Renee Santana, 5 to Anca Florescu, only for to Vaida, 3 to Zuralia, 2 to the dAdA and 1 to Naomy. So the full combined result is: 1. Paula Seling & Ovi – Miracle – 22 2. Vaida – One More Time – 16 3. Vizi Imre – Kind of Girl – 16 4. Anca Florescu – Hearts Collide – 13 5. Ștefan Stan feat. TeddyK – Breathe – 12 6. Renée Santana feat. Mike Diamondz – Letting Go – 10 7. Bere Gratis – Despre mine și ea – 9 8. Șăl – Hardjock – 7 9. The dAdA – Unpredictable – 5 10. Naomy – Dacă tu iubești – 3 11. The Zuralia Orchestra – You Know– 3 12. Silvia Dumitrescu – Fiorul iubirii ...

Romania's final takes place this Saturday as well. Often one of the strongest national finals around this year also offers some pretty good ones. The main contender and one to beat is out first, Eurovision veterans Ovi & Paula . This blogger isn't impressed of this manufactured Eurovision by numbers effort. Both are good artists but this song isn't anything special, and it'd be a miracle indeed if it wins Eurovision in case it wins in Romania.... That's what I think but prove me wrong. Other favorites seem to be Anca Florescu and Stefan Stan . Both are better. I also like Renee Santana and Bere Gratis , and The dAdA aren't bad either. This said my favorite is Stefan Stan - if it only works out live on stage as well as in the very beautiful video! Recap . 01. Paula Seling & Ovi – Miracle 02. Bere Gratis – Despre Mine Si Ea 03. The dAdA – Unpredictable 04. The Zuralia Orchestra – You Know 05. Vizi Imre – Kind of Girl 06. Anca Florescu ...

While I have been busy with Sanremo Romanian TV has selected and announced their dozen for the Selecţia Naţională. A total of 159 sogs were sent in, apparently 9 didn't meet the rules so these are chosen among the 150. And yes, the rumored names are in with their entries that have been floating in the web for some time by now, including highly overrated IMHO Paula & Ovi. And this selection is very Melodifestivalen like, in good and in bad. Here's a recap of all songs.The final will take place on March 1, 2014. Ştefan Stan feat. Teddy K – Breathe   Naomy – Daca tu iubeşti Bere Gratis – Despre Mine si Ea  Silvia Dumitrescu – Fiorul iubirii   Şăl (Marcel Crăciunescu) – Hardjock  Anca Florescu – Hearts Collide  Vizi Imre – Kind of Girl  Renee Santana & Mike Diamonds – Letting go  Paula Seling & Ovi – Miracle Mirela Vaida Boureanu – One More Time  The dAdA – Unpredictable The Zuralia Orchestra - You Know

Norway has been dropping the names the past few days and we have now six more to add to those four previously posted also here ( Irresistibel, Malin Reitan, Isabel Ødegård and Nora Foss Al-Jabri ): rock group Plumbo , Monica Johansen aka Miss Harmonica aka Minnie Oh , Marthe Valle of X Factor fame, folk musician Kim André Rysstad , popular singer Rudi Myntevik and Reidun Sæther with a song written by Thomas G:son and Ovi.

If you have no plans tonight you can always get ready for five (5) hours of Romanian final! The fun starts at 8pm CET and well in to the 2011. You can follow it here . If you want to read my review it's here . Thirteen songs. An international jury (Chiara, Johnny Logan and Niamh Kavanagh are amongst the judges) and last year's Paula Selig and Ovi hosting it all. They played with fire last year and scored third place in Oslo 2010, Romania's best to date (along with Let me try in 2005) so the Eurovision fever in the country is high. The voting is 50-50 jury-televoe and the jurors and hosts are also going to give a miniconcert during the night - after all you have five hours to fill, don't you? Btw, the Finnish viisukuppila's minipoll mostly agrees with me putting Bang bang on top followed by Change, I want u to want me, Dreaming of you, Open your eyes, It's so fine, One by one and Cinema love . It also made me think if Finland had its final tonight - what kin...

Oh Paula what have you done? The black catwoman outfit is gone and replaced by a silver one. First, it makes her look like sausage. Second, black is way hotter color than cool silver so if you are playing with fire, what's the reason for changing it??? Ones present in Oslo say this sounds fabulous in the arena but on screens the only fire is in the pyros and indeed, it sounds a bit uninspiring... Qualifier? Yes, but not much further than that I guess as it is now. Video .

Paula Seling and Ovi for Romania have also released a remix for their entry Playing with fire. Listen here . They also have a fancy video now, here . For me Romania is a dark horse this year. When I'm listening to it I like it a lot but when I'm not I don't even remember it exists... Televoters will surely fly it to the final though.