Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010

Eurovision Song Contest 2010
Country	Romania
National selection
Selection process	Selecţia Naţională 2010
Selection date(s)	6 March 2010
Selected entrant	Paula Seling and Ovi
Selected song	"Playing with Fire"
Selected songwriter(s)	Ovidiu Cernăuțeanu
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Qualified (4th, 104 points)
Final result	3rd, 162 points
Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2009 • 2010 • 2011►

Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "Playing with Fire" written by Ovidiu Cernăuțeanu. The song was performed by Paula Seling and Ovi. The Romanian broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR) organised the national final Selecția Națională 2010 in order to select the Romanian entry for the 2010 contest in Oslo, Norway. Sixteen entries were selected to compete in the national final on 6 March 2010 where "Playing with Fire" performed by Paula Seling and Ovi was selected as the winner after scoring top marks from five regional juries and a public televote.

Romania was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 27 May 2010. Performing during the show in position 10, "Playing with Fire" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 29 May. It was later revealed that Romania placed fourth out of the 17 participating countries in the semi-final with 104 points. In the final, Romania performed in position 19 and placed third out of the 25 participating countries, scoring 162 points.

Background[]

Prior to the 2010 Contest, Romania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 11 times since its first entry in 1994. To this point, its highest placing in the contest has been third place, which the nation achieved in 2005 with the song "Let Me Try" performed by Luminița Anghel and Sistem. To this point, Romania has qualified to the final on every occasion since the introduction of semi-finals to the format of the contest in 2004. In 2009, "The Balkan Girls" by Elena placed 19th in the final.^[1]

The Romanian national broadcaster, Televiziunea Română (TVR), broadcasts the event within Romania and organizes the selection process for the nation's entry. TVR has consistently selected the Romanian Eurovision entry through national finals that feature a competition among several artists and songs. The broadcaster confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest on 6 October 2009.^[2] TVR had set up national finals with several artists to choose both the song and performer to compete at Eurovision for Romania, a procedure which the broadcaster opted for once again to select their 2010 entry.^[3]

Before Eurovision[]

Selecţia Naţională 2010[]

Selecția Națională 2010 was the national final format developed by TVR in order to select Romania's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. The competition took place at the Globus Circus Arena in Bucharest on 6 March 2010 and was hosted by Horia Brenciu and Valentina Pelinel with Gianina Corondan hosting segments from the green room. The show was televised on TVR1, TVRi as well as online via the broadcaster's website tvr.ro.^[4]

Competing entries[]

TVR opened a submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries between 9 December 2009 and 14 January 2010. A wishlist of 54 artists was also published in order to encourage composers to write songs for them.^[5] The broadcaster received 117 submissions after the submission deadline passed, of which 111 were eligible for consideration. An expert committee reviewed the received submissions between 25 and 27 January 2010, with each juror on the committee rating each song between 1 (lowest) and 10 (highest). After the combination of the jury votes, the top sixteen entries that scored the highest were selected for the national final. The committee also reserved the right to change the performer of a selected song and should this be the case, composers were required to submit the final version of their songs with its new performers by 5 February 2010.^[6][7]

The members of the expert committee that selected the sixteen entries were:^[8]

The competing entries were announced on 25 January 2010. Among the competing artists were Luminița Anghel, who previously represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, and Connect-R, who previously represented Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006.^[9][10] TVR hosted a presentation evening on 6 February where the running order for the final was determined and the competing artists performed their songs live for the public.^[11]

Final[]

The final took place on 6 March 2010. Sixteen songs competed and the winner, "Playing with Fire" performed by Paula Seling and Ovi, was determined by the 50/50 combination of the votes from five regional juries and public televoting.^[12] A SEAT Ibiza car was also awarded to the songwriters responsible for the winning entry. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval act featured performances by Eurovision Song Contest 2000 winner Olsen Brothers.^[13]

Calls for disqualification[]

Following Selecția Națională 2010, Antena TV presenter Dan Capatos revealed that Norwegian composer Simen Eriksrud had been registered by Norwegian copyright association TONO as the co-composer of "Playing with Fire" together with Ovi, thus breaking TVR regulations which state that all composers in the competition were required to possess Romanian citizenship.^[14] Following consultation with TONO, Ovi's record label and the Romanian Copyright Office, the head of the Romanian delegation at the Eurovision Song Contest Marina Almăşan confirmed on 11 March 2010 that Ovi was the only composer of the song, with Eriksrud only sharing half of the publishing rights as his producer.^[15]

Promotion[]

Paula Seling and Ovi made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Playing with Fire" as the Romanian Eurovision entry. In March and April, Paula Seling and Ovi took part in promotional activities in Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Moldova and Portugal where they made radio and television appearances.^[16] Due to the 2010 eruptions of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland which led to the closure of Norwegian airspace, promotional activities in Bulgaria and Macedonia were done by Paula Seling alone.^[17] On 23 April, Paula Seling and Ovi took part in promotional activities in Turkey where they appeared during the Kanal D talk show Beyaz Show and the special TRT show Eurovision 2010'a dogru.^[18] On 2 May, Paula Seling and Ovi performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Shadow Lounge venue in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell.^[19][20] In addition to their international appearances, Paula Seling and Ovi also completed promotional activities in Romania where they performed "Playing with Fire" during the RRA Awards 2010 on 14 March and during a special concert which was held at the Enjoy Pub in Botoşani on 30 March.^[21][22]

At Eurovision[]

Paula Seling and Ovi at the Eurovision Opening Party in Oslo

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 7 February 2010, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Romania was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 27 May 2010, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.^[23] The running order for the semi-finals was decided through another draw on 23 March 2010 and Romania was set to perform in position 10, following the entry from Netherlands and before the entry from Slovenia.

All three shows were broadcast in Romania on TVR1, TVRi and TVR HD with commentary by Leonard Miron and Gianina Corondan. The Romanian spokesperson, who announced the Romanian votes during the final, was Malvina Cservenschi.

Semi-final[]

Paula Seling and Ovi during a rehearsal before the second semi-final

Paula Seling and Ovi took part in technical rehearsals on 19 and 22 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 26 and 27 May. This included the jury show on 26 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.

The stage show featured Paula Seling and Ovi both dressed in black outfits and playing a shine-through double piano enhanced by white LEDs and pyrotechnic flame effects handheld by the singers which were also used at the back part of the stage, with four backing vocalists being placed on the left part of the stage. The stage lighting transitioned from blue to orange colours with the words "Girl" and "Boy" being displayed on the backdrop. At the end of the performance, both singers left their piano positions and moved to the front part of the stage.^[24][25] The four backing vocalists that joined Paula Seling and Ovi on stage were Alexandra Craescu, Andrada Suliman, Bianca Purcarea and Oana Puscatu.^[26]

At the end of the show, Romania was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Romania placed fourth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 104 points.^[27]

Final[]

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine the running order for the final. This draw was done in the order the countries were announced during the semi-final. Romania was drawn to perform in position 19, following the entry from France and before the entry from Russia.^[28]

Paula Seling and Ovi once again took part in dress rehearsals on 28 and 29 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. The duet performed a repeat of their semi-final performance during the final on 29 May. At the conclusion of the voting, Romania finished in third place with 162 points.^[29]

Voting[]

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Romania had placed sixth with the public televote and third with the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Romania scored 155 points, while with the jury vote, Romania scored 167 points. In the second semi-final, Romania placed third with the public televote with 113 points and eighth with the jury vote, scoring 80 points.^[30]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Romania and awarded by Romania in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Denmark in the semi-final and the final of the contest.

Points awarded to Romania[]

Points awarded to Romania (Semi-final 2)[31] Score Country 12 points  United Kingdom 10 points  Norway 8 points  Cyprus  Denmark  Israel  Turkey 7 points  Sweden 6 points  Ireland  Lithuania 5 points  Azerbaijan 4 points  Armenia  Bulgaria  Georgia  Slovenia   Switzerland 3 points  Netherlands  Ukraine 2 points 1 point

Points awarded to Romania (Final)[32] Score Country 12 points  Moldova 10 points  Norway  Portugal  Spain  Sweden 8 points  Cyprus  Denmark  Israel  United Kingdom 7 points  Azerbaijan  Ireland  Slovenia 6 points  Poland  Serbia 5 points  Albania  Iceland  Malta  Netherlands 4 points  Greece   Switzerland 3 points  Latvia  Russia 2 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Lithuania  Turkey  Ukraine 1 point  Armenia  Belarus  Slovakia

Points awarded by Romania[]

Points awarded by Romania (Semi-final 2)[31] Score Country 12 points  Denmark 10 points  Armenia 8 points  Azerbaijan 7 points  Turkey 6 points  Cyprus 5 points  Ukraine 4 points  Ireland 3 points  Israel 2 points  Georgia 1 point  Sweden

Points awarded by Romania (Final)[32] Score Country 12 points  Denmark 10 points  Moldova 8 points  Turkey 7 points  Greece 6 points  Armenia 5 points  Ukraine 4 points  Belgium 3 points  Germany 2 points  Spain 1 point  Albania

Jury points[]

Jury points awarded by Romania (Final)^[33]

Score	Country
12 points	Denmark
10 points	Belgium
8 points	Ukraine
7 points	Turkey
6 points	Armenia
5 points	Albania
4 points	Portugal
3 points	Israel
2 points	Iceland
1 point	Azerbaijan

Televoting points[]

Televoting points awarded by Romania (Final)^[33]

Score	Country
12 points	Moldova
10 points	Greece
8 points	Germany
7 points	Spain
6 points	Denmark
5 points	Turkey
4 points	Armenia
3 points	France
2 points	Ukraine
1 point	Russia

References[]