Romania was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "On a Sunday", written by Alexandru Șerbu, Ioana Victoria Badea and Ester Alexandra Crețu, and performed by Crețu under her stage name Ester Peony. The Romanian broadcaster (TVR) organised the national final 2019 in order to select the Romanian entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel. The national final consisted of three shows: two semi-finals on 27 January and 10 February 2019, respectively, and a final on 17 February 2019. A total of twenty-four entries were selected and twelve competed in each semi-final where a five-member jury panel selected five entries to advance to the final, while a public vote selected an additional entry to enter the final. The twelve qualifiers competed in the final where "On a Sunday" performed by Ester Peony was selected as the winner after scoring top marks from a six-member international jury panel and a public televote.
Romania was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 16 May 2019. Performing during the show in position 6, "On a Sunday" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Romania placed thirteenth out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 71 points.
Background
Prior to the 2019 contest, Romania had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 19 times since its first entry in 1994. To this point, its highest placing in the contest has been third place, which the nation achieved on two occasions: in 2005 with the song "Let Me Try" performed by Luminița Anghel and Sistem, and in 2010 with the song "Playing with Fire" performed by Paula Seling and Ovi. Having qualified to the final on every occasion since the introduction of semi-finals to the format of the contest between 2004 and 2017, Romania failed to qualify to the final for the first time in 2018 with the song "Goodbye" performed by the Humans.
The Romanian national broadcaster, (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 2019 Eurovision Song Contest on 20 September 2018. 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 2019 entry.
Before Eurovision Selecția Națională 2019 2019 was the national final organised by TVR in order to select Romania's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The competition consisted of three shows: two semi-finals featuring twelve songs each and a final featuring twelve songs to be held on 27 January, 10 February and 17 February 2019, respectively. Under the slogan ("Fulfill the dream!"), the shows were hosted by Ilinca Avram and Aurelian Temișan, and were televised on TVR 1, TVR HD, TVRi as well as online via the broadcaster's streaming service TVR+ and YouTube. The three shows were also broadcast in Moldova via the channel TVR Moldova.
Competing entries TVR opened a submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries between 9 November 2018 and 10 December 2018. The broadcaster received 126 submissions after the submission deadline passed. An expert committee reviewed the received submissions with each juror on the committee rating each song between 1 (lowest) and 10 (highest) based on criteria such as the melodic harmony and structure of the song, the orchestral arrangement, originality and stylistic diversity of the composition and sound and voice quality. After the combination of the jury votes, the top twenty-four entries that scored the highest were selected for the national final. The competing entries were announced on 20 December 2018. Among the competing artists was Dan Bittman, who previously represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994, and Mihai, who previously represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006.
The members of the expert committee that selected the twenty-four entries were:
George Balint – music journalist Felix Crainicu – host Horea Ghibuţiu – unsitedemuzica.ro music journalist Bogdan Miu – DigiFM music journalist and host Bogdan Pavlică – host Răzvan Popescu – Radio ZU host Andreea Remeţan – Virgin Radio Romania host Gabriel Scîrlet – TVR musical director Oliver Simionescu – Kiss FM disc jockey Liana Stanciu – TVR music journalist Dragoş Vulgaris – Pro FM and Chill FM music journalist
On 2 January 2019, "", written and to have been performed by Dan Bittman, was withdrawn from the competition and replaced with the songs "Army of Love" performed by Bella Santiago and "Renegades" performed by Linda Teodosiu after TVR opened an additional submission period between 8 and 10 January 2019, during which 9 submissions were received. "Baya", written by Mihai Trăistariu, Michael James Down, Will Taylor and to have been performed by Mihai, and "Independent", written by Alex Luft, Eduard Santha, Denisa Demian and Alexandra Șipoș and to have been performed by Xandra, were withdrawn from the competition on 12 January and 8 February 2019, respectively.
+ Competing entries Artist Song Songwriter(s) 2 Gents "Ielele" Alexandru Antonescu, Cătălin Tamazlicaru, Ciprian Rogojan, Doru Todoruț Aldo Blaga "Your Journey" Aldo Blaga, Olivier Bassil, Nicoleta Roman Bella Santiago "Army of Love" Resciebelle Barrios Santiago, Alexandru Luft Berniceya "The Call: Dynasty of Love" Florin Chitiul Claudiu Mirea "We Are the Ones" Mihai Ogășanu, Claudiu Mirea Dya and Lucian Colareza "Without You ()" Sergi Gascon, Daniel Andres Giraldo Mazo Echoes "High Heels On" Liviu Elekes, Claudiu Dănăilă, Pavel Petricenco Ester Peony "On a Sunday" Ester Alexandra Crețu, Alexandru Șerbu, Ioana Victoria Badea The Four "Song of My Heart" Cătălin Dascălu, Theea Miculescu Georgy "Tears" Valentin Muntean, Claire Avakian Johnny Bădulescu "Give Up Now" Rob Price Laura Bretan "Dear Father" Mihai Alexandru, Alexandra Niculae Letiția Moisescu and Sensibil Balkan "" Mihai Ogășanu, Marian Enache, Roni-Cristiana Cazacu Linda Teodosiu "Renegades" Jonas Thander, Rachel Suter, Frank Giustra Nicola "Weight of the World" Michael James Down, Will Taylor, Jonas Gladnikoff Olivier Kaye "Right Now" Ovidiu Jacobsen, Shani Kfir, Rasmus Bosse Ommieh and Anakrisez "Rock This Way" Eduard Cârcotă, Alexandru Bugan Steam "The Way It Goes" Sorin Cotorceanu, Mihai Iulian Rapeanu Teodora Dinu "Skyscraper" Udo Mechels, Laila Samuelsen, Jonas Brøgger Filtenborg Trooper "" Aurelian Dincă TMW "Make Me Your Man" Adi Campurean, Adrian-Radu Rusu, Eduard Cârcotă Vaida "Underground" Hanif Sabzevari, Michael James Down, Will Taylor, Tonje Gjevjon Xonia "Discrete" Leticia Ascencio, John Scott Mulchaey, Edliberto Mendez, Bexx
Shows
Semi-finals The two semi-finals took place on 27 January and 10 February 2019. The first semi-final was held at the in Iași, while the second semi-final was held at the "Victoria" in Arad. In each semi-final eleven or twelve songs competed and six qualified to the final.Semi-final 1 Draw. TVRSemi-final 2 Draw. TVR A jury panel first selected five songs to advance. The remaining entries then faced a public televote which determined an additional qualifier. The members of the jury panel that voted during the semi-finals were: Adi Cristescu (singer, composer), Mihai Georgescu (singer-songwriter), Crina Mardare (vocal coach), Andy Platon (composer, producer, DJ) and Mugurel Vrabete (musician).
In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval act in the first semi-final featured a performance from Iuliana Beregoi, while the interval act in the second semi-final featured performances from Alessandro Canino and the band Hit Italy.
+ Semi-final 1 (First round) – 27 January 2019ArtistSong Points Place 1 Trooper "" 36 4 2 Berniceya "The Call: Dynasty of Love" 8 9 3 Ommieh and Anakrisez "Rock This Way" 23 8 4 Teodora Dinu "Skyscraper" 27 5 5 Dya and Lucian Colareza "Without You ()" 37 3 6 Nicola "Weight of the World" 27 6 7 Steam "The Way It Goes" 6 10 8 Vaida "Underground" 26 7 9 Claudiu Mirea "We Are the Ones" 48 1 10 The Four "Song of My Heart" 5 11 11 Bella Santiago "Army of Love" 47 2 + Semi-final 1 (Second round) – 27 January 2019 Artist Song Televote Place Berniceya "The Call: Dynasty of Love" 104 6 The Four "Song of My Heart" 661 2 Nicola "Weight of the World" 255 5 Ommieh and Anakrisez "Rock This Way" 262 4 Steam "The Way It Goes" 394 3 Vaida "Underground" 1,825 1
+ Semi-final 2 (First round) – 10 February 2019ArtistSong Points Place 1 2 Gents "Ielele" 18 7 2 Georgy "Tears" 5 10 3 Olivier Kaye "Right Now" 30 5 4 Xonia "Discrete" 14 9 5 TMW "Make Me Your Man" 1 12 6 Johnny Bădulescu "Give Up Now" 16 8 7 Echoes "High Heels On" 3 11 8 Aldo Blaga "Your Journey" 19 6 9 Letiția Moisescu and Sensibil Balkan "" 37 4 10 Laura Bretan "Dear Father" 54 1 11 Ester Peony "On a Sunday" 41 3 12 Linda Teodosiu "Renegades" 52 2 + Semi-final 2 (Second round) – 10 February 2019 Artist Song Televote Place 2 Gents "Ielele" 295 2 Aldo Blaga "Your Journey" 539 1 Echoes "High Heels On" 141 7 Johnny Bădulescu "Give Up Now" 142 6 Georgy "Tears" 191 4 TMW "Make Me Your Man" 254 3 Xonia "Discrete" 154 5
Final The final took place on 17 February 2019 at the in Bucharest.Final Draw Twelve songs competed and the winner, "On a Sunday" performed by Ester Peony, was determined by the combination of the votes from a six-member international jury panel (6/7) and public televoting (1/7). The members of the jury panel that voted during the final were: William Lee Adams (American journalist, Wiwibloggs editor), Deban Aderemi (British composer, vlogger, Wiwibloggs editor), Alex Calancea (Moldovan artist, producer, composer), Șerban Cazan (Romanian producer), Tali Eshkoli (Israeli entrepreneur, show producer, content editor) and Emmelie de Forest (Danish singer, Eurovision Song Contest 2013 winner). In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the interval acts featured performances by Emmelie de Forest performing the songs "Sanctuary" and "Only Teardrops", Eurovision Song Contest 2018 winner Netta Barzilai performing the songs "Toy" and "Bassa Sababa", as well as Golden Stag Festival 2018 winner Inis Neziri performing the songs "" and "Man's World".Emmelie de Forest and Inis Nezir to sing at National Final. TVR
+ Final – 17 February 2019 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points 1 Linda Teodosiu "Renegades" 36 771 6 42 4 2 Olivier Kaye "Right Now" 26 151 1 27 8 3 Laura Bretan "Dear Father" 48 4,685 12 60 2 4 Teodora Dinu "Skyscraper" 7 139 0 7 12 5 Claudiu Mirea "We Are the Ones" 19 134 0 19 9 6 Aldo Blaga "Your Journey" 10 455 4 14 10 7 Ester Peony "On a Sunday" 62 356 3 65 1 8 Letiția Moisescu and Sensibil Balkan "" 35 572 5 40 5 9 Bella Santiago "Army of Love" 50 1,161 8 58 3 10 Trooper "" 19 1,425 10 29 7 11 Dya and Lucian Colareza "Without You ()" 8 332 2 10 11 12 Vaida "Underground" 28 988 7 35 6
+ Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 "Renegades" 2 6 8 8 6 6 36 2 "Right Now" 2 6 5 5 8 26 3 "Dear Father" 6 4 12 7 7 12 48 4 "Skyscraper" 5 2 7 5 "We Are the Ones" 1 3 4 4 3 4 19 6 "Your Journey" 3 1 1 5 10 7 "On a Sunday" 12 12 7 12 12 7 62 8 "Daina" 8 7 3 6 8 3 35 9 "Army of Love" 10 10 10 10 10 50 10 "Destin" 5 5 3 4 2 19 11 "Without You (Sin ti)" 4 1 2 1 8 12 "Underground" 7 8 2 1 10 28
Promotion