Romania: Eurovision 2024 participation lies on the decision of the Minister of Finance!

Romania’s participation in Eurovision 2024 seems in jeopardy, as the latest developments indicate.

The limited budget allocated to the Romanian Public Broadcaster (TVR), which covers just the minimum necessary expenses, is insufficient for the country’s participation in Malmö. According to information shared on the Twitter account of the Eurovision Romania community, the president of TVR has submitted a revised budget to the Romanian Minister of Finance. If this budget is approved by the Minister of Finance, Romania will be able to participate in the contest. However, if it does not happen, the country will not take part in the 68th Eurovision Song Contest.

Therefore, the decision of the Romanian Public Broadcaster regarding its participation in Eurovision 2024 depends solely on whether the Minister of Finance approves a larger budget for TVR. Based on the currently available finances, participation in the contest is not feasible.

An announcement is expected in the coming days, regarding whether the additional budget requested by the president of TVR has been approved or not.

The last time Romania did not participate in Eurovision was in 2016, when  EBU did not accept the country’s entry, even though it had already been selected, due to  TVR’s non-payment of debts to the organization.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the latest updates on Romania’s Eurovision 2024 participation. 

Romania: A potential withdrawal in 2024?

Regardless, Ovi’s(Romania 2010,2014) and Mihai Trăistariu’s(Romania 2006) intention to be involved with Eurovision in 2024, rumors have spread the past hours about a possible withdrawal of Romania from Eurovision.

According to Libertatea, TVR sources claim that Romania does not plan to participate in next year’s edition in Malmö. The reason behind the rumored withdrawal is financial issues. No official statement has been made yet from TVR, though the rumors are still circulating.

TVR’s response regarding the participation of Romania in 2024 is the following:

The subject of participation in Eurovision 2024 was not discussed at the level of SRTv management, which is why, for now, no decision has been made in this regard.

Romania’s participation has to be first approved by the Board of Directors, as the budget needed exceeds 100.000 euros and be confirmed to EBU till the 15th of September.

The alternative perspective

The story doesn’t end there. According to the official Eurovision Romania Community, TVR has not confirmed its position yet regarding its participation. The most likely scenario is that Romania will take part in Sweden next year. Meanwhile, it is unknown in which way the Romanian entry will be chosen, as there are some options that the broadcaster is considering at the moment. Furthermore, TVR has already proceeded to the creation of the 2024 Eurovision website.

https://twitter.com/ERCommunity_/status/1700179885946294702

Bearing in mind the fixed charges needed to be covered from TVR, leaving limited budget for the artistic team and the bad result in Liverpool, a withdrawal could seem like a reasonable scenario. The lack of funds killed the chances of Theodor Andrei’s qualification this year. He was left with no budget, producing even his own official video-clip. He ended up second to last in his semifinal, with nul points.

The information given by the Romanian sources are indeed contradictory. We will have to wait until the official announcement of the participation countries, which is expected in late October.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf3iPXU1RYU

Stay tuned on EurovisionFun for all news regarding Romania’s participation in Eurovision 2024!

Sources: Libertatea, ERCommunity

Romania: Mihai Trăistariu is willing to participate in Eurovision 2024!

It seems that Ovi (Romania 2010,2014) is not the only Romanian former Eurovision artist that is preparing for Eurovision 2024.

Mihai Trăistariu recently announced that he is willing to participate in Eurovision 2024 and therefore is looking for the composer of his entry. Specifically, he posted the following on his Facebook account:

I’m looking for a composer with a current sound, with whom to work a wow song for Eurovision 2024. Recommendations?

Although, his return will come true under one condition. Trăistariu does not plan to pay the composer for the song that will make.

As he has stated:

I don’t pay anything because I’ve never paid for a song. I follow the same principle that I’m Mihai Trăistariu and whoever wants to send me a good song, gives it to me. “Tornero” was not paid.

His unwillingness to pay the composer in advance derives from his belief that in case his song wins and represents Romania in Eurovision both of them will profit. The same thing occurred with “Tornero”:

I’ve never paid for my hits and I don’t want to teach songwriters that way, because that’s how it seems natural to me. Noted artists are given songs as gifts, because they earn from the royalties afterwards.

The composer of “Tornero”, Eduard Cârcotă, earns even today half of the copyrights. And, if I made a few hundred thousand euros, he made maybe millions. I have 140 songs on my albums and I haven’t paid for a single one!

The Romanian artist represented his country in the contest back in 2006, with the song “Tornero”, which finished in fourth place and became a massive European hit. He has also tried again to represent Romania in multiple occasions, in 2016,2017,2018 and 2019 without success.

Will Mihai Trăistariu overturn the tables for Romania and help his country regain its old prestige in Eurovision? Stay tuned on EurovisionFun for all news! 

Source: b1tv

Romania: Will Ovi return to Eurovision in 2024?

Through a Facebook post, Ovi (Ovi Jacobsen) disclosed that he is currently in the studio working on a potential Eurovision 2024 entry!

Along with Paula Seling, the well-known singer has twice flown the Romanian flag. In fact, they placed third in their initial entry with the song “Playing with fire” in 2010, which is at the moment Romania’s second-best finish. They also performed the song “Miracle” at their second appearance in 2014, finishing in 12th place and just two points outside the top 10.

Romania has not revealed any plans regarding its participation in the 68th edition of the competition up until this point. Consequently, we are unaware of whether its entry, if the country participates as normal, will be picked via selecția națională or using a different procedure.

Furthermore, there isn’t a clear indication in the post as to which country is the subject of the submission or whether Ovi’s contribution is confined to songwriting or also includes singing the song.

These inquiries will receive an answer in the upcoming months!


Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun to stay up to date on all the latest news about the world’s largest music competition!

Romania: Theodor Andrei speaks out against TVR and shares his experience in the contest.

Theodor Andrei represented Romania at Eurovision 2023 with the song “D.G.T. (Off and On)” however he did not make it to the Grand Final.

During an interview with Romanian artist The Watcher, for the YouTube series Fără Perdea, Theodor said that as a big fan of the contest, he was excited to perform on the Liverpool stage. However, he spoke about how his dream slowly but surely turned into a nightmare due to his partnership with Romanian national broadcaster TVR.

Theodor explained how he had been thinking about taking part in Eurovision for several years, trying to find the right song. He confessed that hearing thousands of voices singing the Romanian lyrics of “D.G.T. (Off and On)” during the Eurovision pre-parties in Amsterdam and London remains one of his favourite achievements of his career so far. But he then claimed that TVR, which is responsible for the Romanian delegation at Eurovision, turned his dream into a nightmare.

Theodor Andrei speaks out against TVR.

In Selecția Națională, the selection show for Eurovision in Romania, Theodor participated by presenting an original set he designed himself. He had the intention to modify and improve it for Eurovision, however TVR seems to have rejected all the ideas and suggestions he submitted. The set he presented in Liverpool was designed exclusively by the TVR team, as seen by the viewers. It is also claimed that the broadcaster imposed a slower revamp of the song “D.G.T. (Off and On)” on Theodor, which did not meet his wishes and ideas.

According to Theodor, the budget given to TVR for Eurovision was not properly utilized for his entry, and TVR also refused to fund a music video for his song. So he decided to create a self-financed video. However, this caused further tensions between him and the national broadcaster. Theodor claims that TVR banned him from publishing it and even threatened him and his family. The music video was a success and sparked criticism against TVR.

So far, Romania’s national broadcaster has not responded to Theodor’s accusations.

Theodor will appear in London in July for a concert organised by Platform ’96. Theodor will perform at Stage 002 on 28 July. The event will take place at The Water Rats, a renowned venue steeped in musical history. Bob Dylan, The Pogues and Oasis performed their first concerts at this venue. Theodor will be joined on stage by British alternative rock band Glass Bridges and London-based rock band Minerva.

Source: wiwibloggs.com

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the news about your favourite contest!

Romania: Over 380,000 euros spent for Eurovision 2023!

Libertatea reports that the Romanian broadcaster spent a total of 382,500 for its participation in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. The total amount is made up of the cost of the National Final, the entry fee and the costs related to the Liverpool performance.

The biggest expense for TVR was the €180,000 entry fee to the EBU, which contributes to the funding of the Contest. Then €63,000 was spent on the Romanian National Final, from which Theodor Andrei was selected for Liverpool. The full breakdown of costs is as follows:

  • €180,000 – Participation fee
  • €80,000 – Staging and associated costs for the performance in Liverpool
  • €63,000 – National Final
  • €25,000 – Broadcasting costs in Romania
  • €23,500 – Accommodation in Liverpool
  • €11,000 – Transport and other costs

Theodor Andrei represented Romania in Liverpool with “D.G.T. (Off and on)”. In the semi-final he scored 0 points in both televote and jury and became the first entry in Romania’s Eurovision history failing to score any points.

Source: Libertatea 

Stay tuned at EurovisionFun for all the latest news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest!


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Eurovision 2023: See the results of Press Poll just before the grand final!

As we informed you, Press Poll 2023 has begun. After all countries have had all technical rehearsals, it is now time for the accredited to vote for the country that believes she will be the winner of the 67th Eurovision Song Contest.

Below are the results of the final of today’s 13/5 at 21:45:

In the vote for the winner, Finland leads, Sweden is second, and Spain is third!


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Source: Ogae International

Eurovision 2023: Grand Final takes place tonight!

The moment that every Eurofan waited for is finally here! The 67th Eurovision Song Contest officially comes to an end tonight, as the Grand Final takes place tonight, live from Liverpool!

The twentysix remaining countries will take part in tonight’s show, but only one will be the winner of Eurovision 2023.

The hosts of this evening will be Julia Sanina from The Hardkiss, Hannah Waddingham, Alesha Dixon and Graham Norton.

The 26 finalists of this year’s Grand Final are:

1. 🇦🇹 Austria | Teya & Salena – Who The Hell Is Edgar?

2. 🇵🇹 Portugal | Mimicat – Ai Coração

3. 🇨🇭 Switzerland | Remo Forrer – Watergun

4. 🇵🇱 Poland | Blanka – Solo

5. 🇷🇸 Serbia | Luke Black – Samo Mi Se Spava

6. 🇫🇷 France: La Zarra – Évidemment

7. 🇨🇾 Cyprus | Andrew Lambrou – Break A Broken Heart

8. 🇪🇸 Spain: Blanca Paloma – Eaea

9. 🇸🇪 Sweden | Loreen – Tattoo

10. 🇦🇱 Albania | Albina & Familja Kelmendi – Duje

11. 🇮🇹 Italy | Marco Mengoni – Due Vite

12. 🇪🇪 Estonia | Alika – Bridges

13. 🇫🇮 Finland | Käärijä – Cha Cha Cha

14. 🇨🇿 Czechia | Vesna – My Sister’s Crown

15. 🇦🇺 Australia | Voyager – Promise

16. 🇧🇪 Belgium | Gustaph – Because Of You

17.  🇦🇲 Armenia | Brunette – Future Lover

18. 🇲🇩 Moldova | Pasha Parfeni – Soarele şi Luna

19. 🇺🇦 Ukraine | TVORCHI – Heart of Steel

20. 🇳🇴 Norway | Alessandra – Queen of Kings

21. 🇩🇪 Germany | Lord of the Lost – Blood & Glitter

22. 🇱🇹 Lithuania | Monika Linkytė – Stay

23. 🇮🇱 Israel | Noa Kirel – Unicorn

24. 🇸🇮 Slovenia | Joker Out – Carpe Diem

25. 🇭🇷 Croatia | Let 3 – Mama ŠČ!

26. 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | Mae Muller – I Wrote A Song

Apart from the 26 countries taking part, some non-participating countries around the world can vote, as there is a new category that can vote, in the Rest Of The World.

The Grand Final will be broadcasted on 21:00 CET and you can watch it live from your country’s public broadcaster, or from the livestream on the official Eurovision YouTube channel:


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Eurovision 2023: The Grand Final allocation for the Second Semi Final qualifiers!

The first semi-final has just finished, with the first ten finalists being:

Before the press conference that is currently taking place these ten countries chose the half in which they will appear in the Grand Final on Saturday.

This is the half each qualifier drew, from semi final 2:

🇦🇱 Albania will perform in the FIRST HALF of the Grand Final

🇨🇾 Cyprus will perform in the FIRST HALF of the Grand Final

🇪🇪 Estonia will perform in the FIRST HALF of the Grand Final

🇧🇪 Belgium will perform in the SECOND HALF of the Grand Final

🇦🇹 Austria will perform in the FIRST HALF of the Grand Final

🇱🇹 Lithuania will perform in the SECOND HALF of the Grand Final

🇵🇱 Poland will perform in the FIRST HALF of the Grand Final

🇦🇺 Australia will perform in the SECOND HALF of the Grand Final

🇦🇲 Armenia will perform in the SECOND HALF of the Grand Final

🇸🇮 Slovenia will perform in the SECOND HALF of the Grand Final


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Eurovision 2023: Family Show of the Second Semi-Final – Live Commentary! (Updated Live)

Just hours before the Second Semi-Final of the 67th Eurovision Song Contest, its time for the third and the last general rehearsal before the Semi-Final. The family show has just started and the the Liverpool Arena is filled with eurofans! Like every year, the evening before each live show, a more financially convenient show for families, identical to the live one, takes place.

EurovisionFun will be watching all the 16 countries competing and will serve you feedback and opinions of the show. Also, the journalists have the chance to fully watch the rehearsals of United KingdomSpain and the winner of last year’s edition, Ukraine.

This article gets updated in real-time, all you need to do is hit the refresh button on your browser!

So stay tuned to this article as we update it with all details, preparing you for what you will see in the Semi-Final today, at 21:00 CEST.

The Show

The show has started and we are watching a recap from everything that happened in Tuesday night with the First Semi-Final. The three female presenters are on stage and welcome everyone on the show again! The explain the voting system, the united vibe between Ukraine and United Kingdom and within the first five minutes the show begins!

The Competing Countries – LIVE COMMENTARY

Denmark: Reiley – Breaking My Heart

Reiley is dressed in pink inside a prop that looks like a house. The prop rotates in different rooms with different colour but the performance is based in pink. In the middle of the perfomance, Reiley walks to the second stage and the led wall becomes in lime colours with a lot of white shaped hearts. Reiley seems to be vocally weak and annoying enough with the backing autotuned vocal.

Armenia: Brunette – Future Lover

This act starts with Brunnete laying in a inclined plane in pink and purple colors. Then in the rap part the lights become in black and white. After the rap part, THERE IS A DANCE BREAK EVERYONE!!!! The goosebumps I got from this performance. She literally KILLED IT. She was vocally on point and she will qualify for sure. Congratulations Armenia!

Romania: Theodor Andrei – D.G.T (Off And On)

Theodor is charismatic and a great performer but the song ain’t it… sadly the entire performance and staging, with distasteful led content and awkward choreography from Theodor and his dancer, seems very amateurish. Romania will be lucky if they avoid the absolute last place of this Semi-Final.

Estonia: Alika – Bridges

The performance begins with Alike sitting in a piano, the croud has their flashlights open, the song become even more intense and dramatic when she singer elevates her vocals even more. The staging is based in blue and white colours, matching her dress.

Belgium: Gustaph – Because Of You

Without any doubt, Gustaph carries on the performance with his vocals allong with the backing singers and a dancer doing voguing. Gustaph gives the show some much needed energy, with his 90s themed song. The LED are like the videoclip, some shadows dancing on the rhythm of the song and also him on the outfit of the video clip. A very energetic performance!

First Break

Cyprus: Andrew Lambrou – Break A Broken Heart

The performance starts with Andrew being alone in a blue LED scene,it reminds me of the water element. He looks good dressed in black and vocally good. In the first chorus we see a waterfall behind him and towards the end it becomes a huge flame with many fire jets. The whole performance is based on the nature elements. An easy qualification for Cyprus.

Iceland: Diljá – Power

A very energetic and hyperactive perfocmance from the Icelandic singer. Vocally was a bit off and the performance feels completely all over the place, with the young singer doing unnecessary acrobatics and coming off rather aggresive. The camera shots aren’t great, making the viewer feel dizzy and overall quite bored, if not annoyed.

Greece: Victor Vernicos – What They Say

The younger artists takes the stages with a emotional and dynamic ballad reminding us that we need to be ourselves. He is very improved vocally, compered to his previous attempts. The beginning of the performance, with him laying on the floor is very interesting visually but the rest of the staging is quite messy. Victor is not bouncing a lot so vocally was more stable and he seems like he enjoyed it a lot! Maybe he could sneak into the final but I’m not so sure…

Poland: Blanka – Solo

It’s time for our BEJBA! The biggest suprise of the rehearsals.  The dance break is nice, she seems confident and there’s no blur effect BUT the whole performance give the vibe of last year’s Poland with the SFX effects and it’s not really good. The Blanka hologram doesn’t seem real at all. Vocally is so improved and I enjoyed the whole performance. Europe will vote for this for sure!

Slovenia: Joker Out – Carpe Diem

The charismatic band is on stage… the audience gives the pulse, elevating the performace in the 150%. They really own the stage and the croud seemed to love this! The seem confident and cool with their 80s style of clothing. The singer is vocally just like the recorded version and the whole lights are red. In the end, the members of the group, bowed towards the crowd and we see a huge “Joker Out” in the LED. They are fighting for the first place in this semi-final.

Georgia: Iru – Echo

Iru is standing in a small platform the whole perfomace wearing a white dress with silver jewels. ED behind her are dark and in the end everything become brighter. A wind machine is helping her to serve a very dramatic look. A very statc performance and vocally was bit off, seemed annoying.

Second Break 

San Marino: Piqued Jacks – Like An Animal

The show starts with a huge mouth in the LED. In generall, the LED is in red shades in the whole performance. The singer is vocally on point and the staging is decent but the song by it’s self is really repetitive and weak to make it through.

Austria: Teya & Salena – Who The Hell Is Edgar?

It’s time for the favourites of this semi-final.  The croud is clapping and singing in Poe Poe rhythms in the whole performance. Visualy this performance is amaizng in black and red colors but the singers are very static. Both of them are on point and everyne enjoyed it! The biggest clap in the show.

Albania: Albina & Familja Kelmendi – Duje

The outsiders of this semi-final are on stage with Albina giviving everything vocally and the croud cheering her. Also this performance is based in black and red colors like the Albanian flag. A very emotional performance and the whole family are giving a great show! This definetely stands out as the only ethnic song and is performed professionaly but perhaps has a very limited audience. I hope Europe will see the potential of this song and manages to qualify.

Lithuania: Monika Linkyte – Stay

Reaching almost at the end of the contest part, Monika Linkyte delivers a vocally powerful and visually pleasing, warm performance, accompanied by her backing vocalists. They manage to create a beautiful atmosphere that the audience seems to enjoy. She made the croud to sing with her and it was a very good feeling and for us from home (*screams* CIUTO TUTO FINALLY MY HEART IS BEATING).

Australia: Voyager – Promise 

This song is not my cup of tea BUT vocally the front man was very good! Excellent staging with 80s vaporwave vibes and a car on stage. The arena loves them, as they deliver an excellent performance, full of energy, that is guaranteed to qualify tomorrow night. A great way to close the show!

Certain Qualifiers

Armenia

Belgium

Cyprus

Poland

Slovenia

Austria

Albania

Lithuania

Australia

Borderline Qualifiers

Estonia

Greece

Georgia

Non Qualifiers

Denmark

Romania

Iceland

San Marino

 

Ukrainian singers Mariya Yaremchuk, Otoy and Zlata Dziunka perform a medley of Ukrainian songs. Then we watch another recap and get ready for lines to close.

Three drag queens take the place of the presenters and perform “Be Who You Wanna Be”.

Mans Zelmerlow and Filomena return with the “game” of guessing which countries they have or have not qualified in the past.

Big 5 and Ukraine

We will be watching a small clip from the rehearsal of those countries, down bellow you will find my comments.

Spain: Blanca Paloma – EaEa

A very similar to the national selection perfomance with Blanca serving vocals once again. During her perfomance we see a light hitting her hand and the backing vocals screaming her name. A very impacful perfomance.

Ukraine: TVORCHI – Heart Of Steel

Ukrainians show once again that they are the masters of staging at Eurovision. TVORVHI probably have the most sleek, stylish and modern performance of the year. It starts a bit low energy but that is quickly fixed, when pyro jets join the show. Great act but the song is probably a bit forgettable. Of course, Ukraine’s result is maybe the biggest mystery of the year, as we don’t know how the sympathy and diaspora votes will impact their score.

United Kingdom: Mae Muller – I Wrote A Song

Mae Muller will close Saturday’s Grand Final with a fun and upbeat number, staged cleverly with colorful pop art vibes. Her vocals however are perhaps the worst in this year’s contest and completely destroy the act. She’s struggling to hit the notes and looks uncomfortable, which means United Kingdom could be returning to the bottom of the scoreboard.

The Results

Martin Osterdahl executive producer of Eurovision Song Contest 2022, declares that he is happy to see that we now have a valid result!

The ten countries that (virtually) qualified for the purposes of the rehearsal were the following:

Greece, Denmark, Romania, Georgia, Australia, Albania, Austria, San Marino, Poland and finally Slovenia

 

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