Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012

Eurovision Song Contest 2012
Country	Romania
National selection
Selection process	Selecția Națională 2012
Selection date(s)	10 March 2012
Selected entrant	Mandinga
Selected song	"Zaleilah"
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Qualified (3rd, 120 points)
Final result	12th, 71 points
Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2011 • 2012 • 2013►

Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Romanian entry was selected through a national final, organised by the Romanian broadcaster Romanian Television (TVR). Mandinga represented Romania with the song "Zaleilah", which qualified 3rd from the first semi-final and went on to place 12th in the final, scoring 71 points.^[1][2]

Background

Logo of Selecția Națională 2012

In early January 2012, Romania's participation remained unconfirmed. The online portal of one of Romania's newspapers, Cotidianul, assumed that Romania was not going to enter the 2012 edition of the contest due the lack of foundation, but TVR officials did not confirm this claim.^[3] It was subsequently announced that Romania would take part in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest.^[4] TVR pressured the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to lower the entry fee and stated that participation was only possible if 40% of all the costs that may occur could be funded by a sponsor.^[5]

It was announced that TVR had tried to convince worldwide-topping artist Inna to represent Romania in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest by internal selection, but she refused the offer as she was busy with her I Am the Club Rocker Tour, for promoting her album with the same name.^[6][7]

TVR has announced in February that prospective participant should submit their entry between February 6 and February 23 which then initiated the process of verification that the rules have been obeyed and this will then lead the songs to proceed to a short-listing process by a jury of mass-media professionals. The TVR had said officially the rules in the Romanian television on February 5, 2012: "If rules are found not to have been obeyed, the entries will be automatically disqualified. If the jury considers the artist as not appropriate for the song, they will recommend another artist from the list for the final. A participation fee of 150 RON (€34.50) is being perceived." The grand final was in Bucharest on March 10.^[8]

Irish songwriter Karl Broderick submitted his song "Twilight" in the competition to select Romania's Eurovision Song Contest entry after correctly predicting that Jedward would win the Irish selection with their song "Waterline", where Karl was one of the songwriters. After Jedward's entry was chosen to represent Ireland, Broderick told RTÉ about "Twillight": "The song is a nod to the popular films of the same name, about vampires, so I thought it would be interesting to send the song to the home of Transylvania. They (Romania) came third two years ago."^[9]

Selecția Națională 2012

In November 2011, a rumor started on the internet that Romania will withdraw from the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. None of the TVR officials commented the rumors until mid-January, 2012 when it was officially announced that Romania will compete in that year's edition of the contest. The plan of a national final was partly abolished, as TVR approached Inna to represent Romania in the competition. She eventually refused the participation, claiming full agenda and schedules in the time prior to the final as the only reason for her resignation. As the internal selection didn't go well, on February 5, 2012 it was announced that TVR opened a pre-selection of entries for the fifteenth edition of Selecția Națională.

On February 6, SRTV published a wishlist for composers, encouraging them to compose entries for the following 84 artists.^[10]

Mihai Trăistariu (left) and Elena Gheorghe (right) represented Romania in the Contest in the past and they returned back in the 2012 Selection.

Paula Seling (left) and Ovi (right) received the best place Romania ever gained in the contest, when they came third in 2010. They competed also in that year's Selection Show

Notes:

• Candidates in bold confirmed their participation.
• Candidates crossed turned down the offer; Both White and Inna cited upcoming projects as the reason for their absence, promising a return in 2013.^[6][11]

At Eurovision

During the Semi-Final Allocation draw which was held on 25 January 2012, it was announced Romania were scheduled to compete in the first half of the first semi-final on 22 May.^[12] On 20 March 2012 the Running Order draw was held, which determined the order of which the participants performed. Romania performed 6th overall in the first semi-final^[13] and at the close of the voting, qualified to the final. "Mandinga" achieved 3rd place with 120 points. In the final on May 26, Romania performed 14th. Romania ended up on 12th position scoring at the end of voting, with 71 points. Macedonia had also scored 71 points and came 13th in the grand final, because of Romania's high televoting percent.

Points Awarded to Romania^[14]

Points Awarded by Romania^[14]

Semi final[15] 12 points  Greece 10 points  Moldova 8 points  Hungary 7 points  Cyprus 6 points  Russia 5 points  Israel 4 points  Albania 3 points  Denmark 2 points   Switzerland 1 point  Belgium

Final[16] 12 points  Moldova 10 points  Sweden 8 points  Greece 7 points  Hungary 6 points  Spain 5 points  Serbia 4 points  Russia 3 points  Turkey 2 points  Cyprus 1 point  Albania

See also

• Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Eurovision Song Contest 2012

References

Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest
Participation 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Artists 1990s Dida Drăgan Dan Bittman 1995 Monica Anghel & Sincron 1997 Mălina Olinescu 1999 2000s Taxi 2001 Monica Anghel & Marcel Pavel Nicola Sanda Luminița Anghel & Sistem Mihai Trăistariu Todomondo Nico & Vlad Elena Gheorghe 2010s Paula Seling & Ovi Hotel FM Mandinga Cezar Paula Seling & Ovi Voltaj Ovidiu Anton
Songs 1990s "Nu pleca" "Dincolo de nori" 1995 "Rugă pentru pacea lumii" 1997 "Eu cred" 1999 2000s "The Moon" 2001 "Tell Me Why" "Don't Break My Heart" "I Admit" "Let Me Try" "Tornerò" "Liubi, Liubi, I Love You" "Pe-o margine de lume" "The Balkan Girls" 2010s "Playing with Fire" "Change" "Zaleilah" "It's My Life" "Miracle" "De la capăt" "Moment of Silence"
(Note: Entries scored out are when Romania did not compete)