🇷🇴 45 Semi-Finalists for Selecţia Naţională Revealed

We have a new list of Turin hopefuls, as Romania’s broadcaster TVR has revealed the names and song titles of the 45 artists who have reached the semi-final stages of this year’s Selecţia Naţională.

Romania is one of the countries this season returning to a previous national final format, following their internal selection of Roxen in 2020 (as an artist with a five-song selection) and 2021 (with an internally-chosen song).

Who are the 45 artists still in the running?

• Alex Parker & Erik Frank & Bastien – Best of me
• Aldo Blaga – Embers
• Alexa – Hoodies and cold nights
• Alina Amon – Without you
• Ana Lazăr – Youngster
• Andra Oproiu – Younique
• Andrea Stocchino – Avere paura
• Andrei Petruş – Take me
• ARIS – Do Svidaniya
• Ayona Iordănescu – Let me come to you
• Barbara – Hypnotized
• Bogdan Dumitraş – Sign
• Carmen Trandafir – Măşti
• Cezar Ouatu – For everyone
• Ciro De Luca – Imperdonabile
• Claudia, Minodora, Diana – România mea
• Dan Helciug – 241
• Dora Gaitanovici – Ana
• Eliza G – The other half of me
• Eugenia Nicolae – Doina
• Fabian Ferrara – That way
• Forţele de muncă – Hai afară, frate!
• Gabriel Basco – One night
• Giulia-Georgia Beiliciu – Find your way
• Ivelin Trakiyski – Neverending
• Jessie – Regret
• Kyrie Mendél – Hurricane
• Letiţia Moisescu – Mirunica
• Leyah – I’ll be fine
• Mălina – Prisoner
• Miryam – Top of the rainbow
• MOISE – Guilty
• Oana Tabultoc – Utopia
• Olivia Miheţ – Fragile
• Othello – You’re worthy
• Outflow – Running in circles
• Petra – Ireligios
• Popa Roberta-Maria – Indigo
• Romeo Zaharia – Until the fight is over
• Silvia Costache – Save me
• Sophia – Beautiful lies
• Stelian – Remember
• VANU – Never give up
• Vizi Imre – Sparrow
• WRS – Llamame

Who might you recognise?

Perhaps the biggest name returning to Selecţia Naţională is Cezar Ouatu, who represented Romania in Eurovision in 2013 with It’s My Life. He finished in 13th place in the final.

Letiţia Moisescu may also be a familiar name, having both a Selecţia Naţională 6th and 5th place finish under her belt. Her song Dreaming Of You placed 6th in 2011 and Daina came in 5th place in 2019. 

Dora Gaitanovici also has a 6th place in Selecţia Naţională to her name. Her song Fără Tine finished in 6th place in 2018. 

Aldo Blaga is another returning performer this year. His song Your Journey finished 10th in the 2019 final.

Ayona is also a Selecţia Naţională veteran. She performed her song Dream On in the 2017 live auditions, but did not make it to the live shows that year.

Miryam also did not make it to the 2017 live shows, but performed her song Escape during the live auditions.

Othello finished in 8th place in the semi-finals in 2018 with their song Noi Suntem Pădure.

Vizi Imre competed at Selecţia Naţională in 2014 with Kind Of Girl. He finished in 3rd place in the final.

Romeo Zaharia is another returnee this year who has had multiple attempts at winning Selecţia Naţională. He first competed in 2009 with Someone Like You, but was eliminated at the semi-final stage. He returned in 2018 with Maybe This Time, which finished 10th in the semi-final…

…but perhaps the most veteran performer to be returning is Carmen Trandafir. She competed in the first ever Selecţia Naţională in 1993 with the song Micul Meu Univers, as Romania entered the pre-qualifying round for Eurovision as a debutant that year. The full results of this year’s selection are not known.

What else do we know about Selecţia Naţională 2022?

Selecţia Naţională this year is taking place in three rounds. 94 songs were submitted, which were reviewed by a jury consisting of Alexandra Ungureanu, Ozana Barabancea, Randi, Cristian Faur and Adrian Romcescu. This cut the selection down to the 45 songs listed above.

The second phase includes an online vote between the 5th and 10th February 2022, where both the jury and public will be able to vote for their favourite songs online. The live shows will consist of 15 songs chosen by the jury, and 5 chosen by the public.

The first televised show will air on the 12th February, where the 20 selected acts will perform live. The jury will then select 10 songs to make it to the grand final on 5th March 2021, where Romania’s representative for Turin will be chosen using a combination of public and jury voting.

Romania in Eurovision

Romania joined the Eurovision family in the Eastern wave of enlargement, making their debut in 1994. Their entry – Dan Bittman’s “Dincolo de nori” – finished in 21st place with a total of 14 points. At the introduction of semi-finals, Romania found their stride and were present in every Eurovision final until 2018. Romania’s best result is third place, scored twice in 2005 and 2010 respectively.

In 2021, Romania was represented by Roxen, who had been internally selected in 2020 prior to the Contest’s cancellation. Roxen performed her song – “Amnesia” – at the first semi-final in Rotterdam. However, unfortunately Romania failed to qualify for the final. At the close of voting, Romania finished 12th in a field of 16, scoring 85 points.

Are you excited for Selecţia Naţională? Which song titles and artists intrigue you? Let us know in the comments below or on social media. Don’t forget to follow ‘THAT Eurovision Site’ over at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

News Source: TVR

Photo Source: EBU/Andres Putting