Romania – The semi-final of Romania’s Selecția Națională 2017, takes place in Bucharest tonight. The show starts at 19:30 (CET) and can be viewed on these two online webcasts: tvrplus.ro or eurovision.tvr.ro. 15 acts will be reduced to 10 by an expert jury.
The final will take place on 5th March where the winner will be determined by 100% televote.
The 15 semi-finalists tonight are:
Alexandra Crăescu – ‘Hope’
Ana-Maria Mirică – ‘Spune-mi tu‘
Cristina Vasiu – ‘Set the skies on fire’
D-lema – ‘Adventure’
Eduard Santha – ‘Wild child’
Elizé & No Stress – ‘Fără bariere’
Ilinca ft. Alex Florea – ‘Yodel it!’
Instinct – ‘Petale’
Maxim – ‘Adu-ți aminte’
MIHAI – ‘I won’t surrender’
Ramona Nerra – ‘Save me’
Tavi Colen & Emma – ‘We own the night’
Tudor Turcu – ‘Limitless’
Xandra – ‘Walk on by’
Zanga – ‘Două sticle‘
EDIT:
The 10 finalists selected by the jury were:
- Ilinca feat. Alex Florea
- Xandra
- M I H A I
- Cristina Vasiu
- Instinct
- Ramona Nerra
- Eduard Santha
- Tavi Colen & Emma
- Maxim
- Ana-Maria Mirica
The Eurovision Times 
Alexandra Crăescu – ‘Hope’. Really don’t like songs with such lyrics; it’s are cliché on cliché. If you isolate the music, I think it’s pretty OK. Good singer too, but the lyrics ruin it for me. 6/12
Ana-Maria Mirică – ‘Spune-mi tu‘. And now for something completely different. The intro reminds me a bit of a Nirvana song. Unfortunately it turns into a 4 Chord Song in the chorus (another on of many many many…). Vocals are a bit too much, but she’s a fine singer. Production-wise it sounds a bit demo’ish. 6/12
I meant 5/12
Cristina Vasiu – ‘Set the skies on fire’. Believe it or not. It’s the 4 Chord Song progression once again. Why can’t the pop song composers try to be just a little more original in their choice of harmonics. OK singer, but the high notes are hard for her. The production is a bit bombastic. A bit like Roxette perhaps. 4-5/12
D-lema – ‘Adventure’. A change of genre towards something more acoustic. Unfortunately the melody is pretty anonymous, and the singing is not impressive. The entry would be a lot more interesting, if she worked more with her dynamics. More sound colouring, and it could even turn out to be interesting. Right now it is not. Can’t help finding it a bit cheesy to mention participating countries. 4/12
First of all, my deepest respect to all of you who watched this through last night. I was fighting with Latvian heats. I’m weak, I know.
Just yodel it!
Maxim’s live was horrendous, but the song is quite interesting. Same goes to Ramona’s Varna beach disco.
Elizé & No Stress – ‘Fără bariere’. I like this song quite a lot, but I miss some energy in the playing and the singing. It would probably help if the vocals were turned down, and the instruments up. But fine song, and there are many good elements in it: the saxophones and the ooh choir in the chorus for instance. 7/12
It liked this song (7/12) and “Petale” (8/12) most.
Ilinca ft. Alex Florea – ‘Yodel it!’. Well, there’s the fun factor of the yodeling. It puts a smile of my face. But judging a bit more seriously, I don’t think the song hangs particularly well together. The almost rap-like verse, the yodel chorus and the r&b middle eight are pulling in different directions. I may also get tired of the yodelei-ei-ei in the end. 5-6/12
Eduard Santha – ‘Wild child’. I missed this one in first place. Well, it starts pretty interesting, but it is ruined by the vocals. They are way to over-performed, and it becomes rather annoying in the end. It could have been a fine entry otherwise. 5/12
Btw. Now I get an ad EVERY single time I try to start a video on YouTube :-(
I’m seriously thinking of not using YouTube at all…
Eagerly waiting for your thoughts on Ramona. LOL I hope that you are watching the SF performances. :)
I’m just watching the videos provided in this article.
You need to check Ramona’s SF performance! And Instinct too. They sounded great (well the sound quality wasn’t good but anyway), looked fantastic and had great chemistry onstage.
Instinct:
Hm, not overly convinced by this. Good chemistry between them, but vocally I think it was so-so. Btw. are his hands supposed to look like something from a reptile?
I think so, and I agree that vocally she is much better than him. I loved the way they were dressed though and immensely enjoyed watching it. If I had listened only, it would probably be only a 6/12 but then I alsway judge packages when it comes to ESC because ESC is a TV contest.
Sure it’s a TV contest, but I have always felt uncomfortable judging the way people look or are dressed. I’m raised not to do so, among other things bacause the way we look are part of how we defind ourselves, and because I have known people who were bullied in school for not wearing the right clothes or the right hairdo etc. (myself included).
That being said, when it comes to my personal taste, I would probably say, the less glamourous, the better. I am not fond of the fact that people are expected to be styled when being on TV, and I often find it very liberating when you are allowed just turn up in your everyday clothes without make-up etc. (provided that this is what you want of course).
Valid point but I see things a bit differently. (Celebrate diversity!) When I listen to music I love, I normally lay down and close my eyes, and that’s what I do in FdlC and ETSC too because there we have songs with elaborate video clips competing with live performances and songs that don’t have a video clip at all. FdlC and ETSC are proper online song contests. It is different though when it comes to ESC which is a televised contest, and thus everything is about the package imo: composition, lyrics, live vocals and presentation. If I judged ESC songs on musical value only, I’d feel like missing the point. However, when it comes to downloading ESC songs, things are different again. Ukraine’s winning song from last year is a good example. I think that it is fantastic as a live performance but I would never download the song. I might attend a Jamala concert though if she ever comes to Stuttgart.
It’s not so that I don’t have an oppinion about the way the entries are staged. I may like it or don’t like it for whatever reason, and there have been cases where a visual performance actually kept me from voting for a song (Poland 2014 for instance – my actual ranting of it is still based on what I hear). After all I don’t listen to the contest on the radio.
It’s just that as long as it is launched as a song contest, I believe the song should be the main focus. Not the only thing in focus, but the core of it. Therefore I am not fond of the over-prodiced staging of some entries in recent years. I am not so fond either of the fact that the performers often tend to steal the show from the songs.
I’d prefer the songs to be presented with less eleborate, exaggerated or ridiculous stage routines too but alas, that’s not the world we are living in atm. Just look at the elaborate shows most artists (*cough*) dominating the charts these days present on their tours. Helene Fischer sings her cr*ppy schlager while flying under the roof hall these days. Alas, that’s what people want. Panem et circenses. It is perfectly legitimate if you decide to stay in a tour d’ivoire like my beloved symbolist writers and painters of the fin de siècle (Huysmans … <3 <3 <3) but for a popular culture event like ESC I prefer to go with the flow for 3 nights every year. I really keep wondering why I am attracted to ESC so strongly anyway. It is certainly not because of the music. LOL How many ESC songs come up on my playlist on a regular basis? Perhaps 30 … That's not much for a 60 year old contest …
I know. I’m one of the few people in my generation who didn’t grow up with MTV. Partly because we could only watch Danish television (and didn’t want cable TV and all that), and partly because I spent much more time burried in a pair of headphones than in front of a TV set.
I may enjoy a good music video though, if it is artistic and works well together with the song (if it is just made for promotional reasons, not so much), but still, I would have made my own imaginations without it.
On the other hand, when I go to the opera, I of course focus a lot of the way it is staged, and on the singers’ acting abilities too. It’s part of the genre. But in general, I prefer visualizations to be artistic rather than just promotional.
I grew up without MTV too. In fact, I didn’t even own a TV set for 10 years (my Munich years) but then I bought a tiny one because as a professor of American Literature I wanted to watch Mr. Powell justifying the Iraq War in front of the UN security council. I still blame Mr. Bush for forcing me to buy a TV set …
I had an old black and white TV set between 2002 and 2008 (I got it from my grandparents who had put it aside). I could only watch DR1 on it.
The Ukrainian song last year was very well staged btw. The lights and the long and dark blue dress formed a successful artistic entity together with the song and the vocal performance :-)
I’m baffled.Why would you never a song like “1944”?
*download
Because it is not that strong as a song imo. If I was into visual stuff, I would buy the clip of the live performance though. I’d rather be present while Jamala performs “1944” live though because that is the real treat. :)
Well,i disagree because i consider it the best esc winner of the post 00’s era music-wise but we all know by now the mantra “celebrate diversity”.lol
The best post-00 winner is still “Molitva” imo, but “1944” is second. :)
I consider “Molitva” a good enough folk ballad elevated by Marija’s live performance but as a song it’s not a really great winner,imo.
Let’s disagree and celebrate. N8 Dimitri. :)
I would consider “Molitva” among the best post-2000 winners too (not my personal favourite from 2007, but I consider it the most accomplished song that year). However, it is one of the cases where the visual staging actually put me off a bit – mostly due to the exaggeratedly “painful” facial expression of the backing vocalists. It didn’t seem real to me.
Yes,i suppose it’s a matter of taste.I really liked the passionate and very engaging performance.I think it played a huge role in her final victory.
In the NF she wore a Ramones t-shirt. Much more me, and less streamlined :-)
And here is Ramona. Brace yourself …
Hm, sounds like a club/house mix. Not really my cup of tea.
It was my first 0/12 of the season. Hulluna gave 0/12 too last night. Those vocals really hurt at points imo.
This should help that. https://adblockplus.org
Thank you. I will try it.
I’ve got a list of three or four that I’ve used with pretty high degrees of success. My friends’ll show me their laptops or phones, and I just get so confused and shocked at how many ads they get xD I’ve carved out a little ad-lite bubble for myself and I love it.
Now i’ve also watched the performances i missed yesterday and still my pick by far would be Maxim.The song is unique,it has this folk nostalgia of another era brought on stage by those really young boys.The 2 are not ready to go on stage tbh but they have time to improve it.Such a missed opportunity. :(
Instinct would be my alternative pick.Nicely performed and it has this Italian ballad vibes.Really good.
The yodelit thing will win it big,it’s so obvious.I’m sure the yodelling part will feature in many satirical videos.
Comment awaiting moderation…
Curious to hear it.
well Alex Florea deserves to be win and he win…hurrahhh