Five days ahead of Romania’s final on 9 March, we still don’t have a favorite to win Selectia Nationala 2013. Opinion polls contradict one another, the jury disagrees with the viewers, and fans are doing battle with haters on discussion forums, Facebook and Twitter. Over the weekend, TVR broadcast “Eurofan”, a live meet-and-greet show with finalists and fans, which, as interesting and entertaining as it was, did nothing to clear things up.

Here is the official TVR playlist with the 12 performances from the semis, in the running order of the Final.

Butterfly Cristian Prajescu and some of his fans

Casa Presei received the biggest number of televotes from both semifinals, over 5,000. Depending on which poll you look at, Luminita Anghel and Electric Fence are the Eurovision fan favorites. Since the jury members saved Al Mike and Renee Santana’s dance song “What Is Love” from certain semi-final loss televoting-wise, it seems to be the jury’s favorite to win – and lately, it received the biggest boost in YouTube views since the second semi-final performance, being especially popular among foreign observers.

Countertenor Cezar, who is publicly supported by last year’s Selectia Nationala winner Mandinga, is being heavily promoted at the moment, with a little help from his famous friends Angela Gheorghiu, Andrea Bocelli and Vangelis, and is gaining more and more supporters every day. Talent show darlings Narcis Ianau, Tudor Turcu and Andrei Leonte have their fiercely loyal fanbases, who are going to throw a lot of votes at them regardless of the quality of their respective performances. And some say that the winner might be the mathematical voting average between polar opposites public and jury, which means that the unassuming ballad “Spinning”, equally and quietly appreciated by fans and jury members alike, might emerge as the dark horse that will take Elena Carstea to Malmö in May.

Al Mike, Renee Santana and their oh-so-serious dancer

We won’t know the winner until the very end of the Final on 9 March, which of course makes things terribly exciting for everyone involved and for viewers alike. No selection is more boring than those where the winner is clear from the get-go, and this one is anything but.

It’s time to ask our international readers who your favorite act is, and to shed some light—or even more confusion—on the matter. As our observant reader Zolan pointed out a while ago, synthetic poll results from the two semi-finals show that yet another contestant, Cristian Prajescu, should be your chosen one. It’s time to test this theory and ask you, one last time, to vote for your favorite act from the Romanian Selectia Nationala 2013. Feel free to defend your choice in the comments section below.

POLL

[polldaddy poll=”6935091″]

 

The poll will close on the evening of 8 March, when I’ll reveal your favorite, bring you up to date with the latest developments, and make my prediction. I will be in Bucharest reporting from the heart of the Final. Meanwhile, follow me on Twitter if you want instant news, fun facts and tidbits about Selectia Nationala.

 

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MF
MF
11 years ago

My preferences: FreeStay, Elena Carstea, Cezar.

Petals
Petals
11 years ago

I’m fine with anything as long as it’s not Electric Fence. Their song is nothing short of horrible as far as I’m concerned and the only one I can’t stand to listen to for more then a few seconds. I hope that Renee, Luminita or Cezar win, their songs are the best ones in the selection at least to me.

Bogdan
11 years ago

@ Xander Yep: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cX5gNe_rUY

Not entirely surprising, seeing as Cezar Ouatu is considered one of the best countertenors in the world.

Tom
Tom
11 years ago

I love both “What is love” and “Emilia”, but I guess the electro-balkan sound isn’t going to be liked by every country (especially nordics), so I’d rather go with Al Mike and Renee Santana. And I hope this battle is going to end with a good entry (not Casa Presei I mean…).
And good job Wiwi Team!

John
John
11 years ago

Please Romania, send Electric Fence!! Luminita Anghel is OK, but nothing all that special, and we have a huge number of similar sounding ballads this year.

Xander
Xander
11 years ago

Andrea Bocelli is supporting Cezar for Eurovision 2013? Wow!

Zolan
Zolan
11 years ago

I also observed in the 2nd semi-final poll that Cristian got a sudden increase in votes near the end. News of the mail-out suggests an external influence. If that support is not continued, the adjusted poll approximates to: 1st equal: Electric Fence, Andrei Leonte 2nd equal: Luminita Anghel, Elena Carstea Muttart 3rd: Renee Santana 4th: Narcis Ianau Then a significant drop to the rest. Electric Fence is my fave by a good margin (although the poll bugged out on me so I can’t register my vote). With Winny Puuh out of the picture now, there’s even more reason to send… Read more »