Mihai Traistariu released “E iarna intre noi” and Mandinga premiered “Cinema”, while the Romanian head of delegation Dan Manoliu dropped a bomb this week. (Or not.)
First things first, the good news. Mihai Traistariu, who represented Romania in 2006 with “Tornero”, bringing a record number of points for the country – 172 – and finishing fourth that year, marked his return with “E iarna intre noi” (It’s Winter Between Us). It is a sensitive ballad that echoes similar feelings brought to us by Cezar’s “Painful Love” last month. Unlike Cezar’s big production however, Mihai stripped the song to a bare minimum, trying to convey his pain while accompanied just by a piano:
Mandinga, on the other hand, recovered swiftly after Elena Ionescu was eliminated (too early, in our opinion) from the Romanian version of “Dancing With The stars” (Dansez pentru tine), hiring Elena’s dance partner Freek as band choreographer and releasing a new collaboration, “Cinema”, together with rapper GLANCE. Here they are performing on a Romanian TV show:
However, Dan Manoliu made the headlines in the Romanian press today, trying to dismiss the rumors that Romania’s withdrawal from Eurovision has been decided. Over the weekend, a private Facebook conversation leaked in which Manoliu was expressing his doubts that Romania would be present in Copenhagen next year. The social media promptly exploded, but the Romanian head of delegation backpedaled, saying that nothing is certain until the official announcement is made by the Romanian broadcaster TVR. Contacted by Wiwibloggs.com, Mr. Manoliu confirmed that we should not speculate until the deadline for submissions, which expires on Friday, 22nd of November, and that the board of TVR was still to make a decision. Similar rumors and fears were dispelled last year, when Romania confirmed its participation at the last minute (on 28 November 2012), with a Eurovision budget that equaled Ireland’s – 200,000 euros – and surpassed everyone’s expectations.
Nonetheless, speculations abound in the Romanian media, after TVR failed to secure the all-important final qualification matches for Rio Brazil 2014 this week. The press claims that, if TVR can’t afford to broadcast football matches, which attract the biggest audiences, it is questionable that it will be able to organize another Selectia Nationala, pay the high participation fees and promote the Romanian representative like it did in 2013.
We’ll let you know as soon as we hear aned his shock and disbelief y official news, but here’s hoping that Romania will be in next year! With such an impressive record, the Eastern-European country is an important asset to the Eurovision Song Contest and one of those nations with real chances of winning the big trophy. Or, at the very least, dazzle and surprise us with outlandish stuff like Cezar’s memorable “It’s My Life”.
UPDATE: Ovi Jacobsen, who is currently adding his finishing touches to what he calls “a winning song” for Romania (after teasing us that it might be for Norway), expressed his shock and disbelief at the possibility that Romania might withdraw, in an interview for Romanian daily Libertatea, adding that “it would be a shame not to find the financial resources for such an event.” Moreover, on his Facebook page he revealed that the song would be a duet. Could we have a new “Playing With Fire” on our hands?
UPDATE 2: Luminita Anghel, who brought Romania to third place in 2005, has been vocal against the TVR president, saying that he should have been thinking about the budget for Eurovision ahead of time. She also added that, despite receiving several songs for Eurovision 2014, she is no longer interested to participate in Selectia Nationala. On the other hand, Mihai Traistariu also reacted to the rumors, saying it would be a pity to give up on such a prestigious show as Eurovision. He also added that he had not been approached with a good song, but that he would be willing to participate again with one, “provided that it sounds better than ‘Tornero’.” (Source: spynews.ro)
Bogdan Honciuc is a Romania-based correspondent for WiwiBloggs.com. You can follow him on Twitter @stingovision.
Photo: http://www.facebook.com/Mihai.Traistariu
No no no ! Send Inna 🙂
lol Charles.. Greece has been putting in a lot of effort themselves to come back.
That Mihai song you put up sounds like the slow piano version of “This is What Dreams Are Made Of” LOL
This would be bad – Romania is one of my favorite Eurovision countries. I would like Mihai Traistariu or Akcent to represent the country in 2014.
I’ve had a love hate relationship with Romania – I always either love the song or hate it. 2008 was just …. but 2010, 2011 and 2012 were quite good. 2013 was a bit of a joke entry.
@Mikemilliano: Don’t bother worrying about those three. Azerbaijan always has magic tricks up in their sleve to reach the top5 and a lot of votes coming from a lot of people for reasons a lot of us will never understand. Greece is the poor child everybody feels sorry for in ESC. Everybody is carrying it back to Eurovision like a baby … when in fact it would do them good staying away for a year or two to get their stuff together. Then Moldova … they just need a good song like the one this year, they will go to… Read more »
Romania withdrawing? Great! I couldn’t care less … if only they managed to stop playing the fool and got right into business by giving us some great music and not entertainment jokes and craps. See you in 2015 then!
I really wish you would join!!!!
If Romania will withdraw, Moldova will panic because there is no one else to give their 12 points to? Same problem is with Greece –> Cyprus and Azerbaijan –> Turkey
Nice. I really hope you guys manage to qualify.
Ooops. You are, of course, correct. I got confused because Romania’s campaign for qualification at the FIFA World Cup is entitled “RioMania” 🙂
I REALLY doubt Romania will withdraw. They have a great record and send great songs from time to time. Also, if financial dificulties are abound, I’m sure having an internal selection won’t hurt anybody.
And it’s Brazil 2014. Not Rio.