Paula Seling and Ovi stormed to victory in Brasov, winning Selectia Nationala with “Miracle” and getting the chance to represent Romania once again. Four years ago, the Romanian duo finished third in Oslo with “Playing With Fire”.

Paula and Ovi’s performance was the one to beat. It featured groundbreaking hologram technology that stole the show from the very start. Paula Seling’s 18-second high note was received with a tsunami of applause by the audience, and Ovi didn’t sound half bad himself. Some impressive performances followed, but none managed to rise to Paula and Ovi’s level of Eurovision extravaganza.

Despite the fact that Vaida won the televote by a huge margin (close to 5,000 votes over Paula and Ovi, who were in second place), following a controversial promotional campaign that saw her team offering watches and livestream subscriptions for votes, the jury chairman came and saved the day, bluntly announcing that “Miracle” won the overall vote. It was later revealed that, overall, Paula Seling and Ovi were first, followed by Vaida, Vizi Imre, and Anca Florescu.

An awkward moment happened when a jury member fell from the stage, shocking the audience and the artists alike. She appeared to have broken a leg, but she is fine, and she did bring good luck to Paula and Ovi. Who then promptly broke the glass trophy, but as the Romanian saying goes, “shards bring good luck”, so hopefully this is a good omen for them. Anyway, as Paula confessed later, they broke the trophy in 2010 as well, so it certainly doesn’t mean bad news.

Are you happy that “Miracle” won? And what are Paula and Ovi’s chances to better their Eurovision record?

Bogdan Honciuc is a Romania-based correspondent for WiwiBloggs.com. You can follow him on Twitter @stingovision. You can also keep up-to-date with the latest Eurovision news and gossip by following the team on Twitter @wiwibloggs and by liking our Facebook page.

Photo courtesy of TVR

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deppyyyyyy
deppyyyyyy
10 years ago

pefrect song romania….congrats from greece…

Edith
Edith
10 years ago

I don’t think that Playing with fire was better then Miracle. They are two different songs, that carry completely different messages. Playing with fire was more like a contest between the two, while Miracle is a really uplifting song and it brings a lot of energy on the stage. In these 4 years both Paula and Ovi have evolved, grown a lot, artistically speaking. They already have the Eurovision experience and this helps them a lot. Two great voices… Paula’s long crescendo left me speachless. It is something very few artists can do. And then , their show, beside the… Read more »

Mex
Mex
10 years ago

How predictable.

Charles
Charles
10 years ago

I never liked them back in 2010 and the feeling that their chemistry sounds and looks too artificial to me remains … but while I acknowledge that their 2010 song was somehow fun to listen though too parody-like for my taste … this one is just a piece of rubbish dance crap that Guetta or Avicci must have rejected at some point. This is what happens when ESC fans rely on a certain singer’s past popularity instead of having critical ears towards the song. You wanted them to win and now … listen to the crap they’ve chosen. Enjoy!

R
R
10 years ago

I love Paula and Ovi… But this song is a trainwreck. It’s going to tank unfortunately.

“Playing With Fire” was feisty, strong and full of character. This song sounds like a b-side…

Kiki
Kiki
10 years ago

I believe that they are the best choice. Maybe the song isn’t as good as Playing with fire, but not bad either. Besides, they both have awesome voices and experience so I think that their performance will be pretty good. Good luck to them !

Armond
Armond
10 years ago

Paula is the Miracle! she’s just so effortless! wow I’m speechless. This can definitely win the whole thing.

JJ
JJ
10 years ago

Simply the best Paula and Ovi, i like it very much the energy on stage, strong entry, very good voices. Definetly top 5 on CPH, good luck ! 🙂

Zolan
Zolan
10 years ago

@Padraig. I presume you’re saying that the main problem with “Samo Shampioni” was that it sounded bad, as opposed to simply being old news, and “Miracle” won’t have that problem. Fair enough.
My point is that returning with anything less than a significant improvement will surely disappoint fans and come across as dated to everyone else.

Julian
Julian
10 years ago

Live acts are hugely different than studio ones. Computer adjustments are not in favor of artists and can play up a song. But then the imperfections of what artists can really deliver, the experience on stage is what makes a winner. Paula and Ovi were best by quite a margin while second was surprisingly Vizi Imre. Stefan Stan, Anca Florescu, Santana girl failed to impress. Of the three Anca was acceptable but still her video is much better than her live performance. As to Vaida like Turcescu the year before they come with their reputation as TV presenters, moderators, and… Read more »

beccaboo1212
10 years ago

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! My favorite won! Bucharest 2015, please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Xepher
Xepher
10 years ago

Not surprised this won, I can see this as either a top 5 or bottom 5 song, as much I loved them in 2010. Good luck Ovi & Paula

Hannes
Hannes
10 years ago

Welcome in my bottom 5, Romania. Horrible song.

Padraig Muldoon
Admin
10 years ago

@Zolan I’m not the biggest fan of Paula & Ovi, but I can say one thing – they do not sound like a bag of drowning cats – which is exactly what Elitsa & Stoyan sounded like. I’m sorry there is no comparison! (And I’m saying this as an Anca fan)

Benny
Benny
10 years ago

Well done to Paula and Ovi. With a neat show, I am sure they will be able to make it to top 5 this year. Best of luck.

Zolan
Zolan
10 years ago

More entertaining than “One More Time.” (Phew!)
But returning with a similar sound didn’t work out so well for Elitsa & Stoyan.

And even the most impressive stunt vocal is not much to hang a song onto.
Still, confident and professional delivery counts for a lot, so well done P & O.

Deven O'Kearney
10 years ago

The countries that are in contention for winning this year are:

1. Hungary
2. Ireland
3. Romania

Alex
Alex
10 years ago

This just shows you what good vocals will do for you in a national selection show… even without having watched the other entries, it’s pretty clear to me why the jury picked them to win. And wow, bribing other people to vote for your entry sure isn’t right, Vaida! It’s clear now that their live act can more than suffice for average songwriting. I wasn’t expecting Ovi to hit the high notes so well, or for Paula to pull off that extremely long crescendo without taking a breath! But it would be nice to see the instrumental redone in a… Read more »

Melissa J
10 years ago

Can’t believe someone would try to buy votes like that! I’m happy for paula and ovi.

sopon
sopon
10 years ago

Good. We need a second (and third) ESC veteran going.

Easpag
Easpag
10 years ago

Glad they won. I would’ve been happy if Anca won either.

Hebbuzz
Hebbuzz
10 years ago

chaotic, tacky, screamy ….

Dar
Dar
10 years ago

Uggh , cheap and tacky , can’t believe people would even regard this as a eurovision winner .. No originality what so ever

Petar
Petar
10 years ago

1.Hungary
2.Ireland
3.Spain
4.Romania
5.Estonia
6.Macedonia
7.Switzerland
8.Ukraine
9.Belarus
10.Italy
11.Iceland
12.Finland
13.Albania
14.Lithuania
15.Poland
16.Latvia
17.Malta

Petar
Petar
10 years ago

Vaida have better chance at Eurovision with her song.

VilijaFan
VilijaFan
10 years ago

Should have been Anca.

D
D
10 years ago

I’m happy for them but “Miracle” wasn’t the best song. They’re not going to be doing better than “Playing With Fire” did, but I’m sure they’ll do fine as Romania always does.