After representing Romania at Eurovision 2012 in Baku with “Zaleilah”, Mandinga, and particularly their beautiful vocalist Elena Ionescu, have enjoyed a lot of success and screen time on Romanian television. The winner of Eurovision’s Next Top Model 2012 was a contestant on “Dancing With a Star” and “Your Face Sounds Familiar”. And, following the grand tradition of Eurovision contestants from the UK and Denmark, she recently made waves on “Splash!”
Unfortunately, her latest adventure fell short of success. In fact, you might say it took a major dive. The judges eliminated her from the contest after just one jump, preventing her from advancing to the semi-final. Despite showing promise during training, Elena landed on her back when it mattered most. She earned marks of 5.5 for overall impression, 8 for artistic impression and 4 for technical ability. That ain’t cute, y’all.
You can watch her 3-m back jump here (second video).
Elena’s band mates Ciupy and El Nino came to support her—and even performed a synchronized jump. But it wasn’t enough to prevent our girl from cracking under the pressure. No worries, Elena! After all, you did advance to the Grand Final in 2012.
Our advice? Stick to singing and looking pretty as always!
Source: Antena 1. Photo: facebook.com/mandingaofficial
