Tonight, Roxen performed five songs at Selecția Națională 2020, with Romania able to decide which one she should take to Eurovision 2020. Following an exciting finale, “Alcohol You” was crowned the winner and will be the track that Roxen takes to Rotterdam.
The singer delivered a heartfelt and emotional performance of “Alcohol You” at Romania’s national final. The staging — dark and mysterious — took in all the emotion that she put into the song.
Ultimately, both the jury and the public at home recognised the quality of the song and awarded it the most points.
Selecția Națională 2020 winner: Roxen with “Alcohol You”
Roxen impressed both jury and televoters with her repertoire at tonight’s selection show. However, it was “Alcohol You” that ultimately led ahead of her other competing songs.
“Beautiful Disaster”, “Cherry Red”, “Colors” and “Storm” were met with positive reactions by the jurors and the public. But none of them could eventually beat the momentum of “Alcohol You”.
“Alcohol You” is written and composed by Ionut Armas, Viky Red and Breyan Isaac. Viky Red also produced the song.
The show also saw a number of other Eurovision 2020 participants perform.
Norway’s Ulrikke Brandstorp delivered a heartfelt performance of “Attention”, while Moldova’s Natalia Gordienco performed “Prison”.
Sandro, who will be representing Cyprus at the contest, also performed. However, since he has yet to release his Eurovision 2020 song, the singer instead gave his own rendition of previous Cypriot Eurovision song “Fuego”.
Romania the bookies’ favourite to win Eurovision 2020
Following the release of her five tracks, Romania started rising in the betting odds. As of 20:00 CET on March 1, Romania sits as the bookies’ favourite on oddschecker.
Now that Romania has chosen “Alcohol You” and Roxen has delivered her first performance of the song, we’ll have to wait and see if they can remain the favourite to win Eurovision 2020.
Roxen will perform “Alcohol You” in the second half of the first semi-final on 12th May.
Are you excited that Roxen will represent Romania with “Alcohol You”? What was your favourite performance during the show? Let us know in the comments below!
I actually really like this but the bad English is so distracting!
Roxen said she will work on her diction. I don’t find her English bad though, I understand it just fine.
I love it! It kinda hypnotizes you which makes it memorable. It might be a huge surprise on the night. Roxen is incredibly talented! I’m sure she’ll do well after Eurovision.
o nooo ….. cherry red was my fav song , i am really worried with this choice for Romania , cherry red was a top tier song , Alcohol you was a border line qualifier for me. I can see why alot of people will like it , but i also can see why alot of people wont 🙁
Great!
Winner vibs……. will slay. Masterpiece, strong voice, beautiful singer!
All out there : if you don’t like it just don’t vote for this and shout it off! There are thousands of people that will sustain this moment so ………
I honestly don’t get the hype. I’m bored by this, I could go asleep during this song and not miss anything. Not a winner
She sabotaged Cherry Red so that she could be ’emo’ on the stage. Neeext.
absolutely gorgeous …. this seriously has winner vibes
Wow so many people dislike this song. I think quite a few people here just don’t have good taste. Well this is a winner in my opinion. Bravo Romania. Douze points.
What message is she trying to send, the singer is good but the song is a nonsence have you seen the lyrics?
why everyone here in the comments saying it was obvious Roxen wanted Alchohol You? based on what are you saying that?
After the results, she got asked on stage in front of everyone what was her favourite song and she replied “Alcohol You”.
It was a stupid question to begin with. Of bloody course she’s gonna pivot to the song that was chosen; what would you expect of her? To give a loud sigh and say she would’ve preferred some other song? The hate boner people have for the poor girl is ridiculous.
I agree.
I’m sorry but its probably the worst choise for Romania. The live was weak and upbeat songs would be suits stunning Roxen much better.
I dont like this verry dissapointing
I understand her for wanting this song to win. But her performance of the song cherry red was so unprofessional.
At least she could have shown little of charisma or whatever, if she and everyone knew that this song will not win. She cuold have tried go and enjoy her moment on stage.
Her voice, the staging, the dress, omg, why?
She has time to fix her voice and stahing. The song that was chosen is not bad at all. She is a good singer.
Roxen is a great performer. Great voice, great stage presence and very intense.
The song is decent. Its a nice ballad. Im not sure about the lyrics… I think it will do well, but I dont feel winners vibe.
What a massive let down. Wrong! They rigged everything and Cherry red got a horrible performance and staging on purpose. Also, her charisma is completely zero. Like a dead fish!
Totally agree!
Best song so far. see you next year in Bukarest.
They somehow managed to ruin both of the songs with last night selection . Okey, you are not comfortable singing Cherry Red and you can see that it’s not suitable for your voice but you are a professional singer and should act like that , not trying to destroy a song that had such a positive reaction . As a Romanian i had the same doubts between the two favourite songs but now , after seeing the selection , i am so disappointed by the attitude and now i hate Alcohol You simply because was chosen before the selection (… Read more »
1. Probably sampled from a movie?
2. The scale was 0, 1, 2, 3, 5 points. Beautiful Disaster was the least favorite by both jury and televote, that’s why it got the “I’m sorry, zero points”
Disappointment. Romania will not do as great as we all expected. Mark my words.
I just love Roxen how she looks tender, but in the end is really determined, not your usual young artist 😀
But she should really burn that dress.
As a Romanian I had very high expectations but this was a disappointment. What was the point of the whole evening when everyone involved wanted ‘Alcohol You’ to win? The jury was very clear about what song they prefer and which one they dislike – and shared this publicly before voting (goodbye neutrality). ‘Cherry Red’ had that winner vibe for Rotterdam and deserved better, but obviously not with the way it was boycotted on stage by all people involved. It was painful to watch; uninterested, off-key artist, horrible camera, odd Capoeira. Next time just pick the song internally as well… Read more »
Agree!
NEXT! This doesn’t do anthing for me – 90 seconds in and I’m asleep! Tea-break entry!
i think is the worst and boring song i ever heard. they voted her for the dress.she has good voice but man this is like a funeral song.i dont think she will get over semifinals.
From the live performance it was clear her favorite was Alcohol you, and I’m glad it won, its in my top3, however I loved, LOVED the continuous shot of Beautiful disaster! It really gave the vibe of those creepy vibes trending these years.
I am not the biggest fan of any of these songs but they are undoubtedly very well-produced. It seems that Romania took Eurovision seriously this year so I can’t understand why this selection looked like that? They had a chance to present the potential staging for every song and they did nothing. She was mostly standing on stage or walking around, and while it may work for “Alcohol you”, it doesn’t really fit other songs. It looked more like a random concert than a serious, professional selection. Super lazy.
Boring and i am falling in a very deep sleep. Voice of this girl weak!
Imo it’s not very good, quite dull and boring. It can qualify tho
Live this lacked charisma unfortunately and the dress wasn’t the one. There is still the opportunity to elevate this for Eurovision itself and she will have more experience in front of crowds after the tour time but for now Norway was 5 times better on the night than she was and that does not a winner make. I’m downgrading to a top 10 finisher for now until I see their staging choices.
The best song with the best performance won – it’s pretty clear that this is the song that suits her vocals the best. Still I hope they’ll fix that staging. Having her just stand there isn’t really working – at least some interesting camera angles. Although I admit that my other favourite – Beautiful Disaster was last.
p.s. During Sandro’s performance we got another proof how similar Fuego and Replay are – or he mixed them so well that some people didn’t even notice that he did so.
Alcohol you is still my favourite song this year, but her live performances showed all her stress, inexperience of singing in front of big audiences and lack of stage presence. At least her introvert character fits well with the mood of the song (and it is also because of it that I get emotional when I listen to her). The song and her voice are already there, now the team behind her must work on all these other aspects, especially on her self-esteem and trust in herself, to ensure that in Rotterdam she will finish to the place she and… Read more »
Cheap and minor.
Should not go to the finals.
totally agree
They could have saved Cherry Red for next year… But in the end, Alcohol You might be easier to translate from those simple yet effective music videos to the Eurovision stage. The preselection performances weren’t it. At least, they should change the outfit. To my taste, all dresses of the preselection show were kind of … interesting choices.
Romania! The Eurovision trophy is in your sight.. Battling right now with Lithuania and Iceland.. Alcohol you, very modern, melancholic pop song, haunting melody.. This will be great..
1st listen: Boring!
2nd listen: ok
3rd listen: interesting
4th listen: I love it
5th listen: WHY DO FAIRYTALES FAIL BABY
Not a huge fan of the songs she was given
They all feel quite basic or generic to me, although polished and high quality
Wish her the best of luck but I can’t see Romania winning this year
Bravo!!! Good luck to you, sis!!!!
She is a great talent. But the whole thing needs polishing, Her accent is not helping. it is also too much like last years winning song. And i don’t like the lyrics. But good luck.
It’s definitely better than the last the romanian songs.
But I don’t give it the label winner, there is still something missing, and she needs to improve her vocals and to change the dress (Distracting!)
I’m only confused why during Cherry Red, which has Spanish in it and mentions Malaga, she had Capoeira dancers, which are a Brazilian thing? How do you confuse Spain with Brazil?
She was purposefully trying to not have that one be good.
It doesn’t matter if it looked lovely. It’s like singing a song about Paris surrounded by Flamenco dancers. It can look lovely but doesn’t make much sense.
Her live is not good at all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-GP2SCpJ5I
This gives me Billy Eilish vibes… I love it!
I don’t understand the hype and why she’s so high in the odds…Glad Alcohol You won though because it’s one of the two songs where Roxen barely needs to move or look enthused. I still think this needs improved staging. Cherry Red was a train wreck and laughable though…she literally swayed and moved her shoulders during the drop and the dancers were awful. Awful dancers, fake fighters and awful to look at.
Who do you think should be higher in the odds?
I can name a couple: Germany and Italy…At least these two artists have good live vocals.
Ididn`t like any of the songs, when they were revealed, but this was really a great performance!!. Well done.
Absolutely no shade intended, but can someone explain why this has become the bookies favourite now?
Because, let’s be honest, this year has very few alternative favourites. Every year I tell people to be patient and that better songs are coming, but this year has really been quite a low standard so far. Let’s wait and see if someone can take her spot! (I’m not saying I want someone to do that, I’m just saying wait and see)
Congrats Roxen on Cherry Road, you managed to make my Michela a great mover and dancer.
So we are left with 1 RAKATA and it will probably be israel song.
Love “alchohol you”, it was my favorite and her best song. Imo. Stand behind it and be proud.
Shalom and good luck from israel…
Geez…I can’t believe fans and bookies are so high on this…I am not sure why this is a standout to anyone with so many songs already picked that are basically variations of this (Norway, Slovenia, Moldova, Poland, Australia, Albania) and possibly more to come (Dotter?)…and the annunciation (!!!)…have mercy I don’t know half the words she’s saying…and she seems rather lifeless…I guess people think she’s pulling a Billie Eilish–and I think regular people will think it’s a pale imitation of it
I’m curious: How would you suggest she improve to become more lively, considering that she is actually alive?
Less dead behind the eyes. And project some emotion. Living does note emoting.
Haha, that reminds me of theatre directors I have worked with in the past. My response would probably be: “There’s nothing for me to move behind my eyes. But if it’s emotion you want, I can get angry at your suggestions quite easily, if that will help.” 😉
Yeah ok, the usual “it’s all ballads this year” comment, but why include Dotter in this?
pop ballad like Sia.
Not that they are all ballads—they are modern female ballads with a bit of a Sia vibe. Some are bound to cancel each other out. Trust me we went through this in Kiev—many fell by the wayside.
This might actually be the winner. Roxen is mezmorising to me. It was an emotional live performance of a most unusual deeply emotional song. Okay, so this is not the fun Eurovision some of us once knew before; Eurovision is evolving again. This is my 30th ESC and I have seen many changes. This recent shift into dramatic songs seems to be another evolution.
It’s so funny when I give praise and get voted down for it. I’m like: “What would you rather see instead? Maybe I could rubbish the song and the singer, and that would get upvotes?!”
I just don’t understand the purpose of downvoters on praise. Such silliness.
People here are really toxic. If their fave wins, they’ll still be upset somehow. But I agree with you on both posts (I love “Alcohol You” and I hope it does well), so here are my upvotes 🙂
Yeyy, thank you. 🙂
For me click + or – is agree or not agree with someone’s opinion. And not like or dislike thing. So be calm and don’t care about +/- clicks. Don’t need to take it so personal becouse that also are such silliness. 🙂
It is technical, rather than personal. I was once told that if a user had too many dislikes on a blog, they could be blocked or removed from the blog. Hence I’d rather there weren’t too many for no reason, otherwise the continuity of the profile would be interrupted. I hope that makes sense.
Thank you, Robyn. 🙂
I take it all back then.
I watched the final yesterday and thought Rozen had a stage presence of fish plus I don’t like her vocals. I liked studio cuts of all 5 songs a lot but listening and watching her yesterday… Regarding Eurovision, we usually say someone is a great artist and a singer but the song doesn’t do justice to her/him. Here the situation is absolutely different – the artist is way behind the level of the songs.
#theroop
I absolutely LOVE the song! But I kinda think her live vocals were a little bit… off? That being said I still support Romania 100%. They deserve to win finally!
Apparently, she had neck pain. Maybe that’s why.
That downvote, lol
The song itself is kinda bland, but the way she performs it really brings it to life. Not a winner, but a good addition to the 2020 lineup.