After TVR confirmed that Romania will take part in the Eurovision Song Contest with a new Selectia Nationala, many Romanian artists scrambled and started preparations ahead of the 14th of February deadline for submissions. Among them, Mihai Traistariu, who announced that he received no less than 24 songs for consideration.
Mihai Traistariu rose to international fame in 2006, after performing “Tornero” in Athens, accumulating 172 points – a standing record for Romania.
In a message to his fans posted on his Facebook page, the artist announced that he has been wooed by 24 songwriters from Sweden, Russia, Switzerland, Moldova, UK, Belgium, and Romania. However, he specified that:
– 15 of these songs suck big time (LOL)
– 4 of them are so-so
– 3 are good, but they are radio hit material, not Eurovision material
– 2 are great and perfect for Eurovision
We like his candor and transparency! We wish more Eurovision stars were as direct as he is.
We should also remember that Mihai also released a song last November. If shortened to the 3-minute length according to the EBU rules, “E iarna intre noi” could easily be submitted to TVR’s national selection as well.
He also added that he would adopt a similar strategy to that of 2006, when he recorded no less than eight songs , then polled his fans via Yahoo Messenger and eventually submitted “Tornero” to Selectia Nationala. Moreover, Mihai says that he wants to be “the first artist that brings the Eurovision trophy home”. The man is ambitious, y’all!
Nonetheless, he finishes the message with a disclaimer of sorts: it won’t be until next week until he announces his official return. Way to deflate our growing enthusiasm!
Either way, after returnees Paula Seling and Ovi and newcomers Stefan Stan and TeddyK announced their intention to submit their songs, this year’s Selectia Nationala already sounds good. Throw Mihai Traistariu into the mix and we have a Eurovision extravaganza!
What do you think? Are you excited that Mihai Traistariu might keep his promise that he made with “Tornero” (which incidentally means “I’ll return” in Italian) back in 2006?
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 artist has returned to represent Romania the second time. This shows how strong the national competition is and how many interesting songs to choose from are there. But if Traistariu wants to compete this year also Paula & Ovi it will be mayhem.
@ohmygosh
Why da hate, brah?
If his song is good, it could be a deserved winner. Shouldn’t have to do with his orientation.
I look forward to hearing what he has to bring to the table! I loved Tornero 😀
yahoo messenger? that thing still exists?
It looks like people here need to know what a true singer is. Mihai’s vocals are highly acclaimed, one of the reasons being his extremely unusual 5-octave vocal range. Not even the overrated Paula Seling can achieve that.
@Kevin no details are available yet, but I would expect both televotes + jury votes, as per usual.
So us the national final done by telly vote or a jury
Ovi & Paula Seling better win. To be honest, none of the other Romanian artists that said they’d participate interest me.
OMG this ugly boy with totaly sh*t Tornero want to go back? No! We have Conchita already, we don’t need other LGBT singers.
He’s great singing live, and Tornero is one of my favorite Romanian entries of all time. Selectia Nationala is going to be off the walls this year! I’m looking forward to a showdown between him and the powerhouse duo of Ovi and Paula Seling.
No No Never comeback.He is awful.I think Romania should had finished 19th place or 22th place that year
Tornero … Ugh .. The fact this did well in 2006 shows how weak and awful that year was .. The peak of the 2002 to 2006 dark period for eurovision