Romania The Humans in Green Room at Second Semi-final
Romania, Men of The Humans, 2

On Thursday Romania failed to qualify for the Grand Final of Eurovision for the very first time since the introduction of the semi-finals. Now, as fans point their fingers at the band, the song, and the Romanian broadcaster, TVR is shifting the blame to technical issues that reportedly prevented viewers in Germany and Italy from voting for the Romanian song “Goodbye”.

During the Second Semi-final, viewers in Italy were informed via the broadcaster RAI4 that no less than three telephone networks were down and that their respective subscribers could not vote for their favourite acts. These three providers were, according to Italian Eurovision site Eurofestival News, Wind, 3, and PosteMobile.

The site reports that an estimated 30 million people were affected by the outage during the 15 minutes of televoting. Furthermore, viewers in Germany were reportedly unable to cast their vote from one of the main telephone networks there.

In a press release posted on TVR website, the broadcaster highlights that a vast chunk of Romanian viewers in these two countries were unable to vote for The Humans, thus depriving Romania of the all-important diaspora vote that had helped push the home acts to the Grand Final in the past. Given that singer Cristina Caramarcu lives in Italy, which is also home to over 1.2 million Romanians, TVR was especially counting on the diaspora there to support The Humans and help them to qualify. Thousands of Romanians living in Italy and Germany took to social media to complain about not being able to vote, and their messages went viral.

Romania bid “Goodbye” to Eurovision 2018

The Humans won Selectia Nationala with a song that was considered dated for Eurovision 2018, but after the rehearsals in Lisbon, the press noted that Romania increased their odds of qualifying thanks to innovative staging, which included mannequins, masks, and a lot of movement. The positive feedback from the media on the ground increased TVR’s hopes that Romania would keep their qualification record intact.

After Romania failed to qualify for the Grand Final for the first time since the introduction of the semi-finals, Romanian fans have been expressing their disappointment with this situation on social media, some going as far as suspecting an EBU conspiracy to eliminate their country from the final show of the contest this year. This, of course, could not be further from the truth, as not even the EBU could shut down four mobile providers in order to prevent an act from advancing to the Grand Final — not to mention the fact that the organisers of the contest would have no reason to do so in the first place.

Meanwhile, The Humans also took to social media, to thank the fans for their support. They also thanked their detractors for encouraging the band to improve their performance, and called for the support of Romania’s artists regardless of the results.

Contrary to press reports, TVR has not filed any complaint

On Saturday morning, Romanian press reported that TVR had filed an official complaint with the EBU. However, we have contacted the Romanian Delegation for official confirmation, and they dispelled this as fake news. “As of this moment, no official complaint has been filed,” Head of Press Cristian Acatrinei told wiwibloggs, declining to make any further comment.

The EBU is yet to issue an official response. Until the split results are released tonight after the Grand Final, we will not know how close Romania was to qualifying and whether the technical problems in Italy and Germany were indeed The Humans’ downfall. Nonetheless, it is important to specify that not just Romania was affected by the outage and that the viewers in these two countries were unable to vote not just for The Humans, but for all of the 18 acts in the Second Semi-final. Moreover, the public at home could still vote via the Eurovision app.

What do you think? Did the televoting issues in Italy in Germany really impact Romania’s result? Were you unable to vote in Italy or Germany? Let us know in the comment section below!

 

49 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Christian
Christian
5 years ago

Reminds me of last year when Jacques Houdek critized the juries of his neighbor countries. What a hilarious discussion.

Datme
Datme
5 years ago

When I voted on Thursday (from Germany) something weird happened. Instead of hearing the country’s name I voted for, the voice said that I had voted for Croatia. This happened twice. After that it was normal again.

Blacksoxxx
Blacksoxxx
5 years ago

As a TV station I would be ashamed and embarrassed if I had to admit that the own entry will only pass to the final due to diaspora voting. Instead of hoping that diaspora voting will be the reason that an outdated song reaches the final TVR should take care of paying their debts to the EBU.

Daniel_2017
Daniel_2017
5 years ago

Well, after the reveal of the split results, it turns out Romania received 12 points from Italy’s televote, so there you have it!

EDWARD
EDWARD
5 years ago

oh my lord, it actually DID cost them a place in the final, they were 11th by only three points that they would have gotten from Italy and Germany through diaspora voting.

Pierluigi
Pierluigi
5 years ago
Reply to  EDWARD

But they received 12 points from Italy’s televote despite the problem

Guest
Guest
5 years ago

I’ve listened to this song more than once. It’s ok, but… come on, this would have been great in a show like ESC some 20+ years ago…

Guest
Guest
5 years ago

I’ve listened to the song more than once. It’s ok, but… it would have been perfect some 20+ years ago for this kind of show (ESC).

Perrs
Perrs
5 years ago

For me Moldova send so much better song than Romania from 2005 to 2018. Only in 2005,2006,2010,2014 Romania had better song than Moldova.

Perrs
Perrs
5 years ago

Only wiwibloggs lobbying so hard for Romania in past few days from start of reharasals, as they lobbying from reharasal for 2 albanian singer one from Albania and one from Cyprus. Before rehearasal they don t do that.

Leo M
Leo M
5 years ago

Oh the blame game has started. Their song just wasn’t good enough and their staging was too out there. The mannequins were an awful idea.

Ioana
Ioana
5 years ago
Reply to  Leo M

The song is good but there was a problem in Italy, my aunt couldn’t vote for her own country

Daniel_2017
Daniel_2017
5 years ago
Reply to  Ioana

Romania got 12 points from italy’s televote, look at the split results. The problem wasn’t there!

Madrileño
Madrileño
5 years ago

My suport to ROMANIA

Raluken
Raluken
5 years ago

Oh come on.. it’s not like diaspora has to vote for us. That’s not how the contest works. Just get over it and accept that the song and the staging were not good enough. Let’s do your best next year. There were so many great songs this year we def must step up our game.

Rimig
Rimig
5 years ago

It was probably not good enough for qualifying, but…
…I liked this entry more than last year’s Yodel It!

sile
sile
5 years ago

As romanian, I think Romania should stop sending rock songs. Hungary is better than Romania when it comes to rock, just like Italy is better than Germany at rap. Each country should focus on what it does best.
And nobody in Romania agrees with TVR, this reaction of TVR is like the reaction of rats when they smell poison.

Denis
Denis
5 years ago

So they basically admitted they only qualify due to diaspora votes? Well that’s honest!

Yaa
Yaa
5 years ago
Reply to  Denis

So only bloc votes should be aloud? If UK wouldn’t have voted in the first semi do you think Ireland would have qualified? 3 nordic entries in second semi, how many points do you think they’ve exchanged?! I was able to vote but I can imagine the frustration of those who couldn’t. Fair play for all, please!

Denis
Denis
5 years ago
Reply to  Yaa

Ireland would have qualified any way. It felt authentic and touched a lot of hearts. all Scandinavian entries would still have made it because they were good

Yaa
Yaa
5 years ago
Reply to  Denis

I don’t argue your opinion but you will see for yourself when the voting is revealed that I said is slso true.

ESC Vegi
ESC Vegi
5 years ago

Sorry Romania, I voted from Germany for other countries but not for you…

sile
sile
5 years ago

Bogdan Honciuc, you are out of you mind to give a voice to TVR. The same news is in Romanian media and are only negative comments against TVR. Romanians are NOT upset about NQ, and all comments are against TVR. So stupid broadcaster.

My Vision
My Vision
5 years ago

Lol, the only reason this failed was because it was an extremely bland entry, any other explanations are pure delusions. I’d say this is karma for TVR’s corrupted selection #Justice4Feli

Jaki
Jaki
5 years ago

Wil wiwi make an article about the drama thats surrounding Ryan and his old tweets?

Leooabel
Leooabel
5 years ago
Reply to  Jaki

What happened

Jaki
Jaki
5 years ago
Reply to  Leooabel

a

Leooabel
Leooabel
5 years ago
Reply to  Jaki

b

Tuvddtgccj57g
Tuvddtgccj57g
5 years ago

It’s easy to laugh if off, but actually i’ve read about the same problem concerning other country from semi 2 which didn’t go through. Actually a lot of countries with usually strong in televote didn’t go through. So i wouldn’t be suprused if ebu messed with the results. It is clearly visible that they support certain countries.

ted
ted
5 years ago

Sending an 80’s style soft rock song to eurovision 2018 was a silly idea.
But Romania, you looked amazing and great staging. Quit moaning and come back next year with a better song.

Geeky Monky
Geeky Monky
5 years ago

When the lines were closed they were closed for everybody, when the lines were open they were open to vote for everybody.

The percentage of votes for Romania should have been the same albeit in lower number. Unless there’s a phone company specially used by the Romanian diaspora.

Now, the thing with San Marino is the real deal, commentators should be impartial.

Block voting should stop, and the “Big Five” shouldn’t exist.
It, among other things, reduces the quality of the show. The benefited countries feel safe in sending worse songs.

Héctor
Héctor
5 years ago

Mmm well, I think every country in the 2nd SF was affected by this issue and not only ROmania. Every country lost potential points, not just Romania. But it is very funny how they are basically admitting that they qualify thanks to the diaspora. That’s a bit pathetic tbh.

Don’t be salty and admit there were better songs. I loved the performance, though.

filipko54
filipko54
5 years ago

I don’t know how it works in Italy or Germany but when I want to vote using app (I am Czech), it still makes me send SMS, so if something like that happened in Czech Republic, we won’t be able to vote at all

Valeria
Valeria
5 years ago

Also in Sweden. A friend voted when the lines were opened 20 times and when they closed he received the mesasaege that he voted after the lines were closed and his vite is invalid . So conclude yourself ?.

Dan
Dan
5 years ago
Reply to  Valeria

Conclude what? That your friend doesn’t know how to use a phone? For the record, I voted 20 times from Sweden without a hitch.

Anita
Anita
5 years ago

I am from Germany and I couldn’t phone. At first I was devastated but than I voted via the app (sms) and it worked. It would be interesting to know how many German voters could not phone.

MoleL
MoleL
5 years ago
Reply to  Anita

I could phone but they were saying something else. One Time my Vote counted for Croatia which isn’t even in this semi-final and i also voted for Slovenia but they said my vote counted for Norway… (I didn’t want that 😀 )

M_K
M_K
5 years ago

That’s outrageous! I bet that’s also why San Marino, Russia, Georgia, Poland, Malta, Latvia and Montenegro didn’t qualify. If it weren’t for the televoting issues, 18 countries would have qualified for the final. 🙁

Nate
Nate
5 years ago

So sorry about its non qualification for relying in diaspora….

Not at all. If you send a bad song, dont expect it to qualify just because of the diaspora, because in a song contest, the truly unfair thing is making it to the final just because of national pride.

Marvic
Marvic
5 years ago

Get it over! It was a very hard semi final…everybody knew some good songs would not qualify

human melovina
human melovina
5 years ago
Reply to  Marvic

Ok, let’s do the things clear. I don’t know about this system of votes, I don’t understand it. Romania had a good performance. The song was good, but it seems it was not quite for this contest, it was rather for a rock Live Aid. I am sorry for them, because they are good and I am sorry because every time Romania was good, sometimes great. For example last year was very good, they finished on the 7th place, but this year maybe was not good enough to qualify. People, you take part for a very long time, you never… Read more »

human melovina
human melovina
5 years ago
Reply to  human melovina

So Romania, please qualify next year, I want to see you in the first 10 again.

MollieLouise
MollieLouise
5 years ago

A country shouldn’t rely on its diaspora vote to do well, if it does then it just proves that the song isn’t strong enough. Hopefully the likes of Romania, Russia, Azerbaijan, Poland etc will learn for next year and all send stronger songs rather than just safe ones because they think that the diaspora will back them up.

Jo.
Jo.
5 years ago

The results haven’t been released yet, so what if both Germany and Italy gave 12 points to Romania in the televoting anyway?

Jo.
Jo.
5 years ago
Reply to  Jo.

Next time send Farmacia Catena.

I love Paula Seling
I love Paula Seling
5 years ago
Reply to  Jo.

I’m dying :)))))

MoleL
MoleL
5 years ago
Reply to  Jo.

Like that’s going to happen…. 😀

Jo.
Jo.
5 years ago
Reply to  MoleL

From Italy…very likely.