Romania have taken another step towards choosing their act for Eurovision 2022. Following the second part of the Selecţia Naţională 2022 semi-final, ten acts have now qualified to the grand final in three week’s time.
After semi-final one on Thursday, 20 acts performed again on Saturday evening for semi-final two. From these, ten participants were selected to progress to the grand final on 5 March.
The result of semi-final two was solely decided by a five-member jury. This was composed of Alexandra Ungureanu, Ozana Barabancea, Randi, Cristian Faur and Adrian Romcescu.
Selectia Nationala 2022 finalists
Note: Performance videos are from the first part of the semi-final that aired on Thursday.
Alex Parker & Bastien – “All this love”
Andrei Petruş – “Take me”
Cream, Minodora & Diana Bucșă – “România mea”
Dora Gaitanovici – “Ana”
Gabriel Basco – “One night”
Kyrie Mendél – “Hurricane”
MØISE – “Guilty”
PETRA – “Ireligios”
VANU – “Never give up”
WRS – “Llámame”
Selectia Nationala 2022 Final
The grand final of Selecţia Naţională 2022 will take place on Saturday 5 March.
The winner will be chosen using a combination of votes from a jury and public televoting. Each juror will reward points of 12, 10, 8-1 in order of their favourites. The public vote will be determined by a complicated method – in short, if song A received the most viewer votes and song B received 10% of song A’s votes, then song A will be awarded 12 points and song B will be awarded 1.2 points.
In the end, the winner will become Romania’s act for Eurovision 2022. Romania are set to perform in the second half of semi-final two on 12 May 2022.
What do you make of the Selecţia Naţională 2022 semi-final results? Who is your favourite of the ten finalists? Let us know in the comments below.
I take that back ..just seen him perform with 2 dancers ..was great…best by far..this chap has real charm, and the different look is fantastic. Far less gay and more mainstream appeal. I love it.
some good singers here, but very weak songs. The best catchy song is llamame by WRS, though I dont like the performance at all. He would be better standing still.
I think Its between Vanu and Alex/Bastien right now
Didn’t follow the semis and maybe that was for the better because the best song do svidanya is not in the final juries don’t know what works in romania it seems…
I missed the SF so this was a clean star for me. I was expecting dated songs, dull ballads, one or two ethno divas, a little bit of folk and some classic rock. You know, a bit like Moldova. Though I gotta say this turn out to be better that the regular O Melodie Pentru Europa. Actually I was hit in the face by Alex Parker and Bastien’s “All this love”. Unfortunately, the overall level didn’t catch up with it BUT I’m happy with “All This love”. Sure it sounds just like any other synth pop retro 80s tunes but… Read more »
E-an-na were mocking Romani culture. Let me explain to you why. First of all, the name of the song is a direct link to ‘manele’, witch is a genre of music sang mostly by the Roma people, in Romanian. The thing is, their song doesn’t even sound like a manele song, and also they were wearing attire inspired by the traditional clothing of the Roma people. This is not celebrating Romani culture, but bringing it down, just for the rest of the world to have a good laugh. Considering the fact that none of the members of Enana are part of the… Read more »
thank you for this insight! very sad to see this happen. standing in solidarity with the roma community always. <3
Well we do not to need a strong ESC every Year, some countries are already out of final — and even Sasha will not help them. I guess Isreal, Romania, Latvia, Bulgaria or Lithunia needs to invite sand lady to qualify at least haha
U can (-) many times but reality will be shown in May 🙂
U can hate the songs many times, but reality will be shown in May
ever since 2018, romania has been flopping and it looks like it’ll continue here. i heard they are asking why no one wants to participate for romania? WHY??? because you eliminate the songs that’ll help you qualify for the final…duh! so stupid dude lmfao
Didn’t the Romanian Broadcaster say, if it’s another year without qualifying, they would withdraw???
If the pandemic had not killed 2020, Roxen would have qualified with “Alcohol You”. That song was more dramatic–musically and lyrically–than “Amnesia” last spring; and I imagine the stage performance would have been as well.
Dora Gaitanovici – “Ana” has to win. From the day of the songs’ releases it was on my playlist and alongside “Voy a Morir” from Luna Ki, the only song on my playlist from the songs released for ESC or for NF. It really has something and the singer is extremely talented and stunning.
yes dora’s was also my favorite! everyone very charismatic and appearing to enjoy themselves. loved the violinist.
Gabriel to Turin!
Eliminating Jesse was the first sign something is wrong…
These are a bit.. well not that great let’s just say that, I don’t think Romania has such a high budget at the moment so arguably they wouldn’t even be able to host the contest. Kinda sad, they used to be so good before, but it’s refreshing to get some different countries in the final these days!
It’s not odd at all.
The powers that be, like the ones in Spain, have a winner in mind already. Hence the reason so many fan favourites got turfed out.
Don’t get ne wrong. I want Spain to win at the moment, but are we really going to pretend countries do not set up the voting in ways that ensure a predeter.ined outcome?
Why would they keep dull, middle of the road songs like Hurricane and Take me, over so many of the gorgeous songs that were in Romanian, and bangers like Russian Doll or The Other half of Me? Make it make sense.
Don’t get me wrong, some of my favorite songs did get in, but some of the choises here are baffling.
For me: Andrei Petrus (my overall 1st) Vanu (my overall 3rd) Moise (my overall 6th) Subjectively, I don’t find this line-up to be a total diaster some are claiming it to be. But objectively, it’s an odd decision to cut off two absolute fan-favorites: Aris and E-an-na. In fact, considering how the selection is handled, I see no point of there being a second semi at all. If there was enough time in the schedule for all 20 to perform in a row, it might have been the final anyway. If the juries are voting separately, and according to their… Read more »
The cut off of Aris can come off as surprising, but it’s not the same case for E-an-na once you remember they had to appeal the jury’s initial decision in order to participate 🙁
Thinking about it, it’s not surprising at all, but it is still frustrating, considering how much the audiences would have pushed them (and I’m not even a big fan of the song myself). I mean, if the audiences had the opportunity to vote for 5 of the artists online, what’s the point if the juries would have 100% of the vote in the very next stage? And it’s not like they didn’t have live performances before that or as if there’ll be a different set of jurors. Even in the finals, the only thing televote could do is perhaps push… Read more »
I trust Dora, don’t know enough the others. ESC is nowhere in Romania just like TVR but getting rid of the kitsch acts EANNA, Cesar, Eugenia was a good choice from them, maybe there be less of those next years.
Now Aris is out so am I. She had the only song I liked. Some are okay but that was the only one that I chose to listen to voluntarily
Out of all the performances I can only see two songs having the potential to look well on the Eurovision stage. First is Petra with Ireligios because if you listen to the song I think you can imagine where they can change the lightning in different parts of the song on the stage plus I have to say I think the vibe of the song is definitely different from what I have seen in the national selections so far. The other song would be Alex Parker and Bastian because it’s a very likeable song that has a decent hook in… Read more »
OK, I do not mind Aris, Cezar and E-an-na being out that much since I thought their songs are pretty poor. However the line-up of the final does lack a bit of spice now, with mostly guys singing low to mid-tempo songs. And it must be said that if TVR wants to get the Romanian public interested in Eurovision again, especially the younger crowd, it seems obvious that this is not the approach they should take.
România Mea is the last song left that would be my winner of ESC 2022. Romania, you have one single choice
WRS Llamame gives me totally Joci Pápai vibes.i like this the most. But all in all not a very good line-up.
Sorry, but not a single one of these interests or excites me in any way
As a romanian I can totally agree with you. None of the 20 semifinalists deserved to represent the country. This year’s SN is full of copycats and meaningless songs.
My favourite is still in this thing. I mean, surely he has no chance of winning (he came 41st on that facebook vote) but wow…I’m happy I get to hear him in a final!
how is it possible for a country that held the incredible 2020 selection (and even 2019 was pretty good) to have a selection like this?
Three consecutive non qualifications reducing the incentives to participate.
I CAN’T believe Eugenia Nicolae is out…not following this selection anymore
Really weird night.Doina was my number 1,Eugenia did great and then the jurors tell us how much they liked her and her song.One of the jurors even said that Eugenia is really high in her ranking.And then she doesn’t even make Top 10?How?Same for Eliza G.Same for Aris.Ok,for E an na and Cezar the jury just didn’t like the songs.I can understand that.But the rest of them?First you sing them praise and then you rank them dead last?What is this?
Same. That was the most baffling thing last night, on a night full of questionable decisions.
I don’t understand that kind of decision at all! Ugh. Anyway, by eliminating the fan-favorite “Malere”, they did save the Moldovan entry from getting vote-split by having the same genre (but some how “Trenuletul” is not as energetic and fun).
lmao they’re actively destroying public interest in the eurovision in romania
What interest? Nobody cares about Eurovision, TVR is basically non-existent in the ratings in Romania, only like 100k in a 19 million country watches ESC.
It used to drive interest. +500k viewers in 2017 for the last ESC final of the country, and several years with over 1million viewers in the late 2000 early 2010.
In 2005, even JESC had as much as 2.4 million viewers in Romania. Most countries would dream about having more than two million for Junior Eurovision (https://esctoday.com/5695/viewing_figures_junior_2005_available/) Back in 2019 I got curious to why ESC was so unpopular in Romania, and then I discovered that most people don’t watch TVR anymore. If I remember right, I saw something that even Cartoon Network has more viewers than TVR2
it is a huge scandal here in romania between tvr and fans
Romania needs to withdrawn …
Okay my 3 favourites, Aldo Aris and Malere, eliminated lol.
Wtf happened
TVR happened
I think Møise is so underrated of all fans. Its a good song that is more catchy like hotel FM in 2011. Is Said that Aris and Cezar didnt went through. Is should have been 50-50 jury-televote system in semifinal like in the final in march. And both All this love and Llamame could take it all the way.
See you next year, Romania.
I actually think there’s some good entries here that would do well. I’m fascinated that not a single female solo artist made the cut.
and what are dora gaitanovici and petra ?
They looked more like a band than a solo artist on stage like the 6 or 7 men that we saw
How is this the same country that sent Roxen to Eurovision with Alcohol you and Amnesia! Like the quality just isn’t there! I feel like Romania is gonna struggle!
Well Roxen still performed horribly poorly live thus only contributed to Romania’s poor result.
After reading Cezar was friends with some of the juries I took for granted that he’d make it to the final, but he didn’t and I’m surprised even though I didn’t like his song.
Anyways, I feel disappointed with the jury’s decision, the songs I kind of liked are out! 🙁
I’m glad I didn’t get attached to any Romanian entry, because their jury took the “jury getting rid of fan favorites” to another level. From the remaining 10 entries, I would say Dora has the best one. So if there are rumors the broadcaster is trying to help her, they’ll for sure get louder. In any case, not a good year to Romania, TVR sadly proved one more time they can’t deal with a national final without coming up with terrible voting systems and polemic decisions.
Yeah like when they let William and Deban gang up on an innocent Christian girl.
What are you refering to?
2019; they were judges and apparently did not vote for laura “the
Christian girl”.
didnt know open homophobia was innocence, but ok. and also, the song was awful regardless. a gorgeous voice can’t save a funeral dirge of a song
The Netherlands won with a funeral song.
Not to mention Ukraine. A funeral of a funeral. I mean, that was literally dirge.
How tf is Arcade a funeral song? Is that comment made purely on the basis that its a ballad?
If Arcade is played at my funeral, I’d stand up and take the one who came up with that idea with me into my grave
According to A tweet someone found on the Reddit after Cezar the Jury already had to make a decision and the rest preformed already non qualified. As this source was not reliable I don’t know if it is true but if it is, it is not fair that those acts did not have a chance
Here is the tweet link if anyone wants it
https://mobile.twitter.com/escxpaolo/status/1492647647131357184?s=20&t=vzyQNoWsWzdATTKyO5QGrw
I think the only one I really prefer is Gabriel’s, I could personally imagine the staging and song work on an esc stage(however I know many aren’t interested in ballads so it could also bore some). I also don’t mind Alex & Bastien, Moise, Vanu and surprisingly WRS. They others I’m not too much of a fan of. Looking forward to see who will win though and hopeful for a grand final qualification this year?
If WRS wins I would be more than happy. That man is a full package, he with 2 dancers filled that scene. His charisma is real.
VERY surprised Aris didn’t get through… her performance was brilliant! Same regarding E-an-an and Cezar… only personal favourites left are the three ladies who sing Romania mea and WRS. What a strange semi final, imo.
Considering the current political climate, sending such a Russia centric song would be like shooting yourself in the foot. I’m glad the jury didn’t choose Aris
While I’m not particularly a fan of E-An-Na, I agree with the opinion of the majority of the population that it was the only act different enough to represent Romania in Eurovision successfully this year. They were robbed by the jury, who completely disregarded the 10.000+ people who voted for them to get to the semi-final. If you look at the Eurovision Romania Facebook page, literally all the reactions are angry and people are contesting TVR for the rigged selection, and even signing petitions for E-An-Na to be saved. The sad reality is that TVR does not and will not… Read more »
So basically they got rid of all the fan faves?! Yikes.
On YouTube, Romania Mea and WRS are fan favorites too. So not all fan faves are gone.
Team Dora Gaitanovici !!
I do not understand why we find it average, I think it is very good his song !!
With a mixture of rock and traditional, she has a very strong voice and Romania can defend itself well with that I think!
Anyway i like it a lot !! I want DORA at Eurovision!!!
Shame on you Romania!!!
You left out ARIS, the only one who could do well i’m Eurovision. Ser you in the bottom.
And the mother f… jury was a real joke
I will miss Eugenia Nicolae and Aris.
lol the result was decided by a 5-member jury. This is a farce. They were wondering why they are not doing well and they even did a TV show to discuss the recent failures.
Well TVR…..
Really? They need a TV show? They just need to take a look into a mirror and then they’ll know. They could have had a top 5 (at least!) in 2019 and a finalist in 2021. They obviously don’t wanna
Umm the voting sounds corrupt even before anything has happened. For god’s sake, just make it 100% jury voting if youre that scared to count actual votes and make up stuff no one understands. Like why? Romanian TV has become GermanyTV level stupid.
So many good songs lost. MØISE is underrated and is the only hope at this point.
Romania lol! You really just eliminated ARIS and E-an-na !? Really !? Big big BIG mistakes.
Dora who seems to be the favourite (not really into this song personally) is trying to represent Belgium, I mean during her performance I see the Belgium flag and only that.
Unfortunately, E-an-na was doomed with the jury since them having to appeal to be able to participate
The corruption in TVR has reached its peak. The unprofessional jury voted for their acquaintances and they destroyed the best songs. I don’t even have words…
I didn’t believe the rumors that this selection may be rigged for Dora Gaitanovici to win, but now I do.
The only finalist that could represent Romania successfully in Torino is Gabriel Basco so I am roothing for him. Otherwise, I hope Romania will not qualify in the final.
And I am very sorry that Eugenia, Aris, Eliza and E-an-na wasted their time with this joke.
Whatever you, Dora is the best out of the 10 I’m sorry, and Gabriel Basco no thank you, a boring and depressing ballad (there will be a lot of ballads at eurovision 2022) we will avoid!
Even if he has a very nice voice and is one of my favorites (even if I wouldn’t like him to win anyway because it’s too boring and given what’s left as finalists, I don’t have a choice…) !!
Dora is a deserving!! You are not going to tell me that she is not well??
TVR is indeed a joke when dealing with this national selection, from the presenters to the technical difficulties on the live broadcast and maybe with some of the jury members. But I have to say that if I was thinking the selection may be rigged, the jury would favour Cezar which they didn’t hence his non qualification to the final. Dora Gaitanovici’s song is more suitable for Eurovision than Cezar’s song and that is a fact. I’m pretty sure Dora will not win the final so that’s that. And I have to agree with the jury decision regarding that train… Read more »
A few moments ago it was rigged for Cezar, now for Dora? Accept your favourites just didn’t do good enough.