#Selecția Națională 2000

[eurovision-revisited]

2000 Stockholm - Number 9 - Directia 5 - "Poți să visezi"

Direcția 5 are a big name in the Romanian music industry - even today. They were formed in 1991, and rapidly set about releasing well-received albums throughout the decade. By 2000, they have seven albums and a huge following. They even split into two separate bands with the same name for a short period, but that just proved confusing.

Romania, like Croatia and Finland, are using the EBUs mandate to bring Eurovision into the realm of commerciality by getting their big names into the field of their national final. Selecția Națională and TVR have been brave and chosen for it to be 100% televote. If they can get the Direcția 5 fanbase to call in, well, it'll be good.

Their sound, a driving alt/indie infused rock, would be a huge breath of fresh air for Eurovision and unlike some national finals this year Poți să visezi (You Can Dream) is true to their output. Actual commercial rock. Driven by an urgent bass, hard drums and guitar riffs in the choruses, it enthusiastically pushes forward while all the time maintaining its pose of diffidence. It tells us that dreams are great. Go for it people. You can do anything.

Now, I have only found the music video for this. There's no sign of the national final performance. This is not necessarily a bad omen for how things went - several other Romanian national finals performances aren't available - however the televote did not come through for Direcția 5. They ended up 10th of the 13 songs. That's way down on where I think anyone would have expected them to finish. Perhaps the Romanian Eurovision watching public still weren't ready for commercial music to start creeping in.

It didn't put them off and not only did Direcția 5 have another attempt at Selecția Națională in 2011, they're now up to at least 30 albums including compilations and live performances. They kept touring until 2017 and the most recent album was released in 2022. I understand that there may have been one or several 'personality clashes' within the band at some stage, but that shouldn't detract from their achievements.

2000 truly is the year when the broadcasters and delegations were trying for what the EBU wanted - relevance and commerciality. It's not quite coming off for them though.

#Youtube #esc #esc 2000 #eurovision #eurovision song contest #stockholm #stockholm 2000 #national finals #Selecția Națională 2000 #Romania #Direcția 5

[eurovision-revisited]

2000 Stockholm - Number 18 - Sfinx Experience - "Alb sau negru"

Welcome back Sfinx Experience! They've been regulars at Selecția Națională since 1996 and change their genres almost every year. This is distinctly less metal than their 1996 song, and more in keeping with a 2000, millennial pop sensibility.

Alb sau negru (White or black) is a 2000-vintage plea for harmony and peace, in this case against racism. It doesn't hang about. The beat kicks in hard and fast early on, then doesn't let up. Crina Mardare's and Zoia Alecu's voices are more than up to this style of EDM singing and harmonising just as they were with metal. Mixed into that beat is a guitar that combines some interesting Romanian intervals with a style of picking that sounds (to my ears) more akin to blues and the music of the American South. It's quite the melange especially for a song that's explicitly saying that everyone's soul is the same colour.

Selecția Națională 2000 had switched to be 100% televote, and that didn't do much for Sfinx Experience. They ended up 10th out of 12 songs, a result that mirrors what happened to much of the EDM music being submitted to national finals in 2000. The broadcasters were rather bravely throwing in all types and genres of music to give varied finals, but the public, when given the option, rejected anything that was too far out of their mainstream. For the Romanian public of 2000 this was a step too far.

This wasn't the end for Sfinx Experience though, they were still up to enter the national final in 2002 and 2003 - maybe we'll meet them again in later years.

#Youtube #esc #esc 2000 #eurovision #eurovision song contest #stockholm #stockholm 2000 #national finals #Romania #Selecția Națională 2000 #Sfinx Experience #Crina Mardare #Zoia Alecu

[eurovision-revisited]

2000 Stockholm - Number 22 - Luminița Anghel - "M-ai înșelat"

Luminița Anghel is a regular at Selecția Națională and has been since Romania first entered Eurovision in 1994. She's been there with a song, sometimes solo, sometimes pairing up with another act for instance Sfinx Experience in 1996. Up to this point she's been remarkably consistent, finishing fifth or sixth every year when the scores were released. Solid mid-to-upper table everytime.

She's a strong singer with a strong look. With M-ai înșelat (You Cheated on Me), she puts that disapproving glare to good use. It's a simple pop song in which Luminița wonders just why she stuck with him for so long when he's obviously a no good cheating loser. Still, that's behind her now. It's well constructed this song, a descending chord sequence in the chorus, allowing it to hit strong every time. There's an extended bridge with several different intriguing sections that take us on a journey culminating with the final hit of the chorus.

The verses are underlaid by a bass riff played on a piano that sounds taken straight from the 60s, driving the entire thing forward. That bridge is really interesting, slowing things down, before some moderate vocal fireworks and a stripped back chorus.

This is not going to be Luminița's finest hour (although it is a great song). Come 2005 and she finally makes it onto the Eurovision stage surrounded by a load of men wearing oil drums and did very well - giving Romania its joint best Eurovision result with third place. M-ai înșelat was included on her second album of three. By 2005, her musical career peaked. There were two more attempts at Selecția Națională, the final one coming in 2013.

Outside of music she started up a career as a party planner and briefly tried to get into politics, standing for election to Romania's parliament in 2008.

#Youtube #esc #esc 2000 #eurovision #eurovision song contest #stockholm #stockholm 2000 #Romania #Selecția Națională 2000 #Luminița Anghel

[eurovision-revisited]

1998 Birmingham - Number 7 - Sanda Ladoși, Marina Florea, Adrian Enache, Aurelian Temișan & Daniel Iordăchioaei - "E, e iubire"

What is that synth/percussion doing during the chorus? I don't know but it's making my knees go funny. This is some prime Romanian cheese from Selecția Națională 1998. In that very Romanian way, there is no band name, but each individual singer gets full credit.

First E, e iubire (It's Love). I do not have the lyrics for this song, but I really don't think they're necessary. The choreography tells the entire story. This is pure pop with everything synthesised. There's a call and response pre-chorus, and the chorus is literally everyone singing 'Yeah, yeah, yeah'. What makes it absolute genius is that synth line that runs through everything - it's like someone's discovered the secret of making musical crack. It's the addiction that keeps me coming back to this disco campfest of pleather and baggy white undershirts.

Of the five named singers, three have other entries in Selecția Națională. Adrian Enache (on the right at the start), has had four other entries, with a best finish of, well third - with this song. Aurelian Temișan (on the left at the three men at the start) has entered three times too and he nearly won in 2003, being in a two horse race with the eventual winner.

Most importantly there's Sanda Ladoși (the woman with dark-hair). She want on to win Selecția Națională 2004 and represented Romania at Eurovision in Istanbul. Oddly, every single one of these five singers has four or five albums listed on Discogs, all through the 1990s into the 2000s, all as solo artists. I'd guess that there's something contractual about that and possibly about their appearance here in one of the most iconic displays I've witnessed in a national final so far.

#Youtube #esc #esc 1998 #eurovision #eurovision song contest #birmingham #birmingham 1998 #national finals #Romania #Selecția Națională 1998 #Sanda Ladoși #Marina Florea #Adrian Enache #Aurelian Temișan #Daniel Iordăchioaei

[eurovision-revisited]

Eurovision 2002 - Number 28 - Alina Sorescu - "You know it"

Romania has several names who appear in Selecția Națională year in, year out but there are always a couple of intriguing one-offs. This is Alina Sorescu's only performance in the Romanian national final, but it's not her only appearance. She went on to host the whole event in 2008 and 2009. She was also Romania's spokesperson for Eurovision those two same years.

Alina isn't primarily known as a singer now, although she clearly can sing, and had several albums out prior to 2002. She moved into TV presentation and hosted several live events both on and off screen. If Romania had come good on its 2000s form, there's a good chance that she would have hosted Eurovision in Bucharest.

You Know It is another up-tempo girl-bop in what is definitely a trend for the early 2000s at this point. It has lovely minor-feel to the whole thing, despite it being both energetic and about falling for someone. The one point when it suddenly brightens to major feel good vibes is in the pre-chorus when Alina assures her lover that she truly does love them lending those words a sudden authenticity. Genius. When I was doing 26 songs for each year, this is one of those I'd have fretted over leaving out. Such a simple song, but with such good ideas and delivery.

It finished 11th out of 18 songs this year - and as I don't have the live version, I can only assume that Alina's live performance didn't live up to the quality of the track. It's also the songwriter's (Dani Constantin and Michaela Calinescu) only entry in any Eurovision ever. Nevertheless, this is a pointer in the direction that Romania is going.

#Youtube #esc #esc 2002 #eurovision #eurovision song contest #tallinn #tallinn 2002 #national finals #Romania #Selecția Națională 2002 #Alina Sorescu

[eurovision-revisited]

1994 Dublin - Number 14 - Monica Anghel - "Dà-mi o stea din cerul tàu"

This is the second song from Selecția Națională 1994 I've covered and what a song it is. Dà-mi o stea din cerul tàu (Give Me a Star from Your Sky) is a brass-backed danceable piece of joy that feels like something from a far funkier time and place than Romania in 1994. There's elements of Carnival in there, and even a Motownesqueness. It's a song of having love and wanting even more - frankly Monica just can't get enough of the good stuff.

Monica herself is one of the ever-presents for Selecția Națională in the 1990s. She tried in 1993. She's got two songs in Selecția Națională 1994. She's got three songs in 1996 - including the winner, but even then not actually making the Eurovision final. In 1998 and 2000 there's one each, finishing second and third respectively until finally, at last she wins in 2002 and get to go Eurovision representing Romania.

Apart from the winner, Selecția Națională 1994 hasn't got published results, so it's not known where this finished. I think it would have done better than the 21st that Romania managed to achieve that year. Unfortunately, there's no images of the live performance, only this track.

#Youtube #esc #esc 1994 #eurovision #eurovision song contest #dublin #dublin 1994 #romania #Selecția Națională 1994 #monica anghel

[eurovision-revisited]

1993 Millstreet - Number 17 - Laurențiu Cazan - "Hai, spune"

The very first Romanian national selection competition was the Selecția Națională 1993 and it produced a winner who went on to the pre-qualification competition Kvalifikacija za Millstreet. Unfortuantely Romania weren't successful at that competition and thus didn't make their debut this year. However, they still had a full national final consisting of a number of mimed performances to camera upon which 1100 Romania households who were telephoned could vote. Sort of a massive judging panel.

Unfortunately the TV performance currently only exists in audio format on YouTube, and thank you to Polina Solodovnikova for uploading this an many other national final tracks recently, filling in many gaps. 1993 as a Eurovision year has many missing songs unfortunately.

Apart from the who the winner was, the results were never officially released, so it's not possible to say what position Laurențiu Cazan finished in, although the consensus is that he finished second with Hai, spune (Say Something). It's a pleading, heart-wrenching song with a strong hook to the chorus. It became something of a calling card for Laurențiu. Not only did he release an album with the same title, but he entered the song in the next year's Cavan song contest in Ireland, finishing second.

He had two more attempts at entering Eurovision for Romania, in 1998 and 2000, falling short both times in the national final. However he has had long career in the Romanian music scene with this song remaining his calling card.

#Youtube #esc #esc 1993 #eurovision #eurovision song contest #national finals #Selecția Națională 1993 #romania #millstreet #millstreet 1993 #Laurențiu Cazan