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About Romania...
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2004 Result
Points in Semi Final: N/A
Position in Semi Final: N/A
Points in Final: 18
Position in Final: 18th
2005 Contest: Must compete in Semi Final
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History (1956 to 2003)
Romania's previous appearances: 5 year(s) out of 48
Years participated: 1994; 1998; 2000; 2002-
Best result: 9th (2002)
Romania made a rather inconspicuous start to its Eurovision career, finishing in 21st place in 1994. After that, the country appeared to give up on the contest, not returning until 1998, though that was partly due to its intended 1996 entry - 'Ruga pentru pacea lumii' by Monica Anghel and Sincron - failing to make it through that year's qualifying round. The Romanians might as well not have bothered to come back, their 1998 effort - Malina Olinescu's 'Eu cred' - scraping a meagre 6 points and 22nd place, despite being popular among Eurovision fans. Reappearing in 2000 for a third attempt, Taxi's gentle song 'The Moon' managed a slightly more impressive 17th, though it was not enough to prevent Romania missing out on the 2001 contest due to relegation.
For 2002, Romania produced what many thought was the worst song of the contest, the Disney-esque ballad 'Tell me why'. Despite being tipped as a likely candidate for 'nul points', Monica Anghel - finally getting her chance after the abortive 1996 effort - and Marcel Pavel gave one of the evening's most professional and powerful performances; in a notable north-south divide, the song was shunned in the voting by the UK, Scandinavia and the Baltic States, but picked up enough support from the Mediterranean countries (and Russia) to finish in 9th place with a healthy 71 points. 2003 represented the first time that Romania had appeared in two consecutive contests, this time with the unusual 'Don't break my heart', performed by Nicola. If the song was slightly strange, the stage performance - featuring giant compact discs and bright colours reminiscent of Teletubbyland - was even stranger. However, it evidently stuck in televoters' minds, as the song finished in 10th place, probably higher than it deserved. As a result, the Romanians find themselves in the happy position of qualifying directly for the 2004 final.
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This year's entry
Position in Semi Final draw: N/A
Position in Final draw: 23
What I said prior to the Semi Final:
"Romania had one of the most impressive national finals of any country in 2004, with 24 contenders, a number of which would have made excellent Eurovision entries. While many fans favoured Elena Carstea's 'Don't be afraid' (a high-energy dance track reminiscent of Nuša Derenda's 'Energy'), Romania probably made the right choice in plumping for Sanda Ladosi's catchy 'I Admit'. The song is certainly very memorable, with an addictive tune, quirky lyrics and a strong performer in Sanda. Some people have compared the song to Jennifer Lopez's 'Ain't It Funny' (the original, tuneful version); with its summery, latino vibe, it also reminds me of Latvia's 2002 winner, 'I Wanna'. Interestingly, that was performed second from last, the same draw that Romania enjoys in 2004. Can Sanda achieve similar success to Marie N and take the contest to Bucharest for 2005?"
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What I predicted...
My prediction for Semi Final: N/A
My prediction for Final: 4th to 10th, possible winner
What I predicted prior to the Semi Final:
"Romania are in a strong position to do well this year - with a guaranteed spot in the Final, a distinctive and memorable song, and the benefit of performing second from last, all the necessary ingredients are in place. However, Sanda will need to give a strong performance to avoid being overshadowed by the anthemic Swedish song which follows it. Despite its dreadful showing in many of the fan polls - 33rd out of 36 in the Soult.com Eurovision poll - I reckon another top ten placing for Romania is certainly on the cards; whether it wins will depend on how well the other main contenders - Sweden's Lena, Iceland's Jónsi and Germany's Max, plus Ukraine's Ruslana and Cyprus' Lisa, assuming they qualify for the Final - perform on the night. They are all very strong, very different songs, and any of them could win."
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What you thought...
Final Poll Ranking: out of 36 ()
(Updated 15 May 2004; change refers to movement over final week)
In the run up to the Contest, over 5,000 visitors to this site voted for their favourite song in the Soult.com Eurovision Poll.
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What actually happened
Did I really say that this was a 'possible winner'? In my defence, I didn't know beforehand that Sanda was going wear such a hideous outfit. With its black netting and leather it looked remarkably like the dress that Tatiana from Blue Cafe had worn a few songs earlier, but with the extra addition of tassles and a collar. These terrifying accessories were enough to swing the Barbara Dex Award in Sanda's direction, the annual award for the worst Eurovision outfit. Sadly, that was the only award she was ever likely to get, despite appearing on stage with a series of oiled up muscly boys in a desperate, but not wholly unsuccessful, attempt to court the gay vote.
With Sanda mustering just 18 points for her efforts - all, interestingly, from Mediterranean countries (Cyprus, Spain, Israel, Portugal) - my prediction for Romania was yet another that I got entirely wrong.
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What the bookies thought...
 | Romania to win: | 15/05/04 (prior to Final) | 66-1 |
| | 13/05/04 (after Semi Final) | 50-1 |
| | 11/05/04 | 40-1 |
| | 08/05/04 | 25-1 |
| | 06/05/04 | 33-1 |
| | 04/05/04 | 25-1 |
| | 31/04/04 | 25-1 |
| | 24/04/04 | 25-1 |
| | 17/04/04 | 25-1 |
| | 07/04/04 | 25-1 |
| | 24/03/04 | 25-1 |
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At rather long odds of 66-1, I thought Romania's song might be underrated. It wasn't.
(Odds quoted here were those offered by Coral.co.uk. 'F' indicates favourite, 'JF' joint favourite.)
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Links
 http://www.tvr.ro/eurovision/
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Notes (see 'History' above)
- The 1956 Contest (where each country had two songs) is counted as a single appearance;
- Countries eliminated in the 1993 preliminary heat (EE, HU, RO, SK) ARE NOT counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest;
- Countries eliminated in the 1996 preliminary heat (DE, DK, HU, IL, MK, RO, RU) ARE NOT counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest;
- Countries eliminated in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 Semi Finals ARE counted as making an appearance in that year's Contest.
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Your comments (15)
From DjMondey, ROMANIA
Added 15:45:26 2004-5-11
The song is good, but there are o lot out there better than this one.What really miss this song is the enthiusasm, that the albanian song for ex. has.But who knows, after all, luckily may be we reach the 10th place.
From Jakie, AUSTRALIA
Added 13:2:31 2004-5-11
If talent counts for anything in Eurovision, Romania wont get anywhere. Thankfully, however, it doesn’t and Tits and Arse does, and the singer of Romanias entry Sanda Ladosi has a plentiful supply of those, so I think this trashy bottle blonde will do well
From cerasela, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Added 6:18:46 2004-5-11
THE SONG IS GOOD,THE SINGER SHE'S HOT.HAVE MORE CHANCES THAN LAST YEAR.ACTUALLY,I THINK CAN WIN.I PRAY FOR THIS.I LOVE IT!SANDA,GO FOR IT!
From Manu, BELGIUM
Added 22:51:5 2004-5-3
This song is definitely underrated in all the polls. Maybe because the Romanian community is not really concerned by the ESC. This is probably one of the only countries that doesn't have its own Eurovision fan club. For 2 years, Romania has been scoring much higher at the contest than in all the polls. Expect the same this year. The song is catchy and easy to sing along to. Its latin and oriental influences should bring some more votes. The competition will be fierce at the end of the show but I guess that the hot-blooded Sanda should overshadow Sweden's Lena who sounds and looks a bit too "cold" to me.
From James Birks, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 16:33:4 2004-4-28
In addition to my last point, if she sings like she did on the pre-recorded version *shudder* then we can assume the emu-strangling scream 'Good' will certainly cost Romania a lot. And 'a tousand' won't go unnoticed.
From James Birks, UNITED KINGDOM
Added 16:28:32 2004-4-28
Though Lithuania and Germany both need to catch up with their closest allies and win, Sanda is the best song (live) in the opinion of half of esc-today, so should definitely not be underestimated. The same applies to the Sanomaic potato-sack racers and the high-pitched hijinx of Israel.
From Demmy, GREECE
Added 11:59:55 2004-4-27
The song is not bad. However, the performer needs an extreme makeover.
From Marion, GERMANY
Added 11:52:13 2004-4-27
oh my goodness! just saw the video and i must pull off one point for getting this years most whoring outfit (stroking big breasts in tight shirt with "richmind dessert" on it).
at least she've learned the t-h ; )
From Marion, GERMANY
Added 11:44:18 2004-4-27
I admit, i like it. But why the hell, is she singing in english, when she couldn't handle the language? at least a thousand times better and more nowadays sound than the poor albanian stuff, which incomprehensibly makes some people going crazy.
From Timothy, BELGIUM
Added 24/04/2004 13:12
Romania hasn't to qualified, it's in the final becuase of it's good Result in 2003. And be honest, if the Singer were male it would be score high, high, high on the Internet-Polls and in girls hearts. Better than the Beautys from Greece, England and France i think.
From malena, FINLAND
Added 23/04/2004 16:25
Very nice. Good luck!
From Iván, SPAIN
Added 10/04/2004 19:57
The song is good but I think Elena Carstea & "don't be afraid" would have been a much better choice. Anyway, I really doubt it qualifies for the final round, and if it does, I think it won't win.
From Sérgio Rego, PORTUGAL
Added 06/04/2004 17:22
Although her English is terrible, I think this song has something that makes me like it! I'm not so sure about its success in ESC, but let's wait and see.
From john JPLAYER, GREECE
Added 05/04/2004 21:18
i think the song is very good.it has a good taste of music and i think it will get a good rank inside the first 8.
From john JPLAYER, GREECE
Added 05/04/2004 21:17
i think the song is very good.it has a good taste of music and i think it will get a good rank inside the first 8.
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Romania
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