About Romania...

2006 Result
History (1956 to 2005)
This year's entry
What I predicted...
What you thought...
What actually happened...
What the bookies thought...

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2006 Result

Points in Semi Final: N/A
Position in Semi Final: N/A

Points in Final: 172
Position in Final: 4th
More about the 2006 result for Romania

2007 Contest: Directly qualified to Final

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History (1956 to 2005)

Romania's previous appearances: 7 year(s) out of 50 [note]
Years participated: 1994; 1998; 2000; 2002- [note]
Best result: 3rd (2005)

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 found themselves in the happy position of qualifying directly for the 2004 final. However, after two impressive results Romania's record had to slip sometime, Sanda Ladosi finishing a disappointing 18th with 18 points, and ensuring that Romania would have to take part in the Semi Final in 2005. Sanda's song, 'I admit', deserved better, but the performance was poor, and the singer looked like she had forgotten to finish dressing before going on stage. Still, the Spanish obviously approved, awarding Sanda's cleavage a perky 10 points.

Romania's national finals always seem to feature some very contemporary songs, and 2005 was no exception, with its winning entry - 'Let me try', by Luminita Anghel and Sistem - featuring a powerful vocal and oil drum-wielding percussionists over a thumping techno beat. With a spectacular stage performance, including the creative use of angle grinders, it proved a recipe for great success. Romania won the Semi Final by some margin (235 points, including the maximum 'douze points' from six countries), before going on to finish 3rd in the Final, easily the Romanians' best ever result at Eurovision. Thanks to Luminita Anghel and Sistem, Romania therefore has the advantage of being directly qualified for the Final in 2006.
Get 'The Eurovision Song Contest: The Offical History' at Amazon.co.uk

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This year's entry

Position in Semi Final draw: N/A
Position in Final draw: 12

What I said prior to the Semi Final:
"After Luminita Anghel finally got to represent Romania at the sixth attempt in 2005, this year the persistence has similarly paid off for 25-year-old Mihai Traistariu. Mihai won Romania's national final with the song 'Tornerò', after taking part on five previous occasions. As a member of the group Valahia, Mihai finished 2nd in 2000, 4th in 2002 and equal 3rd in 2003, the latter with the Ralph Siegel-esque 'Friends are friends'. In 2004, he took part as a soloist under the rather optimistic monicker Adonis, but failed to make it beyond the semi finals with the song 'Believe me'. Finally, he had a go under his own name in 2005, duetting with female singer Nico on the 3rd-placed song 'All the time'. Ironically, Nico is among the acts that Mihai had to beat in 2006 to secure his place in Athens, her collaboration with the group Akcent, called 'Jokero', picking up most support from the televoters but having to be content with the runner-up position once the jury votes were added. Never mind, though - if recent trends continue, Nico will probably get her own chance to represent Romania in 2007, having already served her time in 2003 (9th) and 2004 (9th again, with the unfortunately titled but actually quite good 'Feeling Snow White'), as well as 2005 and 2006.

Whoever does represent Romania in 2007 surely has a good chance of heading directly to the Final, thanks to Mihai's extremely strong song and performance. Romania has had some very high quality, contemporary sounding national finals in recent years, and 2006 was no exception. Performed in English and Italian, 'Tornerò' (meaning 'I will return') is a very uptempo techno track with an instant chorus that works its way into your head and stays there. It reminds me a little of Germany's (non-qualifying) 'Planet of blue' from 1996, and certainly sounds like a song that could be a major club and airplay hit in the UK - rare for any Eurovision entry, including the UK's own. It is also interesting that like Luminita Anghel's 'Let me try' from 2005, 'Tornerò' is a song that can sound a little flat in the studio version, but really comes alive thanks to a fantastic live vocal performance. Mihai has an astonishingly powerful voice, which comes as something of a surprise given his rather pale and slight appearance. This is something where the song's visual presentation could use a little more work, needing the right combination of choreography, costume and backing dancers to just beef up Mihai's stage presence. However, if he can get this right, and gives a live vocal performance as impressive as the one that secured his ticket to Athens, 2006 could quite conceivably see another excellent result for Romania. I have to be careful though - there are so many 2006 songs that I like, I'm starting to run out of superlatives... :)"

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What I predicted...

My prediction for Semi Final: N/A
My prediction for Final: 2nd to 4th, possible winner
See all my predictions for the 2006 Semi Final
See all my predictions for the 2006 Final

What I predicted prior to the Semi Final:
"With Mihai consistently leading the Soult.com Eurovision Jury Vote while running a close second to Greece in much of the betting, it would be a fool who dismissed Romania's chances of winning in Athens. I still have reservations over the new version of the song, not so much because of the stronger beat (I actually think that works well), but simply because the additional vocal acrobatics put extra pressure on the live performance. However, if Mihai can do his undoubted vocal talents justice by delivering the fantastic live performance that 'Tornerò' needs and deserves, Romania is surely in with a chance of victory."
Want an alternative prediction? See Simon Hylands' 'Je t'adore, Eurovision!' site

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What you thought...

View the final leader board

In the run up to the Contest, 1,721 visitors to this site awarded points to their favourite songs in the Soult.com Eurovision Jury Vote 2006, voting as a representative of their own country's 'jury'. The votes awarded by representatives of each country were totalled, with each of the 38 participating countries (plus the 'Rest of the World') then awarding points - 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - based on the overall voting preference of its representatives. The points awarded to the entry from Romania are shown in the tables below:

Points awarded to Romania overall:
AL	6	HR	10	GR	12	MK	10	PL	10	ES	12
AD	0	CY	8	IS	4	MT	12	PT	6	SE	7
AM	0	DK	7	IE	6	MD	12	RO	X	CH	12
BY	3	EE	0	IL	6	MC	0	RU	8	TR	7
BE	12	FI	10	LV	6	NL	7	CS	6	UA	1
BA	7	FR	6	LT	0	NO	6	SI	10	UK	8
BG	6	DE	10	WO	12	Last updated: 18 May 2006 Next scheduled update: None
Total points: 265, from 33/39 juries
Position: 1 out of 37

Points awarded to Romania in the Semi Final:
AL	0	HR	0	GR	0	MK	0	PL	0	ES	0
AD	0	CY	0	IS	0	MT	0	PT	0	SE	0
AM	0	DK	0	IE	0	MD	0	RO	X	CH	0
BY	0	EE	0	IL	0	MC	0	RU	0	TR	0
BE	0	FI	0	LV	0	NL	0	CS	0	UA	0
BA	0	FR	0	LT	0	NO	0	SI	0	UK	0
BG	0	DE	0	WO	0	Last updated: 18 May 2006 Next scheduled update: None
Total points: N/A, from N/A/39 juries
Position: N/A out of 23

Points awarded to Romania in the Final:
AL	6	HR	10	GR	12	MK	10	PL	10	ES	12
AD	0	CY	8	IS	5	MT	12	PT	6	SE	7
AM	0	DK	7	IE	6	MD	12	RO	X	CH	12
BY	4	EE	0	IL	6	MC	0	RU	10	TR	8
BE	12	FI	10	LV	7	NL	7	CS	6	UA	3
BA