A second song has been withdrawn from the Romanian national final, this time after a possible plagarism claim. VH2 have decided to withdraw the song Follow me. The song has been accused of plagiarism and has been withdrawn from the competition to prevent a possible legal situation for the band. This follow's yesterday's decision by Catalin Josan to withdraw her second song to qualify to avoid splitting her vote.
An anonymous email reached VH2 pointing out that their song was identical to a 10-year old song (that has not been named). The band deny all accusations of plagiarismbut admit that the songs are very similar musically.
As reported yesterday, the withdrawal of Catalin's When we're together allowed Rednex featuring Roman-ia to proceed to the final after they tied with New Effect feat.Genţiana on points. Because the jury preferred Rednex, they took the place in the final. VH2's withrawal, New Effect feat. Genţiana will participate in the final with Zamira after all.
This is a remarkable change in fortune for the band. New Effect competed in 2007 and were disqualified by the national broadcaster, TVR, when it became known that their song had been performed on radio before 1st October 2006. They were allowed to enter again this year, only finish just short of an automatic qualifying position in their semi final. The withdrawal of Catalin's song meant they had a chance to qualify, but lost out on a count back to jury votes. Finally, after a second withdrawal, they now have the chance to compete in the final.
In a further change to the selection, the competition organiser, Mr Duma, has decided to replace the jury that voted in the semi finals with a back-up jury. It was decided that the jury had done an excellent job, but was most likely to vote in the same way as they did in the semi finals. In order to keep the competition fresh, the reservists should have the chance to vote in the final.
