TVR, the Romanian national broadcaster has announced that Hayley Evetts has withdrawn from the country’s national selection, Selecția Națională 2016 due to injury.

British singer and former Pop Idol contestant Hayley Evetts has withdrawn from the Romanian national selection as, due to health reasons, she can no longer participate in the competition.

Composer of Hayley’s bidding entry, Martyn Baylay, released a statement following the announcement:

It is with great sadness and regret we announce that following a serious knee injury, Hayley Evetts was advised not to perform for the next 6 weeks. Since the contest rules do not allow us to select an interpreter to replace Hayley, we have no choice but to withdraw the song Brand new day in the Romanian Eurovision 2016 semi-finals.

We would like to thank the selection committee of Eurovision Romania 2016 that gave our song Brand new day this great opportunity and we feel extremely privileged to have been invited to participate in the semi-final this year.

Hayley will be replaced by reserved group Gaşca de acasă, who will compete in the semi-final of the Romanian national selection with their entry Tu eşti povestea.

The full Romanian line-up is now as follows:

• Andra Olteanu – Nai nai
• Doru Todoruț feat. Irina Baianț – The voice
• Dream Walkers – Let it shine
• Florena – Behind the shadows
• Gaşca de acasă – Tu ești povestea
• Irina Popa – Lasă-mă, eu te las
• Jukebox – Come on everybody
• Mihai – Paradisio
• Mihai Băjinaru – Never too late
• Ovidiu Anton – Moment of silence
• Vanotek feat. The Code & Georgian – I’m coming home
• Xandra – Superhuman

Selecția Națională 2016 kicks off on the 4 March with the semi-final of the selection. Out of the 12 participants, a total of 6 will qualify to the final of the contest on the 6 March where the Romanian representative for the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest will be decided.

Stay tuned to esctoday.com for the latest news on Romania, Selecția Națională 2016 and the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest