It was the official kick off of Romania’s Eurovision national selection for 2018 tonight, which saw the first semi-final of the competition taking place in the host city of Focșani.

This evening saw a total of 11 acts competing in the first semi-final of Selecția Națională 2018; whilst 12 acts were originally scheduled to perform, Tom Hartis – who planned on competing with his entry Teardrop rain – withdrew from the contest citing health reasons.

Romania’s 2005 representative, Luminița Anghel, opened tonight’s show with a cover of Moldova’s Eurovision 2009 entry, Hora din Moldova, performed together with the dancing Țara Vrancei Folk Ensemble.

Participating in the first semi-final of the Romanian national selection was the following (in the official running order):

1. Alex Florea – Nobody told me it would hurt
2. Lina – A love worth falling for
3. CornEL – Take me away
4. Liviu Anghel – Rise up
5. Hellen – From underneath
6. Tom Hartis – Teardrop rain
7. Alexia & Matei – Walking on water
8. Johnny Bădulescu – Devoted
9. Waleska – Reborn
10. Echoes – Mirror
11. Elena Turcu – The perfect fall
12. Eduard Santha – Mesom romales

Three acts advance to the final!

Following a glorious 30-minute interval act featuring the band Pasărea Rock, it was time for the jury to determine which 3 artists would advance to the final of the national selection on the 25 February.

The jury of Selecția Națională, who will determine the qualifiers from all 5 semi-finals, consists of a total of 5 members: Marian Ionescu, Ilinca Băcilă, Nicu Patoi, Liliana Ştefan and Viorel Gavrilă.

Each revealing their scores individually, it was decided that Eduard Santha, Echoes and Alexia & Matei would advance to the final stage of the competition, all of whom received the highest scores of the evening.

Selecția Națională 2018 continues next Sunday with the second semi-final of the selection, in which the next 12 artists will be competing to continue their journey in the competition, with hopes of representing Romania at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.

Selecția Națională 2018 schedule

• 21/01: Semi-final 1
• 28/01: Semi-final 2 (Twelve participants, 3 qualifiers decided by 100% jury vote)
• 04/02: Semi-final 3 (Twelve participants, 3 qualifiers decided by 100% jury vote)
• 11/02: Semi-final 4 (Twelve participants, 3 qualifiers decided by 100% jury vote)
• 18/02: Semi-final 5 (Twelve participants, 3 qualifiers decided by 100% jury vote)
• 25/02: Grand final (Fifteen finalists, winner determined by 100% televote)