Romania's second semi-final has finished right on time. Eleven songs competed in this semi-final; six songs out of tonight's heat have advanced to the final next week on 10th February. They will join six songs which already qualified last week.
The Romanians advanced the following names and songs to the final :
Trupa Vecha – Deci 10
Marcel Pavel – No podre vivir
Tibi Scobiola – Nu pot să uit
Andra and Simplu – Dracula, my love
Ionuţ Ungureanu – Time
Desperado and Tony Poptămaş – European – a beautiful sin
The finalists were chosen by televoting (50%) and jury (50%). esctoday.com tuned in via the webcast and provided the running live commentary which follows.
LIVE COMMENTARY
The broadcast kicks off with the three young hosts in dark business suits singing the song that makes every Eurovision Song Contest fan's heart race just a bit (it's not just us we saw what happened in the Euroclub when they played this song). The hosts sing a House version of the Te Deum with Romanian lyrics; they also work in a little rap with all the names of the participants. (Any help with translation in the reactions section would be great).
Incidentally, the quality of the webcast is good. The RealPlayer feed published by TVR didn't work for us, but the "Flash" feed is fine although the video pauses briefly on occasion (the load on TVR's system must be very high). It's nothing to get to concerned about; the audio quality remains very good throughout.
Moni-K – În lumea mea
Moni-K begins the contest proper. Many people hear a ballad, but this isn't a ballad as much as it is the effort of a power House diva on a slower song. She's dressed mostly in white and has a troupe of white clad back-up dancers. The Internet feed is getting choppier. Either more Internet viewers are tuning in … or the system is having trouble keeping up with the busy movements of the dancers. No matter Moni-K (who of course is already qualified with another song) nails this one.
Andra and Simplu – Dracula, my love
The goofy lyrics to this song are sublime. The performance isn't much different then the preview video which is a-ok. Andra is wearing a red evening gown; the guys are in tuxes. Her vocals are spot-on. This song was voted #1 in the TVR on-line poll. But can you trust those things? Again if you've seen the preview video, you've seen this song. And there's no reason at all to complain about it. It plays well on the stage.
Romania's Latin roots are showing here. With all this chatter between the hosts on stage and the host in the green room this feels a bit like San Remo. But, the chatter never overwhelms, and the show moves along at a fast and entertaining pace. It's also nice that all the participants have a chance to speak.
Tibi Scobiola – Nu pot să uit
Morrissey might sing for England. But, if there is a Smiths' tune in the Eurovision Song Contest, this song sounds like it. The performance, like all of them so far tonight, is vocally on target. The straight-forward easy dance moves and the stage show are somehow positive and uplifting. So yeah, this is not exactly like a Smiths' song.
Nico – Love is all you need
Nico sings a good club gospel song about love. One is reminded of dancing the night away in the early 90s with Dr. Alban and the M-People. The song apparently reminds Nico of this too as she totally recreates a 90s era dance palace on stage with three dancers animating the crowd from a cat-walk above. She turns in a performance as professional as everyone else tonight. She's clearly well-liked by the crowd.
Celia – Şoapte
This is a beautiful ballad.
Ada – You and me
And this is beautiful R&B.
Wassabi – Do the tango with me
Are Wassabi the new Spice Girls (complete with "Step to the right") meet Destiny's Child gone a little Shakira? Perhaps. As far as the costumes go, they've patterned these short dresses after FYR Macedonia's short shorts last year in Athens. Their long legs are accented by Croatia's Moja štikla high heels. For the first time tonight the vocals don't quite mesh. But the performance is fun and reminiscent of several numbers last year in Athens (Spain, FYR Macedonia, even Moldova); the girls are enthusiastic and certainly a group to watch.
Desperado and Tony Poptămaş – European – a beautiful sin
Wow, this is rocking young country straight from Nashville, USA. The stage show is authentic for a country western act. The band wears stetsons and understated western wear – this is the real looking (and sounding) deal. But oddly enough for paying tribute to a typical American style, the lyrics extol the virtues of Europe. The song performance is simple, but it's powerful.
Ionuţ Ungureanu – Time
This song sends chills down the spine. The singer's falsetto jazz voice is simply haunting. Incomprehensible. And beautiful. One might expect David Lynch to cast this guy as a singer in the next Twin Peaks and perhaps David Lynch was consulted on the stage show. Like the singer and the song the stage show is beautiful and somewhat incomprehensible with ballet dancers and a totally white iconic/cosmic mime figure with an hour glass embodying the song's title – Time.
Trupa Veche – Deci 20
Trupa's stage show is simple. But the song is effective. Sitting on a stool she belts out her earthy lyrics while the band behind her pays homage to any band that MTV made popular in the 80s. Despite this, the song's back melody has a minimal thread that harks back to the early days of radio – and comes across with eerie beauty when performed live in this thoroughly modern broadcast.
This will be a difficult decision for the Romanian viewers as every performance tonight speaks well for itself.
Marcel Pavel – No podre vivir
Marcel reminds one of Guildo Horn – if Guildo Horn wore a suit and wasn't sweaty or crazy. This gentleman turns in a serious folkloric ballad accompanied by his band who also perform a completely class act gathered behind him with their instruments on the stage. The song is rich and beautiful, and so is the simple performance.
As this the last song, the hosts return again to the green room and chat with Mr. Pavel who grabs the mike and takes charge. The man is clearly a professional who is used to working a television audience.
The three on-stage hosts start the voting. This won't be the first time they've been compared to half of the "We are the winners …" guys from last year. It probably won't be the last. They look a bit like the Lithuanian guys, and act a bit like them too.
As promised the interval act features Romanian Eurostars covering the greatest Eurovision hits of yesterday (and today). First is a very passable tricked out R&B version of Mr. Eurovision's Hold me now by Alexandra and Manuel (corrections from the reader's in the reactions section welcome). Creem does a cover of My Number 1 after a short "news" segment (the news segment will repeat with variations throughout the interval – this one involved the hostess cobbering the host over the head).
In the goofiest – and best – bit of national selection promotion the program cuts to a sports arena where one of TVR's sports announcers introduce Mihai Traistariu who jogs out and takes to a boxing ring in a red satin robe. Several women around the ring faint at the mere sight of MIhai.
More covers: Fly on the wings of love and a kicking Electro-House cover of Save your kisses for me.
The hosts announce the voting has ended … which means – of course – it's time for a prize fight.
In the ring: Mihai looks tough … real tough. He's not someone to mess with. Really. This guy looks mean. However instead of throwing one punch, he opens his mouth and belts out a high note. His opponent hits the ropes.
Another cover: Ne partez pas sans moi
Something is wrong in the boxing ring because Mihai's opponent is declared the winner. The on-lookers are definitely not happy about this turn of events, and Mihai ducks out to the ring. What's going on here?
But there's no time for answers. The three on-stage hosts are joined by the green room host and another representative from TVR to announce the six finalists:
Trupa Vecha – Deci 10
Marcel Pavel – No podre vivir
Tibi Scobiola – Nu pot să uit
Andra and Simplu – Dracula, my love
Ionuţ Ungureanu – Time
Desperado and Tony Poptămaş – European – a beautiful sin
The program finishes with a replay of the opening Te Deum. All irony aside, this broadcast was entertaining, fast moving and top class. Romania is handily showing that they are ready to host the Eurovision Song Contest should the winner of next week's final take the top honours in May.
