Romania: 1st Semi Final results of Selecția Națională 2018.

This evening the first semi final of the Romanian national selection, Selecția Națională took place at the Municipal Theater «Maior Gheorghe Pastia» in the city of Focsani. Focsani is the capital of the Romanian district of Vrancea, laying on the shore of Milkov river.

Hosts of the night were Diana Dumitrescu and Cezar Ouatu and the show started at 20:00 CET. Diana is a famous actress and model from Constanza. Cezar is familiar to the Eurovision audience since he represented Romania back in 2013 with his song «It’s My Life».

The night opened with Eurovision 2005 representative, Luminiţa Anghel , who performed on stage the «Moldavian round dance» with the dancing team of «Ţara Vrancei».

The night continued with the two hosts introducing the jury to the audience. The jury members were Liliana Ștefan (lyricist of the Eurovision 1998 Romanian entry), Viorel Gavrilă (Conductor – Composer), Ilinca Băcilă (Eurovision 2017 representative alongside with Alex Florea), Nicu Patoi (guitarist) and Marian Ionescu (composer and founder of the group Direcția 5).

From each semi final only the 3 acts that gather the three highest jury points qualify to the final. The audience will play a leading role only in the grand final that will take place on February 25.

This evening the contestants of semi final 1 performed on stage in the following 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. Alexia & Matei – “Walking On Water

7. Johnny Badulescu – “Devoted”

8. Waleska – “Renacer (Reborn)”

9. Echoes – “Mirror”

10. Elena Turcu – “The Perfect Fall”

11. Eduard Santha – “Mesom Romales”

Tom Hartis and his song “Teardrop Rain” didn’t compete due to health problems.

Anca Medeleanu, TVR Iaşi presenter , observed and commented on the impressions, reactions and emotions the 11 artist felt during tonight’s semi final.