Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
attempted to debut in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1993
The Eurovision Song Contest 1993 was the 38th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Millstreet, Ireland, following the country's victory at the with the song " Why Me?" by Linda Martin. Organised by the European Broadcastin ...
, held that year in
Millstreet
Millstreet () is a town in north County Cork, Ireland, with a population of 1,555 (as of 2016).
Millstreet is within the civil parish of Drishane, and within a Poor Law Union also called Millstreet. The Millstreet Union encompasses the civil ...
, Ireland, being one of seven countries interested in taking part in the contest for the first time. A national final, ''
Selecția Națională
Romania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 22 times since its debut in , and has placed in the top ten six times. Its best results were achieved by Luminița Anghel and Sistem in , and by Paula Seling and Ovi in , who both finished ...
1993'' organized by
Romanian Television
Televiziunea Română (), more commonly referred to as TVR , is the short name for Societatea Română de Televiziune ("Romanian Television Society"; SRTV), the Romanian public television. It operates six channels: TVR1, TVR2, TVR3, TVR Info, T ...
(TVR), was held on 16 January 1993, and "Nu pleca" (English: "Don't go"), written and performed by the Romanian singer
Dida Drăgan
Dida Drăgan (; born in Jugureni, Dâmbovița County, 14 September 1946) is a Romanian female pop star who was famous for rock music in the ''muzică ușoară'' easy listening music of the 1980s.Denise Roman ''Denise Roman, Fragmented Identities ...
and composed by Adrian Ordean, was selected to be the Romanian entry. For a place in the finals of the contest, Romania had to compete in a pre-qualifying round, ''
Kvalifikacija za Millstreet
( en, Preselection for Millstreet, i=yes; french: Présélection pour Millstreet) was a televised song contest held as a qualifying round for the Eurovision Song Contest 1993. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcast ...
'', that took place in
Ljubljana
Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center.
During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...
, Slovenia. The song ranked last, and so failed to qualify for the finals in Ireland. Predominantly negative reactions from Romanian media followed as a result of Drăgan's poor performance.
Before Eurovision
Romanian Television
Televiziunea Română (), more commonly referred to as TVR , is the short name for Societatea Română de Televiziune ("Romanian Television Society"; SRTV), the Romanian public television. It operates six channels: TVR1, TVR2, TVR3, TVR Info, T ...
(TVR) organized the ''
Selecția Națională
Romania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 22 times since its debut in , and has placed in the top ten six times. Its best results were achieved by Luminița Anghel and Sistem in , and by Paula Seling and Ovi in , who both finished ...
1993'' on 16 January 1993, a national final to select Romania's entrant for the
Eurovision Song Contest 1993
The Eurovision Song Contest 1993 was the 38th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Millstreet, Ireland, following the country's victory at the with the song " Why Me?" by Linda Martin. Organised by the European Broadcastin ...
. A winner out of the 11 competing entries—"Nu pleca" by Dida Drăgan—was announced by Institutul Român de Sondare a Opiniei Publice (IRSOP), who added up the votes of 1100 households in Romania. Although the rest of the result was not publicly revealed, local media speculated that Laurenţiu Cazan and
Laura Stoica
Adriana-Laurenția "Laura" Stoica (10 October 1967 – 9 March 2006) was a Romanian pop rock singer, composer and actress. She is often considered the best female rock vocalist and one of the most important figures of the local Romanian music s ...
reached second and third place respectively. The competing entries were:
At Kvalifikacija za Millstreet
With the
breakup of Yugoslavia
The breakup of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...
, many countries became interested in competing in the Eurovision Song Contest. Subsequently, the
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...
(EBU) decided to hold the pre-qualifying round ''
Kvalifikacija za Millstreet
( en, Preselection for Millstreet, i=yes; french: Présélection pour Millstreet) was a televised song contest held as a qualifying round for the Eurovision Song Contest 1993. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcast ...
'' to select three out of seven interested countries to join the ones already competing in the 1993 contest in
Millstreet
Millstreet () is a town in north County Cork, Ireland, with a population of 1,555 (as of 2016).
Millstreet is within the civil parish of Drishane, and within a Poor Law Union also called Millstreet. The Millstreet Union encompasses the civil ...
, Ireland. The pre-qualifying round was hosted on 3 April 1993 in
Ljubljana
Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center.
During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...
, Slovenia, by
Radiotelevizija Slovenija
Radiotelevizija Slovenija ( en, Radio-Television of Slovenia) – usually abbreviated to RTV Slovenija (or simply RTV within Slovenia) – is Slovenia's national public broadcasting organization.
Based in Ljubljana, it has regional broadcastin ...
(RTV SLO). Romania was the fifth country to perform its song, following
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
and preceding
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
. Drăgan came in last place and failed to qualify, receiving 38 points.
12 points were awarded by
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
, six by
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
and five by
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
,
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
, Hungary and Slovenia.
The Eurovision site does not count the year in Romania's list of appearances.
Voting
Reactions and reception
Drăgan's poor result attracted overwhelming criticism from the Romanian media. An editor of ''
Evenimentul Zilei
''Evenimentul Zilei'' is a formerly physical and now exclusively online newspaper in Romania. Its name means "today's even (news)".
History and profile
''Evenimentul Zilei'' was founded by Ion Cristoiu, Cornel Nistorescu and Mihai Cârciog, an ...
'' accused IRSOP of
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...
and arranged voting, seeing Laurențiu Cazan as the real winner of ''Selecția Națională''. They also stated that TVR failed to inform the Romanian public about Eurovision, resulting in the
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
-inspired "Nu pleca" being sent to the
pop-centered Eurovision Song Contest. ''
Adevărul
''Adevărul'' (; meaning "The Truth", formerly spelled ''Adevĕrul'') is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in Iași, in 1871, and reestablished in 1888, in Bucharest, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published dur ...
'' also noted the rock nature of Drăgan's performance, attributing it to her outfit, vocal delivery and movements. ''
Libertatea
Libertatea is a Romanian daily newspaper and online news website covering current affairs, entertainment, sports and lifestyle. It was founded on December 22, 1989 (12:45 p.m.), by Octavian Andronic, as "the first independent newspaper of t ...
'' saw the event as the "artistic suicide of Dida Drăgan", and ''
România Liberă
''România liberă'' ("") is a Romanian daily newspaper founded in 1943 and currently based in Bucharest. A newspaper of the same name also existed between 1877 and 1888.
History and profile
The name ''România liberă'' was first used by a dai ...
'' criticized her vocals. Contrary to the negative reviews of 1993, an editor of EuroVisionary, looking retrospectively at Drăgan's performance, stated: "Undoubtedly, the most passionate and dramatic performance of the evening. Dida moved her hands as if life depended on them, and her voice was giving life to the lyrics". However, they slightly criticized her show as being over-the-top.
References
{{Eurovision Song Contest 1993
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993
Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...