Ovidiu Anton (; born 24 February 1983 in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

) is a Romanian singer-songwriter. He was to represent

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "

Moment of Silence A moment of silence (also referred to as a minute's silence or a one-minute silence) is a period of silent contemplation, prayer, reflection, or meditation. Similar to flying a flag at half-mast, a moment of silence is often a gesture of ...

", but Romania was forced to withdraw from the contest on 22 April 2016. His song got the most points from the jury, in the semifinal on March 4, but also the most votes from viewers, in the final on March 6. He participated in

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 finish ...

five times so far: 2010, with Pasager band – "Running Out Of Time",

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

– "I Walk Alone",

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– "Run Away With Me", 2015 – "Still Alive".

Early life

Anton went on stage for the first time at age six. He studied modern canto, classic guitar and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

at the Music School.

Career

Wanting to compose and perform

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

, in 1998, he formed the band Carpe Diem; he toured with the band until 2002. He won the second place at Interpretation section of the Mamaia National Festival 2003 with his own song, ''Vreau'' ("I Want"), and between 2004 and 2006 was named valedictorian of Star School ( ro, Școala Vedetelor), second edition, production organized by the

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, ...

. Ovidiu represented Romania at the Golden Stag International Festival in 2005, and from 2008 until May 2012 he was the soloist of Pasager band with whom he performed hundreds of concerts and participated in Eurovision 2010 national selection. Along the same band, he won the second place at Rock section of the Mamaia National Festival 2011. Anton won the Romanian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, but on 22 April 2016, it was announced that TVR were suspended from the European Broadcasting Union, as TVR repeatedly failed to pay their debt of CHF 16 million (

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14.56 million,

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16.4 million) to the EBU. As a result, Anton and his song were both forced to withdraw from the contest. Despite the withdrawal, the song was included on the contest's album, as it was produced before Romania was suspended.

Personal life

Ovidiu Anton is married to Diana, with whom he has a 5-year-old daughter, Adela. Ovidiu is a

dog breeder Dog breeding is the practice of mating selected dogs with the intention of maintaining or producing specific qualities and characteristics. When dogs reproduce without such human intervention, their offspring's characteristics are determined by ...

in Romania, as owner of Praetorian Staff

kennel A kennel is a structure or shelter for dogs. Used in the plural, ''the kennels'', the term means any building, collection of buildings or a property in which dogs are housed, maintained, and (though not in all cases) bred. A kennel can be made ...

. He participates in many competitions dedicated to quadrupeds.

References

External links

* Ovidiu Anton
'Moment of silence'
(official video on

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) 1983 births Living people Romanian rock singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Romania Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2016 21st-century Romanian singers {{Romania-bio-stub