The national selection took place in Bucharest last Sunday, where the Romanian contestant for The Eurovision Song Contest has been chosen. Out of twelve music acts, the young singer Ester Peony won the competition and will represent the country with her song On a Sunday in Tel Aviv. However, fans seem to be pretty dissatisfied with the result.
According to the rules this year, the voting procedure was to be determined by both the public vote as the points given by a jury consisting of six members. First, each of the judges granted their set of 1-8, 10 and 12 points. Afterwards, one of the hosts announced the televoting results. It turned out that these results hardly influenced the jury votes: the public vote served as a seventh jury member (meaning that this only counted for circa 15%). This is in stark contrast with the last couple of years. Previously, viewer votes had a significantly larger impact on selecting the winner.
Ester Peony received 12 points from four judges, but finished 8th in the public vote. Nevertheless, with a total of 62 points she won first place. Fan-favorite Laura Bretan became the runner-up with 50 points (despite taking the top spot in the public vote with 12 points). Now, the end result has caused quite a stir. Many fans (both Romanian and international) are criticizing the voting system. According to them, viewers should be able to have more influence in selecting the winner who will represent their country during Eurovision. They even started an online petition (avaaz.org) which is meant to protest against the reduction of public influence. The petition has been signed by nearly 10.000 people.
The ticket prices are out!
Pull out your savings account, the prices to attend the Eurovision Song Contest have been announced. There will be 7300 seats per show, but only 4300 will be offered for sale. The prices are, compared to previous years, quite high. The cheapest ticket will get you into the rehearsals of the semi-finals (€ 85). The best seats during the live shows will be sold for € 414. These prices allegedly resulted from the high production costs and the lack of funding from the Israeli government.
Eurovision Postcards: Everybody Dance Now!
The concept for the Eurovision 2019 postcards have been announced and is described as: ‘Everybody Dance Now!’ The postcards have become an integral part of the show and they are no longer only “time wasters” to allow technicians to prepare the stage between performances. In recent years, their focus has been on the artists while they visit different locations in the host country.
The idea is to travel with the 42 participants while they dance in a variety of styles — including hip hop, ballet, parkour, modern dance and more. According to wiwibloggs, the contestants’ shoes might play an important role, and will be used to symbolize a transition from the real world to the magical realms of Israel. Contestants who do not consider themselves as good dancers have no need to worry: They’ll be supported by professional dancers who will make them look amazing.
And of course, more contestants have been announced!
Estonia: Victor Crone – Storm
Croatia: Roko Blažević - The Dream
Latvia: Carousel - That Night
Romania: Ester Peony – On a Sunday
Slovenia: Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl : Sebi
