Eurovision 2019 spotlight: Romania's Ester Peony with "On A Sunday"...
Yes, in 2016, Romania had owed dues from the event, and were effectively banned from competing, even though what would've gone, "Moment Of Silence" from Ovidiu Anton, made it to the promotion CD of the event. They've since paid up, and have been back in each year, but last year's "Goodbye" from the rock group The Humans just missed qualifying for the finals, placing 11th in their semi-final, a shocker for a country who has made it each year since the semi-finals were in place in 2004. And for me as well, being one of my favorites going in, and it was a worthy stage performance as well...
Determined to rectify that record, Romania again held their national finals contest to determine their entry, but the whole affair ended up a mess, with the jury accused to being "stacked" with international figures (and certain bloggers that really knew better not to get involved in this) to the point where the public vote winner was overruled and a small bit of controversy arose, but that "vote winner" wasn't blameless. Laura Bretan, a young singer with an incredible operatic voice, went and recorded an advertisement to prevent the allowing of marriage equality in Romania. I don't know who her handlers are, but lord, girl, you are trying to enter what Europe basically calls the "Gay Olympics" and you are promoting that backwards hateful kind of thought? I mean, if she just felt her beliefs were against gay marriage and kept that as a personal thing that is one thing. Making political ads for it not only is getting involved in something that doesn't affect you, but also dirties your image completely, and it would've been absolutely crazy to send her to Tel Aviv expecting any good outcome. Hell, even the Russian artist is a big LGBT supporter (go, Sergei Lazarev!), so it would've definitely been covered before the even by the news and the fandom. But having the bloggers on the jury panel sullied up that kind of decision to put a cloud on the winner that it was outside forces determining that (well, it did, but...). So that's where we are. So this is what we get, the person who placed eighth in the televote, going to Israel. So now that you've got the backstory, now for the singer...
Romania - "On A Sunday" by Ester Peony
Ester (real surname Cretu), a singer and YouTuber born in the resort city of Câmpulung in central Romania, spent her youth in Canada before returning to Romania with her family as a teenager. She is romantically involved with the producer of the song she is going to perform, Alexandru Şerbu. "On A Sunday", written by Ioana Victoria Badea, is a moody but not too dark midtempo 3/4 time as Ester ruminates about a lost love.
While the production (and the subsequent "revamp" adding a few bells and whistles to the mix) is fighting to distract from Ester's voice, she does seem to give enough to wrest control while still retaining the "cool" aspect of her pained delivery. But is that enough to win Eurovision? Definitely no, but I think the idea is to be current enough to at least make the finals. And as pleasantly entertaining (for a break-up song, that is) as "On A Sunday" is, to me it's unsure whether that actually is going to happen in the "stronger" of the semi-finals. In the end I believe it will squeak through, with neighbors like Moldova and Russia in the semi, and fellow Balkans Albania, Croatia, and North Macedonia in the mix as well. But I also wouldn't be surprised if somehow they end up 11th for the second year in a row. (Rating: 6.5/10)
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Romania has been competing in Eurovision since 1993, only failing to make the finals three times (their first year, their third, and the aforementioned 2018). While the country has never won, they have placed in third twice. The first was in 2005, when singer Luminița Anghel and the band Sistem entered with "Let Me Try"...
Five years later, singers Paula Seling and Ovi got the "show" rank with their song "Playing With Fire"...
"Playing With Fire" is definitely my favorite song from Romania's history, but running at second is the exploding gayness of opera singer Cezar with "It's My Life". You'd think that'd be my WTF moment, but it was eclipsed. It came in 13th in the 2013 final...
Yes, for that you can just go to their seventh place finish in 2017 with "Yodel It!" (coincidentally my BFF Karl's favorite that year), not only for the titular promise of yodeling, but with that totally awks kiss at the end...
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