Jonathan Currinn
Last night, Romania chose their entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. Using a national selection format titled Selectia Nationala 2017; Ilinca feat. Alex Florea came out on top with “Yodel It!”.
Talk about fitting in with the theme of Eurovision 2017: Celebrate Diversity. That’s exactly what this entrant is doing. Ilinca is a yodeler, collaborating with hip-hop artist Alex Florea, for this surprisingly catchy track titled “Yodel It!”. Can Romania prove to the world that they can win this contest?
Selectia Nationala 2017 had a few rounds. They started off with 84 contestants, it was whittled down to 72 acts who performed for judges during three televised events. 15 of the contestants went into the semi-final, from there 10 acts went on to the Final, which took place last night.
In a surprising turn of events, Switzerland and Romania have done a figuratively-speaking exchange. Timebelle, who won Die Entscheidungsshow, has a Romanian female frontwoman; whereas Romania is bringing an Alpine-inspired song to Eurovision 2017.
Ilinca feat. Alex Florea won with a total landslide. The song was a favourite amongst the fans and the jury, earning maximum points from the latter in the semi-final. In the final, it was all down to the public vote. Ilinca feat. Alex Florea’s “Yodel It!” won with 10,377 votes; far out in front of second place M I H A I’s “I Won’t Surrender” with 5,201 votes; and third place Instinct’s “Petale” with 3,763 votes.
Watch Eurovision’s Ilinca Feat. Alex Florea Perform “Yodel It!” Here:
Romania officially debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994. They have never won, although they have come third twice; once in 2005 with Luminita Anghel & Sistem who sang “Let Me Try”; and in 2010 with Paula Seling & OVI who sang “Playing With Fire”. Ever since the semi-finals were introduced, they have had a 100% success rate in going through to the Grand Final. Last year, Romania was disqualified due to non-payment of debts; the country has since paid them off, hence why they are competing this year. They totally have something to prove, and “Yodel It!” could win the contest.
To win, they’ll have to beat every country. Most of the acts have been announced, so far performing on the Eurovision stage are: Cyprus’ Hovig, The Netherlands’ O’G3NE, Belgium’s Blanche, Macedonia’s Jana Burceska, Azerbaijan’s DiHaj, Ireland’s Brendan Murray, Austria’s Nathan Trent, Albania’s Lindita, Armenia’s Artsvik, Montenegro’s Slavko Kalezic, Greece’s Demy, Georgia’s Tako Gachechiladze, Belarus’ Navi, The United Kingdom’s Lucie Jones, Finland’s Norma John, Switzerland’s Timebelle, Germany’s Levina, France’s Alma, Spain’s Manel Navarro, Italy’s Francesco Gabbani, Israel’s Imri Ziv, Czech Republic’s Martina Barta, Croatia’s Jacques Houdek, Malta’s Claudia Faniello, Poland’s Kasia Mos, Hungary’s Joci Pápai, Slovenia’s Omar Naber, Denmark’s Anja Nissen, Moldova’s SunStroke Project, Ukraine’s O.Torvald, Latvia’s Triana Park, Serbia’s Tijana Bogicevic, and Estonia’s Koit Toome & Laura.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 will take place at the International Exhibition Centre, Kyiv, Ukraine; after Jamala won, last year, with “1944”. Mark your calendars, the semi-finals will be on 9 May and 11 May, with the Grand Final taking place on 13 May 2017.
