Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003

Eurovision Song Contest 2003
Country  Romania
National selection
Selection process National Final
Selection date(s) Semi-finals
15 February 2003
22 February 2003
Final
1 March 2003
Selected entrant Nicoleta Alexandru
Selected song "Don't Break My Heart"
Finals performance
Final result 10th, 73 points

In 2003 Romania was represented by Nicoleta Alexandru (Nicola).

Contents

National selection

Televiziunea Română (TVR) held a national final to select the its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. There were two semi-finals, one on 15th of February and the second one on 22nd of February. The top 6 songs from each semi-final went forward to the final. The entries were selected by televoting (50%) and an expert jury (50%) which included Monica Anghel who represented Romania in ESC 2002.

Semi-final 1 - 15 February, 2003
Draw Artist Song Points Place
1 Krypton "Lumea noastră" 7 7
2 Selena "Anytime" 1 12
3 Valahia "Friends are friends" 16 3
4 Desperado "Fată de ţară" 7 7
5 Nicoleta Matei "The only one" 16 3
6 Răzvan Crivaci & Liviu Sorescu "Once upon a time" 8 6
7 Aurelian Temișan "Let's have a holiday" 19 1
8 D’La Vegas "Oxigen" 11 5
9 Supermarket "Un om între oameni" 4 10
10 Paula Seling "Let's go!" 18 2
11 Marius Dragomir "Golden bird" 3 11
12 Sfinx Experience "A fost o vreme când" 6 9
Semi-final 2 - 22 February, 2003
Draw Artist Song Points Place
1 Centrul Civic "Come with us" 13 3
2 Mălina Olinescu "Tăcerea doare" 9 7
3 Latin Expres "Mereu aproape" 1 10
4 Aurelian Temișan "Goodbye, hello, goodbye" 16 2
5 Genius "My life" 11 6
6 Costi Ioniţă "Dominus" 13 3
7 Alexandra Ungureanu "Make this love come true" 12 5
8 Bogdan Bradu "Albastru aprins" 7 9
9 Nicola "Don't break my heart" 24 1
10 Open "Tell me" 0 12
11 Oana Sârbu "Doar tu știi" 1 10
12 Hara "Spune" 9 7

National Final

The Romanian Final was held on March 1st at the TVR TV Studios in Bucharest, hosted by Kitty Cepraga & Leonard Miron. The winner was chosen by televoting (50%) and an expert jury (50%). Nicola was favourite with both the jury and televoters. Aurelian Temișan withdrew his song "Goodbye, hello, goodbye" as he didn't want to split his televotes between two songs. The song "Dominus" by Costi Ioniţă was disqualified due to similarities between it and the song "Ty prosti" by the Russian Group Hi-Fi.

Final - 1 March, 2003
Draw Artist Song Points Place
1 Valahia "Friends are friends" 11 3
2 D’La Vegas "Oxigen" 5 10
3 Nicola "Don't break my heart" 24 1
4 Genius "My life" 9 6
5 Paula Seling "Let's go!" 11 3
6 Răzvan Crivaci & Liviu Sorescu "Once upon a time" 9 6
7 Alexandra Ungureanu "Make this love come true" 11 3
8 Nicoleta Matei "The only one" 7 9
9 Centrul Civic "Come with us" 9 6
10 Aurelian Temișan "Let's have a holiday" 20 2

About Nicola

Nicoleta Alexandru (born 2 January 1968), whose stage name is Nicola, is a famous Romanian singer. She is a star in her native country.

Born in Bucharest, Nicola started her solo career in 1992 and has toured widely as well as making numerous television, radio and stage appearances. In 2003, she was awarded the Woman of the Year prize by Avantaje magazine, her song "Lângă Mine" was awarded "The Song of the Year" prize by Bucureşti and Radio Actualităţi stadions; she was awarded the Mamaia and Love Song Festival trophies for the same song.

On March 1, 2003, after a huge response to her song "Don't Break My Heart" Nicola won the Romanian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest at Riga. In the international final she came in 10th.

In 2003 she released her fourth LP, Best Of Nicola. Building on the recognition gained from the Eurovision Song Contest, the album sold more copies than expected for a Romanian artist and stayed in the Top 5 of the album charts for 6 months.

Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 2003