Romania started with a rather bad record at Eurovision but recently have seen things pick up.  In 2000 they finished 17^th with what wasn’t a great entry, in 2001 they were relegated and a comeback in 2002 saw them achieve their highest result – 9^th, from then, entries were more recognised with 10^th in 2003, and disappointing 18th in 2004.  2005 was when Romania really got their chance to shine with their song ‘Let Me Try’.  Everything was right about it, great song, amazing singer and fantastic performance.  Romania won the Semi-Final and came third in the Final – their highest result to date.  So the stakes were high for Mihai Tristariu in 2006, who managed 4th, again qualifying Romania to the 2007 Final.

 

 

When I first heard this and saw how well it was doing in the fan polls, I was unpleasantly shocked, as I really didn’t like it very much at all.  Nothing much has changed.  What on earth happened to Romania sending modern sounding ethnic flavoured dance tracks (Let Me Try, Tornero) that worked so well for them??  Instead we get this very strange and distasteful number that wouldn’t sound out of place in a bad musical.  The song starts off slowly and very gradually builds up into something that can only be described as different (not good).  I’m not a fan, it’s catchy, but I think it’s too serious for what it is – I don’t like it very much at all.

 

 

Being sandwiched in between what is sure to be a fabulous entry from the United Kingdom and a powerful qualifier, I doubt Romania can make much of an impression with this piece of tripe.  I really don't understand why they've sent this at all.  If I had my way it'd be nul points - but neighbourly votes should save this from being bottom of the heap.

 

 

There's an outside chance Romania could do well, but even with a poor draw the Final few songs aren't the best of the bunch, and it's likely this could be forgotten about.

 

 

This was never going to be one of my favourites, and having performed after Scooch and Verka Serduchka, this seemed to be novelty entry overload.  The boys were however, really rather charming and they sang well.  The performance was energetic and nicely thought out, though rather ineffective.  I think the only thing to let this entry down in the end was the strength of the song, which, let’s face it, isn’t anything very special.  I think 13^th is slightly better than they deserved, but nonetheless, I’m happy it didn’t make the top ten.  As for my prediction, it seems I was wrong placing them a bit closer to the bottom of the scoreboard in comparison to 13^th place.