Romania in Eurovision
Romania debuted at the contest in 1994 and has placed in the Top 10 six times. Their best result so far has been finishing in third place with the notable and energetic performance of Luminița Anghel and Sistem in 2005 with 'Let Me Try'. Additionally, in 2010 Paula Seling and Ovi also finished third with 'Playing With Fire', featuring some iconic staging and stellar pyrotechnic fire.
For their last 10 appearances at Eurovision they've qualified seven times for the Grand Final. Their best result in recent history was Ilinca and Alex Florea with 'Yodel It!' finishing a notable 7th in 2017. Romania has struggled to qualify for the Grand Final since, could 2022 turn some more positive results for the Balkan nation?
2022 Entry: WRS - 'Llámame'
Semi-final: Romania will compete in position 13 of semi-final 2
My Eurovision Scoreboard ranking: 23rd
Odds to win ranking: 40th
(Rankings as of 10 April 2022)
About the artist
Andrei Ionuț Ursu, known professionally as WRS, hails from the South-Eastern Romanian town of Buzău. At 29 years old he will now represent Romania at Eurovision. As a child he started dancing lessons and a few years down the line emerged into the music scene featuring in the boy band Shot. After two years he left the band, moved the London and began composing music. His debut single 'Why' was released in January 2020, cementing the electropop genre he is known for.
WRS has performed alongside many notable Romanian language artists, being a backing dancer for Inna, Antonia and Carla's Dreams. Additionally, performing on TV on shows such as 'The Voice Romania' and 'Romania's Got Talent'. WRS has multiple successful singles including 'Amore' and 'Tsunami' that have charted successfully locally and in Bulgaria. He was also nominated for 'Best New Artist' and 'Best Upcoming Artist' at the Romanian Artist Awards.
About the song
'Llámame' is predominantly in English with Spanish feature lyrics. Penned by WRS himself along with Romanian producers Costel Dominteanu (notably involved with Roxen's National Final entry 'Cherry Red' from 2020), Cezar Gună and Alexandru Turcu.
The song is a typical "man-meets-lover" story, detailing the singer meeting someone and by the end of the encounter falling in love. The Spanish lyrics in the chorus translate to "Hello, my baby... call me, call me" repeated. 'Llámame' features uniquely Romanian production elements, classic Balkan pop sounds with a Mediterranean spin.
During the Selecția Națională performances, WRS notably danced consistently during each evening, elevating the performance and bringing a different dimension to the music breaks.
How he was chosen for Eurovision
WRS won the Romanian National Selection 'Selecția Națională' 2022, securing his spot to represent the nation. 'Selecția Națională' became one of the more controversial National Finals of the season with a long and convoluted process to eventually decide the winner. Many local and international favourite entries fell short in the semi-final rounds, swiftly dismissed by the Romanian juries. This included notably a televote winner E-an-na with 'Malere' and international favourite Aris with 'Do svidaniya'.
'Llámame' narrowly won the jury vote and finished second in the televote to take the overall crown and win 'Selecția Națională' 2022.
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Romania will compete in semi-final 2 on May 12 (European time) in Turin.