Earlier in the month Romania announced the internal selection of Roxen for Eurovision this year - one of which will be the Romanian entry for Rotterdam 2020. In a different format to previous years the national final Selecția Națională will be used in miniature form to choose her song with a 50/50 jury-televote split. The final will air 6am AEDT Monday morning, March 2.
The Aussievision team have listened and ranked the songs and the results are - it was splitting hairs for 3rd to 5th!:
1st: Cherry Red (97 points)
Highs: 12 points from Liv, Ruby, Kyriakos, Steve, Mike & Dale
Lows: 7 points from Fleur (4th)
Steve: The Latino vibes, the clear message and passion in the lyrics (despite the use of Spanglish in sentences - the English and Spanish lyrics work better for me) and Roxen’s feisty delivery of those lyrics just push this into first place for me. I’d like it to have gone somewhere else/different in the last minute or so, but if a “bop” is wanted then this has to go to Rotterdam.
Dale: This has everything that has been used to death over the last few years, trop pop, pop drop, multi-lingual thrown in for no reason….. but I love it! I’m ready to go to down town Malaga and rakata all night to this. Saying that… I am worried how this will come across live, she better have some good chorey!
Liv: As a bit of a Romanian fan I can say this song ticks absolutely every box that I was hoping for - finally sending a song that is a good example of their world class music industry. Romania has been quiet achievers in the radio-hits department making thousands of cracking tunes that a lot of people aren't even aware are Romanian! This will be one of my favourite Eurovision songs of the year by far.
Fleur: This started off rather average but built up to a mid-tempo bop. It’s catchy but I’m not sure on how effective it would be at Eurovision because we have heard similar songs before.
2nd: Alcohol You (86 points)
Highs: 12 points from Guy, 10 points from Liv, Ruby, Kyriakos, Steve, Mike & Dale
Lows: 6 points from Emma (5th)
Mike: A very modern ballad that you could hear on the radio right now. The pre-chorus is good and leads into a very interesting chorus. If Romania were to send this I think it could be the outstanding ballad of the competition.
Kyriakos: Again another unique song from Roxen. ‘Alcohol You’ is intriguing and enticing. Lyrically it is one of the better songs in the selection. “I will alcohol you when I’m drunk” genius! ‘Cherry Red’ only just crossed the line, but I would be happy if this were to go to Eurovision too.
Liv: Looking at the few clips we have of Roxen and the songs she really just melts when this comes on (and in the best way possible!) - you can see an extra spark and passion she has for it, I would not be surprised if she delivers a strong winners performance with this.
Emma: This track really allows Roxen to show off her vocal range and will appeal to all those who have may have been tempted to drunk dial an ex – let’s face it who hasn’t! As a studio cut it was just too slow and sleepy for my liking but it could come to life with some creative staging.
3rd: Storm (69 points)
Highs: 12 points from Emma, 10 points from Fleur
Lows: 6 points from Steve, Mike & Dale (5th)
Emma: Roxen reminds me very much of Alessia Cara. This has an ethereal sound yet would also be radio friendly. This is the song I’d most choose to listen to again out of the five.
Steve: With stilted sounding lyrics shaped by overuse of a rhyming dictionary and an uninspiring chorus largely consisting of “ay-ay-ay”, this is fairly ordinary fare and not for me. To be honest, despite Roxen’s vocals, this sounds like a non-qualifier for the final should it be chosen.
Fleur: This showcases Roxen’s voice quite nicely. It’s a pleasant pop song that could work at Eurovision but for it to be really outstanding, it could benefit from a slight revamp. This has the potential to do well.
Dale: This has good elements but feels very disjointed at times. I can’t really hang my hat on the song, what do you remember? This wouldn’t be my choice.
~ I think I spent a good week walking around with 'Hi, I am storm', but will admit I cannot remember much more of the lyrics! - Liv
4th: Beautiful Disaster (68 points)
Highs: 12 points from Fleur, 8 points from Ruby & Steve
Lows: 6 points from Liv & Guy (5th)
Steve: This song is dark, twisted, almost predatory, with lyrics referencing being a “slave to love”, and a “black widow”, oddly truncated sentences and hospital equipment/heart monitor sounds at the very beginning. I find this song the most interesting lyrically, but the staging might have to be extraordinarily good to sell this. I’m just not sure how this would translate live.
Fleur: This is my favourite, it is the most contemporary of the selection. It has a little Bond-esque thing going but it is still rather fresh sounding. The staging possibilities are never ending. I would love to see this in May.
Mike: A quirky sounding electro/pop song with quite a ‘Billie Eilish’ influence to it. Another well produced song with early Portishead or Garbage vibes. I feel it may be hard to replicate this studio version feel into a live performance however.
5th: Colors (67 points)
Highs: 10 points from Guy, 8 points from Liv, Mike, Emma & Dale
Lows: 6 points from Fleur, Ruby & Kyriakos (5th)
Dale: There is a melody here. It’s enjoyable without having too much impact, showcases her vocal and apparently she likes ballads, so this mid-tempo could fit well. Unfortunately even though the chorus is memorable it needs more of a ‘moment’.
Steve: This song features some nice - if safe - imagery (colours, paint my life, create a masterpiece) and the verses are quite strong. The chorus, however, appeals to me far less and I don’t know how a song can ever be sold without a compelling chorus.
Emma: Dreamy but chorus lyrics are quite simple and perhaps a bit repetitive. Could do a lot with the staging here though.