Romania will not be participating in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.
Romanian broadcaster TVR have officially confirmed that Romania will not be participating in Eurovision 2024 in Malmö. This withdrawal comes off the back of a vote held today by the Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors for TVR met today to discuss Romania’s potential participation in Eurovision 2024. They held a vote on approving SRTv’s budget for 2024, and concluded that the budget does not contain enough funds to guarantee Romania’s Eurovision participation.
During this vote, five of the members approved the budget, four members voted against it, and four members abstained from voting. As a result of this, the broadcaster does not have the funds available to finance Romania’s participation in Eurovision 2024.
The broadcaster goes on to explain that they are allocating significant funds and resources to other priority productions and projects, some of which include broadcasting the Olympic Games this summer. They are also invested in the modernisation of the broadcaster, of which investments in a new headquarters for TVR is included.
As a result of all of these things combined, TVR is “forced to postpone participation in the Eurovision Song Contest for a future edition.”
Romania’s most recent Eurovision participation was in Liverpool in 2023, with 18 year old Theodor Andrei as their representative with D.G.T (Off and On). He finished in 15th place with zero points in semi final 2. Not long after the contest, it was reported that TVR had spent close to 400,000 euros on Romania’s Eurovision 2023 participation.
Romania made their first attempt at a Eurovision debut in 1993 with Dida Drăgan, but they failed to qualify from the pre-qualifying round, Kvalifikacija za Millstreet (Pre-selection for Millstreet). Their first Eurovision participation came a year later in 1994, when Dan Bittman finished in 21st place with 14 points.
Due to their low score in 1994, they were relegated from the 1995 contest. They attempted to return again in 1996 with 2002 representative Monica Anghel, but they did qualify from the pre-qualifying contest. They participated in 1998, 2000, and then every year from 2002 until 2023.
The country’s best Eurovision results came in 2005 and 2010, when Luminița Anghel & Sistem, and Paula Seling & Ovi both achieved third place with “Let Me Try” and “Playing With Fire” respectively. Mihai Trăistariu achieved another top 5 finish for Romania when he finished in 4th place in 2006 with “Tornerò.” Romania’s highest score in Eurovision was achieved by Ilinca & Alex Florea in 2017 with “Yodel It”, when they finished in 7th place with 282 points.
What are your thoughts on Romania withdrawing from Eurovision 2024? Do you think Romania will return to Eurovision in 2005? Let us know in the comments below!
