Romania: Theodor Andrei wins Selecția Națională 2023 – To Eurovision with "D.G.T."
The people of Romania have selected Theodor Andrei and the song "D.G.T. (Off and On)" to sing for their country at Eurovision 2023
Hola mis bebé-bés, Romania is calling!
Even if going through uncertain times concerning the Eurovision Song Contest, Romania pulled their agenda together and decided to host a national selection for Eurovision 2023 that can hardly be compared to last year's jury show.
Unlike Selecția Națională 2022 where the jury vote made up 83% of the decision, this year the public had 100% of the say on who should fly to Liverpool and sing for Romania. Once all the votes were cast, Theodor Andrei won with the song "D.G.T. (Off and On)."
"D.G.T. (Off and On)" was written by Luca De Mezzo, Luca Udățeanu, Theodor himself, and Xjahed
The amount of shows held was also a changing factor, with TVR (Romania's public broadcaster) hosting a one-night-only event in their Bucharest studios. Ilinca Băcilă (Romania 2017) and Romanian singer Laurențiu Niculescu hosted the show. Toward the end of the televote Ilinca had the chance to perform, whereas WRS (Romania 2022) was in charge of opening the show with a performance of "Llámame" and performed again before the results were announced.
Selecția Națională 2023
Theodor Andrei
Theodor Andrei is a 19-year-old Romanian student, singer, lyricist, actor, and so much more. He's won multiple national and international music festivals, and composed over 100 songs.
It was at a very early age that Theodor started dreaming about the world of arts:
– When I attended music festivals in elementary school and they were held at Dinu Lipatti College of Arts, I dreamed of going to that specific school because it reminded me of "High School Musical."
Despite his age, he's heavily inspired by Elvis Presley, James Brown, Michael Jackson, and Mariah Carey.
Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest
Romania had its debut in 1994, and has participated 22 times since. They have never won the contest, but came in 3rd in 2005 (Luminita Anghel & Sistem - "Let Me Try") and 2010 (Paula Seling & Ovi - "Playing With Fire").
Since the introduction of the Semi-finals in 2004, Romania has qualified for the Grand Final 14 out of 17 times, only missing the finals in 2018, 2019 and 2021.
