Enough with Jedward and their Sexy Utility Vehicle already. Let us restore some sanity to this blog, in the shape of the first ever Romanian entrant to take on the Eurovision Blog interview. All hail – Romanian Dave! Who is actually from Newcastle. But you get our drift….
Introduce yourselves, and Dave, tell us how a chap from Newcastle ended up representing Romania in Eurovision this year? Well I came to Romania as a missionary volunteer to help orphaned children and children with disabilities which during this period i met my girlfriend and decided to stay. After some time i was found singing in a karaoke bar by a friend of mine who offered me a job singing every week in a local shopping centre. This lead to meeting Gabriel Baruta who heard about an English singer in Oradea and I was offered to join his band Hotel FM. Together we competed into the most important international festival and song contest organized in Romania called CERBUL DE AUR (The Golden Stag) where we arrived into the semi final. After some period of being together Gabi had written a song for Eurovision which I found perfect for my voice and asked if he was interested in going to compete in the Romanian Eurovision preselection and he agreed. So that in 2010 we arrived on 2 place from jury and 7th place from public which brought us into 4th place in the final – winners being Paula Seling and Ovi. Again this year I asked if he was interested in going back and he agreed, this time we were glorious and won the National ESC Final.
Are you looking forward to going to Dusseldorf? What can we expect from your stage show? Yes I’m looking forward to Dusseldorf – I can’t imagine any artist in the competition, who isn’t :)) Our show will be very similar to our national final show as we don’t want to complicate things:))
Which of this year’s other entries do you rate? I rate Bosnia and Herzegovina as a wonderful piece along side Denmark and Finland. Everybody seems to be going towards this club scene lately and I think we should try to save some of the real music as much as possible before we loose it all and the world turns into computerised voices and effects :)))
Which is your favourite Eurovision entry of all time and which is your favourite from your home country? My favourite entry of all time must be Waterloo of course :)) I honestly cannot say I remember a good song from the UK :))
Here in the UK Eurovision is regarded by many as a bit of a joke (something we are aiming to change this year with our entry) How is it regarded in Romania? Yes as an Englishman I know myself how the English look at things and before I entered into the competition, I used to think the same and wasn’t too interested in the whole Eurovision thing :)) But now as a competitor it changed the way I think about it, and now my eyes are opened to just how big the competition is for singers. Maybe for us Brits it’s an old competition but for most of Europe and the singers competing its actually a huge way of getting noticed, and for foreign bands to get known. :)) Most artists around Europe are trying to get a foot into the UK and American market to start their career on a bigger level, which seems very hard to do these days, but with Eurovision they can be seen by the whole world which managers and music production labels etc etc maybe watching who may offer some kind of contract etc to help them further their career and move up the ladder in the music world and to try crack the UK and America or the world :)) In Romania the Eurovision isn’t such a big deal like the Swedish people for eg, but it’s watched by a large number of people :))
Why do you think so many people still love it so much even after all this time? Well because it’s entertaining and the world is at war, (WHOSE COUNTRY HAVE THE BEST SINGERS ETC).. people are very nationalist and when their country wins they grow 10 feet tall :)) But this is only how I think things are and it is still a very competetive show with Europe’s best singers, Why shouldn’t it still be watched?
What will be the first thing you do if you win? If I win ill probably pass out first , then I’ll drink a beer or 2 after coming to to celebrate as for the last 8 months I’ve been on strict no drinking alcohol schedule :)) then I’ll begin planning on the next steps to get on some shows in the UK to try promote Hotel FM :))
I’ve heard the UK entry and of course the UK have a great chance of winning this year with Blue, they sing well, the song is commercial and radio friendly and could sell well after Eurovision. People say it was a death sentence for them coming on Eurovision but I actually think it will revive them from their sleep that they have had over the last 10 years. I wish the UK good luck but I’m sure this year you dont need it :))
And finally, tell me why Romania should have the chance to host Eurovision in 2012 and which city do you think it should be held in? Well I think Romania has proven over the last years that they do have good artists and this year our song has a strong message, its a very positive song with a happy go feel to it 🙂 Also Romania have never won the Eurovision before so it would be an honour as an Englishman to bring here the trophy.
Romania has had it tough over the years and I think and it would be great for Europeans to come to Romania to finally see how Romania truly is but the most important fact is that we believe in our song and we believe in ourselves :)) If the Eurovision comes to Romania in 2012 I think it should be made in Bucharest the capital. Finally I wish all the contestants good luck and may the best song win :))
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