THIS YEAR'S ENTRY

 SELECTION
Romanian broadcaster TVR decided to make a few changes to its Eurovision selection for 2010. Entry was restricted to local artists and the semi-finals were dropped in favour of a bigger single show national final. Sixteen songs competed in Selectia Nationala, the Romanian final, which was held on March 6th at the Globus Circus Arena in Bucharest and hosted by Horia Brenciu & Valentina Pelinel. The winner was chosen by regional juries, who had a combined weighted of 50% and a national televote made up the other 50%. The winner of both sections of the voting was the up-tempo song "Playing With Fire" performed by Paula Seling and Ovi.

 BIOGRAPHY
Paula Seling was born on Christmas Day 1978 in Baia Mare . She studied piano since she was 6. At the age of 10 she started singing in the school choir and found it to be very enjoyable. It wasn’t long before she became a vocalist. That was the start of her interest in music. She has won numerous awards in Romania. In 1998, she recorded her first album, Only Love in Germany . Up until now she has released twelve albums, including three Christmas albums and a compilation. Her latest one, released last year, is a double album with 17 songs, all composed, produced and arranged by herself. In 2005, Paula launched her own recording studio and record label, called Unicorn Records, along with her husband. She sang in duets with e.g. Al Bano, Anita Doth (from 2 Unlimited), Tony Hawks and she served as opening act for Joan Baez , Ricky Martin, Michael Bolton and Beyonce.

Ovi is a Romanian/Norwegian singer and composer, born in the north of Romania, in a town named Botosani. Despite his 34 years Ovi is entering the most important part of his musical life only now. Early 2009 he released his first solo album "This Gig Almost Got Me Killed", a solid result of hard work with help and influence from experienced professionals from the music business. On this album a lot of the inspiration is gained from the 70's big piano and keyboard based singer-songwriters such as Billy Joel, Elton John and Stevie Wonder. Ovi had also taken part in Norway's national finals for the Eurovision Song Contest before, in 2006 and 2009. Ovi's talent was noticed while he was just a kid. In his early years he listened actively to music and he actually discovered his voice "by accident" while imitating everybody from "We Are The World".

 REACTION
Paula and Ovi have done limited international promotion and have recorded a very professional promotional video for their entry. The song has made limited impact on internet polls, where it's among the middle-ranked entries. The song is seen as a marginal qualifier, according to bookmakers and can be booked at 100/1 to win the contest.

 INTERVIEW

BROADCASTER

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