Country Romania | Selection date(s) March 8, 1996 | |
Selection process Eurovision Selecţia Naţională 1996 Selected entrant Monica Anghel & Sincron Selected song "Rugă pentru pacea lumii" Final result Failed to qualify (29th) | ||
Romania selected Monica Anghel & Sincron, with the song "Rugă pentru pacea lumii", to be their representatives at the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest, held on 18 May in Oslo. "Rugă pentru pacea lumii" was chosen as the Romanian entry on a National Final held by Televiziunea Română (TVR) on 8 March. However, Romania was one of seven countries which failed to qualify for the Eurovision final from a pre-qualifying round, so they were not represented in Oslo. National final was won by Monica Anghel & Sincron, with the song "Rugă pentru pacea lumii", music by Cornel Fugaru, and lyrics by Mirela Voiculescu Fugaru.
Contents
National final
The National final was held at the Palatul Copiilor in Bucharest, on March 8, 1996, and was hosted by Angela Similea and Gabriel Cotabiţă. There were 20 songs, 3 sung by Monica Anghel (one alone, one with Gabriel Cotabiţă and one with Sincron), 2 by Gabriel Cotabiţă (one with Monica Anghel and one alone) and 2 by Sfinx Experience (one alone and one with Luminiţa Anghel). The winning song was chosen by regional juries.
At Eurovision
In 1996, for the only time in Eurovision history, an audio-only pre-qualifying round (from which hosts Norway were exempt) was held on 20 March as 29 countries wished to participate in the final but the European Broadcasting Union had set a limit of 22 (plus Norway). The countries occupying the bottom seven places after the pre-qualifier would be unable to take part in the main contest. After the voting, "Rugă pentru pacea lumii" had received 11 points, placing 29th (last) and because of that Romania did not participated in 1996 Eurovision Song Contest.