Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest

Televiziunea Română (TVR) has been a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 1st January 1993, thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest since then. It has participated in the contest representing Romania since the 39th edition in 1994. Before becoming a member of the EBU, TVR had broadcast the contest several times during the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s.^[2][3][4][5]

TVR unsuccessfully attempted to debut in the 1993 contest, selecting "Nu pleca" by Dida Drăgan for the qualifying round Kvalifikacija za Millstreet (English: Preselection for Millstreet); Drăgan came in last place.^[6] A non-qualification was also achieved in 1996 when there was a qualifying round for all countries excluding hosts Norway.^[7][8] The Eurovision site does not count either year in Romania's list of appearances.^[9] The country's first official participation occurred in 1994 with "Dincolo de nori" by Dan Bittman placing 21st in the contest's final. The following years saw similar low placements and non-participations in 1995, 1997, 1999, and 2001.^[9]

Romania's first top ten result was achieved in 2002, when "Tell Me Why" by Monica Anghel and Marcel Pavel finished ninth. The country placed within the top 20 every year from 2004 to 2015, claiming its best position to date, third place, in 2005 with "Let Me Try" by Luminița Anghel and Sistem and in 2010 with "Playing with Fire" by Paula Seling and Ovi. In the 2010s, the country's only other top ten placement was in 2017, with "Yodel It!" by Ilinca and Alex Florea, which reached seventh place.^[9] 2019 was TVR's first year to significantly invest in a performance; the costs for the use of graphics and special effects during the show for "On a Sunday" by Ester Peony amounted to 100,000 euros.^[10][11] Romania had previously introduced the first-ever use of overlays at Eurovision in 2014.^[12]

Romania has participated in the contest 23 times, having qualified for the final 14 times since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, failing to qualify in 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2023.^[9] In 2016, the EBU suspended TVR from all its member services due to the repeated non-payment of debts and the threat of insolvency. This in turn disqualified their 2016 entry, "Moment of Silence" by Ovidiu Anton, from participating in the contest.^{[13][14][15][16]} Although TVR had selected "Alcohol You" by Roxen to be performed in 2020,^[17] the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[18] Roxen was internally selected for 2021 nonetheless, performing "Amnesia".^[19][20] After failing to qualify for the final in four out of its latest five participations, Romania opted not to take part in 2024 and 2025,^[21][22] and returned to the contest in 2026.^[23] Alexandra Căpitănescu represented Romania that year with the song "Choke Me", managing to qualify for the final and place third overall, thus equalling the best-ever results from 2005 and 2010.^[9]

Since 1993, TVR organises Selecția Națională,^[a] a song contest which has been taking place every year except for 2021, to select its entry for Eurovision. The winner of the first edition was chosen by 1100 households in the country.^[6] Since then, several voting procedures have been used, often combining televoting with the votes of a jury panel.^[26][27][28] The selection of the winner either occurred during one show,^[29] or through a varying amount of semi-finals.^[27][30] For the first time, a part of Romania's entry was determined internally in 2020. Roxen was selected by TVR out of exclusive partner Global Records's roster, and was appointed five songs for a jury and the public to choose from.^{[31][32][33][1]} The broadcaster and the label also collaborated the following year for the internal selection of Roxen and her entry.^[34][35]

In 2008, "Pe-o margine de lume" by Nico and Vlad won Romania's first and only Marcel Bezençon Award, in the Composer Award category,^[36] and Sanda received the infamous Barbara Dex Award in 2004.^[37] A number of Romania's Eurovision entries have experienced commercial success over the years. While "Let Me Try" reached number nine on the Romanian Top 100,^[38] 2006's "Tornerò" by Mihai Trăistariu peaked within the top ten in Finland and Greece.^[39][40] "The Balkan Girls" by Elena topped the Romanian chart in 2009, and similar success was attained by "Zaleilah" by Mandinga in 2012, obtaining number two in the country's Airplay 100 ranking and a Gold certification for digital downloads exceeding 10,000 copies in Romania.^[41][42] "Llámame" by Wrs also peaked atop the charts in Romania in 2022.^[43]

• 
  Todomondo in Helsinki (2007)
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  Nico and Vlad in Belgrade (2008)
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  Elena in Moscow (2009)
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  Paula Seling and Ovi in Oslo (2010)
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  Mandinga in Baku (2012)
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  Cezar in Malmö (2013)
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  Paula Seling and Ovi in Copenhagen (2014)
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  Voltaj in Vienna (2015)
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  Ilinca and Alex Florea in Kyiv (2017)
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  The Humans in Lisbon (2018)
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  Roxen in Rotterdam (2021)
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  WRS in Turin (2022)
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  Theodor Andrei in Liverpool (2023)
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  Alexandra Căpitănescu in Vienna (2026)

• Romania in the Eurovision Young Dancers
• Romania in the Eurovision Young Musicians
• Romania in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
• List of music released by Romanian artists that has charted in major music markets