Theodor Andrei will represent Romania at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "D.G.T. (Off and On)" after winning the national selection. The 19-year-old is a vocal soloist, composer, lyricist, orchestrator and actor. He has won over 200 awards in national and international music festivals with over 100 songs composed, according to Eurovision Romania.

Theodor Andrei's song "D.G.T. (Off and On)" received the most votes from the public - 5,230, of which 2,556 were by phone and 2,674 were online. In second and third place were the Andreea D. Folclor Orchestra with the song "Periniţa mea" (4,845 votes) and Andrei Duţu with "Statues" (4,302 votes).

The national selection show, hosted by Ilinca Băcilă and Laurenţiu Niculescu, was broadcast live on TVR1 and also streamed online for the first time on TVR's Twitch and YouTube accounts. The audience could vote for their favorite by messaging or by voting online during the performance of each song or at the end of the show, during the listing of the songs. At the end of the contest, a viewer who participated in the voting either by phone or online was randomly selected and awarded EUR 5,000.

The 2023 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest will take place in the United Kingdom, which is hosting the competition on behalf of Ukraine. The event will be held at the Liverpool Arena and will feature two semifinals and a grand final. The semifinals will take place on May 9 and 11, with the grand final on May 13. Romania will compete in the second semifinal.

The Eurovision Song Contest is the most important international music competition, organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the largest association of public television in Europe. The competition has been held annually since 1956 and is one of the longest-running and most-watched television programs in the world, being broadcast in Europe, Australia, Asia, and the United States.

Romania has participated in the competition since 1993. The country's best performances were two third places (Luminiţa Anghel & Sistem - Kyiv, 2005; Paula Seling and Ovi - Oslo, 2010) and one fourth place (Mihai Trăistariu - Athens, 2006).

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Eurovision.tvr.ro)