Yes, hand gesture some more, you beast Ovidiu. Winner right here.

I am actually really liking the drama of this at the moment...

 

...*Hides, using Iz as a human shield*

Looks like they've changed their mind and gone with a dubbed version of the live performance:

 

They've been kicked out!! :o

 

The EBU has withdrawn member services from Romanian public service broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR) following the non-payment of debts totalling CHF 16 million. TVR will now no longer be able to participate in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest and will lose access to other EBU member services including the Eurovision News and Sports News Exchanges, the right to broadcast specific sporting events, legal, technical and research expertise and lobbying services.

 

The decision was made after a deadline given to the Romanian government to make satisfactory arrangements to repay the debt expired on Wednesday 20 April.

 

EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre said: "It is regrettable that we are forced to take this action. We are disappointed that all our attempts to resolve this matter have received no response from the Romanian government. In recent weeks the EBU has taken note of the Ministry of Finance’s suggestion that TVR may be placed into insolvency proceedings which may in turn lead to a profound restructuring of the broadcaster. The EBU is a not-for-profit association which represents 73 Public Service Broadcasters in 56 countries. The continued indebtedness of TVR jeopardizes the financial stability of the EBU itself."

 

http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=tvr_...eurovision_2016

 

The song is no loss (:kink:) but sad that this has to happen all the same, so close to the contest. :(

Oh wow, I didn't think they'd actually kick them out of this year's contest, especially a week away from rehearsals!

 

#ComeTogether

They probably gave them extension after extension after extension to pay up. Oh well, it frees up another space for a song that will almost certainly be more deserving (please NOT be Belarus!).

Edited April 22, 20169 yr by ScottyEm

Wow :o Good news for Nicky Byrne, Lighthouse X and the Polish guy, who I have teetering on the edge of qualification.

Good riddance. 43rd on my rankings and easily the worst Romania brought to the game.

not a huge loss but still sad. although the ocd-ridden me is glad the semifinals are now equal~ imagine is they were drawn in semi 1 oops. i wonder if the running order will be changed now

DAAAAMN

just lost all my words I wanted to say

so sad they're disqualified :( my favs at the moment

Well reading that was like a knife to my heart. :(

 

Seriously, I think that's ruined Eurovision for me now.

Very shocking news and I really do feel sorry for Ovidiu who has done lots of pre-parties and of course tried so many times to represent Romania and only finally made it through this year. That said, TVR shouldn't have ignored 4 previous demands for payment and I imagine the EBU would've been lenient if TVR had just got in contact considering they allowed them to ignore the EBU 4 times.

 

Letting them stay would've been unfair for countries who are using up a big portion of their annual budget to take part. TVR had an emergency meeting just now and say they have no solution, but doing this has at least stopped them ignoring the situation so I guess it was something that had to be done. The timing is awful however I guess the EBU tried to leave it as late as possible, I don't think they are in the wrong for doing this.

 

This was my least favourite song in the semi so I'm glad their inevitable qualification spot has been opened up. I imagine if Romania do ever return - probably under a different broadcaster - Ovidiu will be internally selected like Dorians were for Armenia in 2013.

 

i think this is a sign that Ovidiu would've DNQd in the contest (no idea why people thought he was a deffo-through :/ ) so i guess they can keep their record by default

not a huge loss but still sad. although the ocd-ridden me is glad the semifinals are now equal~ imagine is they were drawn in semi 1 oops. i wonder if the running order will be changed now

 

they have said the running order will remain the same

It is very disappointing for the performer as its not his fault. Has this ever happened in Eurovision before.

I don't think there's been a withdrawal like this for the same reason, but Ivi Adamou's participation was under threat in April 2012 due to unapproved funding within Cyprus but that did get sorted in time of course, albeit with a reduced budget. Armenia withdrew in early March in 2012 due to safety concerns in Azerbaijan. Serbia & Montenegro withdrew in mid-March 2006 following a scandal in their national final where the Montenegrin jurors successfully rigged the victory for a Montenegrin act. Also Lebanon were disqualified in 2005 as they wouldn't confirm that they would show the Israeli act during the contest, but they had already selected their artist and song - and a very very good one it was too, could've been a potential top 5!

 

The only time I'm aware of a withdrawal this late in the day was in 1988 where Cyprus withdrew themselves, despite already having a running order slot, after breaking the rules and sending a song that had been in their national final in a previous year.

Well this is a bit of a shambles. Why leave it this late? Why did they not disqualify them earlier if they weren't paying up?

hen you forgot we don't wanna put in

 

7 years later and it's still as relevant as ever, if not more :')

Here's an article about a few more "lost" Eurovision songs, how did I forget Georgia 2009? http://escnation.com/news/?id=1227

 

EDIT: Haha indeed I did forget that one!

 

Well this is a bit of a shambles. Why leave it this late? Why did they not disqualify them earlier if they weren't paying up?

 

Apparently this debt has been mounting for nearly ten years now so it does make you wonder why now is the moment they've decided to do something about it. Maybe there's several other broadcasters who are also pushing it a bit so the EBU wanted to make an example of Romania or maybe they've had complaints from other broadcasters for the fact that they are paying for the contest but TVR aren't. The EBU have been trying to get them to pay since January though I think so if TVR hadn't constantly ignored them despite four attempts to try and get them to do something, then this wouldn't have had to happen either.

 

However I think the real reason is that TVR was about to go bankrupt and be liquidated, which has been rumoured in some media articles, so the EBU realised that they stood to loose all £11 million if that did happen. Therefore they've tried to force their hand to get some money back before that does happen. Apparently TVR have said "There is no money even for gas for the car to go to the countryside to film for the news. It has reached the end" so that would suggest bankruptcy is imminent hence why the EBU suddenly realise they could be on to lose a lot of money.

I didn't mean a Romanian entry to remember like this :cry: Ovidiu better be internally selected when they next take part, I feel so awful for him - like of all Romanian entries why could this not have happened to Voltaj or some shit like that?

 

And leaving this open to a likely qualifier from DENMARK or IRELAND makes this all the worse. Can this please be a horrible dream I haven't figured out how to wake up from?