The Shortlist (8) Romania

Who are the big favorites for Kiev? In the next couple of weeks we will highlight some interesting participants, based on the odds they have been given by the bookmakers. This week we are providing a shortlist of countries that lead the board in the second semi final. Today’s report is about Romania.

Ilinca ft. Alex Florea

People in the online community often refer to Alex Florea as “the rapper”. However, in an interview with ESC Daily, he states that he is actually a rock singer. He did not know his partner Ilinca before they joined the Romanian Eurovision preselection. Still it seems as though their chemistry on stage is not lacking anything from that.

Ilinca was titled by many as “the best Romanian Yodel singer available”. She fell in love with the genre as a kid and became obsessed with it. Now she is a strong vocalist which might help Romania in their jury appeal during the song contest. And no matter how mature she may look on stage – Ilinca is still only 18 years old.

“Yodel It”

Funny enough, Romania chooses a Alpianesque Swiss genre of songs exactly in the same year that Switzerland sends a Romanian singer to Eurovision. The song “Yodel It” is a fine combination of (obviously) yodel music in the chorus and rap during the verses. The yodel gives the song a unique edge, while the combination of female vocals and rap stays true to recent hit songs. “Yodel It” therefore also has a familiar and modern sound to it.

Explaining the odds

With 1.23 odds backing them to qualify, it seems Romania is a certain qualifier in the second semi final. In the market to win the entire contest however, they are not ranked very high, with a return of 75 times the amount one bets to back their potential win.