Ester Peony to represent Romania at Eurovision Song Contest 2019 performing 'On a Sunday'

Ester Peony will represent Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, performing "On a Sunday" as the winner of the national selection that took place in Bucharest on Sunday. 

Opening the national selection show on Sunday evening was the Eurovision 2018 winner, Israeli Netta Barzilai. She performed "Toy", her 2018 winning act. 

Attending the show, Israel's ambassador to Bucharest David Saranga told how he celebrated Barzilai's victory in Tel Aviv all through the night, confessing that Eurovision is a true phenomenon in Israel. 

"I was with my friends, I watched the Eurovision show and said (...) 'If Netta wins, I go to the main Tel Aviv market square and immerse myself in a water pool.' At 02:00m, after learning about her win, I went there. The city was teeming with people. Tel Aviv is a city open around the clock but this time everyone was out and we stayed there and celebrated until the morning," the diplomat said. 

The order of play, decided by lot casting, was the following: 1. Linda Teodosiu, with "Renegades" 2. Olivier Kaye, with "Right now" 3. Laura Bretan, with "Dear Father" 4. Teodora Dinu with "Skyscraper" 5. Claudiu Mirea with "We Are the Ones" 6. Aldo Blaga with "Your Journey" 7. Ester Peony with "On a Sunday" 8. Letitia Moisescu & Sensibil Balkan, with "Daina" 9. Bella Santiago with "Army Of Love", 10. Trooper with "Destin",11. Dya & Lucian Colareza with "Without You (Sin Ti)" and 12. Mirela Vaida with "Underground."

The Romanian representative at Eurovision was chosen by a jury composed of: Tali Eshkoli - Head of Event & Content Eurovision Song Contest 2019; Emmelie de Forest - 2013 Eurovision winner, Deban Aderemi and William Lee Adams - journalists and Eurovision Song Contest influencers; Serban Cazan - Head of Production HaHaHa Production, and Moldovan performing artist Alex Calancea. 

The audience was the seventh juror. In the final act of the national selection, the scores obtained by televotes equalled the score given by a jury member. The viewers could vote by sending in the number of their favourite in a text message (01, 02, 03, ... 12) to 1264. 

Sunday's show featured three presenters: Aurelian Temisan, Ilinca Avram and Alina Ionescu, and included recitals by Emmelie de Forest and Inis Neziri - the winner of the 2018 Golden Stag trophy. 

Under the slogan "Dare to Dream," the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 will be held in Tel Aviv, with the semifinals on May 14 and 16, and the final on May 18. Competing in the 64th edition of Eurovision, besides Romania, are 41 countries.