Romania to compete in Eurovision 2016 second semifinal

Romania will compete in the second half of the second semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, on May 12, as announced by the competition organisers after the draw on Monday. 

The countries that will compete in the first Eurovision 2016 semifinal on May 10 are: Armenia, Finland, Greece, Croatia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Russia, San Marino, Hungary (in the first half), Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Estonia, Iceland, Malta, Montenegro, the Czech Republic and Austria (in the second half). 

The countries that will compete in the second semifinal are: Australia, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Switzerland, Serbia, Belarus (in the first half), Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Georgia, Norway, Romania, Slovenia, Ukraine (the second half). 

Eurovision 2016 takes place in Stockholm on May 10, 12 and 14. 

This year's event theme is "Come Together." 

In respect to Romania, the registrations for the Eurovision 2016 National Selection are carried out until February 7. As a first this year, the public is the only one who will choose, by televoting, the artist who will go to Eurovision 2016, in Stockholm. 

Iuliana Marciuc is the producer of the Eurovision 2016 National Selection, for the second year in a row, and this year she will lead Romania's delegation to Stockholm. Dan Manoliu will direct the shows. 

On February 8, 9 and 10, there will be the preselections - the songs will be heard by the jury - , and the 12 songs entering the competition will be announced in a press conference on February 11. 

The National Selection will be made through two shows broadcast live by TVR Romanian National Television: the semifinal on March 4 and the final on March 6. 

A number of 12 songs will enter the semifinal, out of which 6 will advance to the final: four will be chosen by a specialist jury and two by the public, through televoting. In the National Selection final, the audience is the only one who will choose Romania's representative to the contest in Stockholm, by televoting, out of the six songs left in the competition. AGERPRES