Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013

Selecția Națională 2013 was the national final organised by TVR in order to select Romania's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. The competition consisted of three shows: two semi-finals featuring sixteen songs each and a final featuring twelve songs to be held on 23 February, 24 February and 9 March 2013, respectively.[3][4] All shows took place at the TVR studios in Bucharest and were hosted by Paula Seling, Ovi, Andreea Bănică and Marius Rizea. All shows were broadcast on TVR1, TVR HD, TVRi as well as online via the broadcaster's streaming service TVR+. The official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv provided an online stream for the final of the competition.[5]

TVR opened a submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries between 14 January 2013 and 3 February 2013. The broadcaster received 148 submissions after the submission deadline passed.[6] All entrants participated in auditions in front of a five-member expert committee, held across Romania in Iaşi (6 February 2013), Cluj-Napoca (8 February 2013), Timișoara (10 February 2013), Craiova (12 February 2013) and Bucharest (14 February 2013). Originally, between twenty-four and twenty-six entries were to be selected, however thirty-two entries were ultimately selected for the national final due to the high quality of entries presented at the auditions.[7][8] The competing entries were announced on 14 February 2013. Among the competing artists were Luminița Anghel, who previously represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, and Natalia Barbu, who previously represented Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007.

The first semi-final took place on 23 February 2013. Sixteen songs competed and six qualified to the final by the 50/50 combination of the votes from a jury panel and public televoting: "Un refren" performed by Casa Presei, "Criminal Mind" performed by FreeStay, "Unique" performed by Luminița Anghel, "It's My Life" performed by Florin Cezar Ouatu, "Emilia" performed by Electric Fence and "Hello" performed by Tudor Turcu.[9] The members of the jury panel that voted during the first semi-final were: George Natsis (composer), Alexandra Cepraga (musical director), Crina Mardare (composer), Crina Mardare (composer), Eduard Cârcotă (composer), Andrei Tudor (composer), Dana Dorian (music critic) and Mihai Ogăşanu (composer).[10][11][12]

The second semi-final took place on 24 February 2013. Sixteen songs competed and six qualified to the final by the 50/50 combination of the votes from a jury panel and public televoting: "Seven" performed by Narcis Iustin Ianău, "Spinning" performed by Elena Cârstea Muttart, "Run away with me" performed by Ovidiu Anton, "The Best Thing in Life Is to Love" performed by Cristian Prăjescu, "What Is Love" performed by Al Mike featuring Renee Santana and "Paralysed" performed by Andrei Leonte.[13] The members of the jury panel that voted during the second semi-final were: George Natsis (composer), Alexandra Cepraga (musical director), Crina Mardare (composer), Crina Mardare (composer), Eduard Cârcotă (composer), Andrei Tudor (composer), Dana Dorian (music critic) and Mihai Ogăşanu (composer).[10][11][12]

The final took place on 9 March 2013. Twelve songs competed and the winner, "It's My Life" performed by Florin Cezar Ouatu, was determined by the 50/50 combination of the votes from a jury panel and public televoting.[2] The members of the jury panel that voted during the final were: George Natsis (composer), Alexandra Cepraga (musical director), Crina Mardare (composer), Crina Mardare (composer), Eduard Cârcotă (composer), Andrei Tudor (composer), Ştefan Naftanailă (radio presenter) and Mihai Ogăşanu (composer).[10][11][12]

The winning song inspired the creation of a protest group on Facebook that sought to boycott the results of the national selection and call into question jury member Ştefan Naftanailă's votes, who gave zero points to Luminița Anghel.[14][15] Dan Manoliu, manager of the selection, was also surprised with Ştefan Naftanailă's votes, however, he stated that the results meet the criteria for the competition.[12]