2003

Blast from the past: Romania 2003

We know a lot about Eurovision and we want to share this knowledge with you! Therefore we’d like to bring you a blast from the past. Today we look back at Nicola’s Don’t Break My Heart, Romania 2003. Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest Romania made their debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994. The year before, they already did an attempt. That year, they took part in the Eastern European qualification round Kvalifikacija za Millstreet. Romania has never won the Eurovision Song Contest so far. Both Luminița Anghel & Sistem with Let Me Try (2005) and Paula Seling & Ovi with Playing With Fire (2010) reached a 3rd place. However, Romania did not participate in this year’s contest. They will also be absent in the 2025 contest. Luminița Anghel Selecția Națională 2003 The Romanian national selection is called Selecția Națională. That was already the case in 2003. Two semifinals were held with 12 songs each. Mălina Olinescu (Eurovision 1998) was one of the contestants but she didn’t reach the final. The 10 who did are listed below: Valahia sang Friends Are Friends, 11 pts. 3rd D’La Vegas sang Oxigen, 5 pts, 10th Nicola sang Don’t Break My Heart, 24 pts, 1st Genius sang My Life, 9 pts, 6th Paula Seling sang Let’s Go!, 11 pts, 3rd Răzvan Crivaci and Liviu Sorescu sang Once Upon A Time, 9 pts, 6th Alexandra Ungureau sang Make This Love Come True, 11 pts, 3rd Centru’ Civic sang Come With Us, 9 pts, 6th Aurelian Temișan sang Let’s Have A Holiday, 20 pts, 2nd Mihai Trăistariu (member of Valahia) and Paula Seling later also represented Romania, Paula even twice. Mihai Trăistariu Nicola Nicoleta Alexandru, known as Nicola, was born on November 5, 1966, in Bucharest, Romania. She began her music career in 1985, performing at the Mamaia Festival, where she won several awards. Nicola sang in various bands before launching her solo career in 1999 with the hit song Cu tălpile goale (Barefoot). The song gained widespread airplay on many radio and TV stations across Romania. In 2003, Nicola rose to fame after winning Romania’s national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Don’t Break My Heart. She represented Romania in Riga, Latvia, and secured 10th place. That same year, she released her album Best of Nicola, which achieved great success and earned her a Platinum Disc. Nicola continued her music career, releasing albums and singles such as De mă vei chema (If You Call Me) and Honey in 2005. She received several MTV Romania Music Award nominations and collaborated with well-known international artists, including Thomas Nichols. In 2019, Nicola competed again in Romania’s Eurovision selection with the song Weight of the World. Don’t Break My Heart Nicola wrote and composed Don’t Break My Heart, with her husband Mihai Alexandru producing the song. With its catchy tune and her strong performance, Nicola won first place in Romania’s national competition, securing her spot at the Eurovision Song Contest in Riga. On May 24, 2003, Nicola performed Don’t Break My Heart for an international audience. The song’s upbeat pop melody and her powerful vocals captured attention. Nicola finished in 10th place, earning 73 points from the voting countries, marking a strong result for Romania at that time.

Blast from the past: Ireland 2003

We know a lot about Eurovision; this is knowledge we want to share with you. Therefore we’d like to bring you a blast from the past. Back to 2003, we will talk about the Irish entry, “We’ve got the world”, sung by Mickey Harte. You’re a star In the days when Pop Idol was one of the most popular shows in the world, with national versions in every country, it was Ireland that decided not to have a regular national final. The Irish entry was chosen by a Pop Idol-like show called “You’re a star”. It all started with 13 artists: Azi Jegbefume, Brian Ormond, Catherine Yore, Catriona McGinty, Joanne Fahy, Lisa Bresnan, Michael Leonard, Mickey Harte, Sarah Brophy, Shauna & Coaoimhe McElhinney, Simon Casey, Susan McFadden and Susan McGowan. One by one, they got rejected every week. On february 24, four artists left presented a potential Eurovision song: 1.”I couldn’t love you more“, Michael Leonard (co-composed by Ronan Keating)2.”I’ll still be right here“, Lisa Bresnan3.”We’ve got the world“, Mickey Harte4.”A better plan“, Simon Casey (written and composed by Brian McFadden) Lisa Bresnan had to leave the show. On March 2nd, there was a semifinal. Now it was Michael Leonard who had to leave. The Irish audience now had to choose between Mickey Harte and Simon Casey. On March 8th it was Mickey who got the ticket to the Eurovision Song Contest in Riga. Mickey Harte Mickey Joe Harte was born on August 21, 1973 in Lifford, County Donegal. He started playing the guitar at the age of 13. When he was 18 years old, he wrote his first song, “Candlelight”, inspired by the first Gulf War. However, as a singer/songwriter in the 90s it was hard to get a real breakthrough in Ireland, at that moment the country of the boybands. The success finally came when he participated in the 2002/2003 season of “You’re a star”. As the winner of this contest, he got the ticket to the Eurovision Song Contest. The song, “We’ve got the world”, reached the number one spot in the Irish charts. An album followed. In 2006, Mickey released his 2nd album “Live and learn”. A year later, he could be seen in a reality television show called “Celebrities go wild”. It took a few years before Mickey’s third album “Forward to reality” was released. In 2017, we saw the release of the single “For the broken hearted”. We’ve got the world The song “We’ve got the world” was a love song. “We’ve got the world tonight, let’s hold on together. And we’ve got a love that’s right so open your heart ’cause we’ve got tonight”, Mickey sang. The song was not written by Mickey himself but by Martin Brannigan and Keith Molloy. You can read the full lyrics here. On stage in Riga, Mickey was joined by 3 backing singers, all participants from “You’re a star”: Sara Brophy, Susan McGowan and Catriona McGuinty. Results This was the last year without semifinals. So Mickey was placed directly in the final. The United Kingdom awarded the song with 12 points, both Portugal and Cyprus gave it their 7 points. With a total number of 53 points Mickey became 11th. That was enough for Ireland to be placed directly in the 2004 final.