Romania ranks 7th at 2017 Eurovision, Portugal wins the contest

Romania ranked seventh in the 2017 Eurovision final organized last weekend in Kyiv, Ukraine, its representatives Ilinca and Alex Florea gathering 282 points with their song Yodel It!. This is Romania's best ranking in the competition from the success achieved by Paula Seling and Ovi at the 2010 edition in Oslo (third place), and the fourth best in the history of Romania's participation in Eurovision. Portugal was the big winner of this year’s Eurovision, its representative Salvador Sobral winning the highest score of 758 points with the song Amar Pelos Dois. Meanwhile, Romania’s neighbors Bulgaria and Moldova ended the contest in the top three. Bulgaria’s Kristian Kostov ranked second with his song Beautiful Mess, gathering 615 points, while Moldova’s Sunstroke Project ended the contest on the third place with their song Hey Mamma(374 points). Romania first participated in the competition in 1994. Since then, Romanian artists have managed to get two third places, in 2005 (Luminita Anghel & Sistem) and 2010 (Paula Seling & OVI). Last year, Romania was kicked out of Eurovisionbecause the national television TVR had debts of some EUR 14.5 million to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSHc7iDuBCQ Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (Photo source: Eurovision Romania on Facebook)