Romania's Mandinga finishes 12th at the Eurovision song contest, Sweden wins first spot

Romania finished 12th at the Eurovision song contest in Baku (Azerbaidjan) with 71 points, although some considered Romania's representative, Mandinga to be one of the favorites for the title.

Mandinga qualified in the final with the song "Zaleilah" which was composed by Costi Ionita. The Romanian band got 120 points and was third in the first semifinal of the Eurovision contest. However, Romania only got more points from neighbours the Republic of Moldova (12 points), and from Spain, Italy and Ireland, where there are large Romanian communities. The winner of this year's competition is Sweden, which will organise the final next year. Loreen, the Sweedish contestant, got 372 points for the song "Euphoria". Second place was taken by Russia's Buranovskie Babuski, a group of old ladies who sang "Party for Everybody", while third place went to Serbia. Listen to the winning song and to the Romanain song below. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Eurovision website, (Photo: Thomas Hanses (EBU))