Dida Drăgan

Predominantly negative reactions from Romanian media followed as a result of Drăgan's poor performance.

• Year — 1993 • Broadcaster — Televiziunea Română (TVR) • Country — Romania • Selection Process — Selecția Națională 1993 • Selection Date — 16 January 1993 • Song — Nu pleca • Artist — Dida Drăgan • Writer — Dida Drăgan • Writer Single — y • Final Result — Failed to qualify from pre-selection (7th, 38 points)

• Illustration — Dida Drăgan (pictured) won TVR's national selection with her entry "Nu pleca". She had been famous in Romania since the late 1980s for her rock music. Televiziunea Română (TVR) organized the Selecția Națională 1993 on 16 January 1993, a national final to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1993. A winner out of the 11 competing entries —"Nu pleca" by Dida Drăgan— was announced by Institutul Român de Sondare a Opiniei Publice (IRSOP), who added up the votes of 1100 households in Romania. Although the rest of the result was not publicly revealed, local media speculated that Laurenţiu Cazan and Laura Stoica reached second and third place respectively. The competing entries were: • R/O Running order — Artist — Song — Place • 1 — Mioara — "Seară de seară" • 2 — Laurenţiu — "Hai, spune" • 3 — Nicoleta — "Balerina" • 4 — Corina — "Plec" • 5 — Mădălina — "Să nu mă minţi" • 6 — Monica — "Dintr-un vis" • 7 — Laura — "Dă-mi din nou curajul de-a trăi" • 8 — Dida Drăgan — "Nu pleca" • 9 — Carmen — "Micul meu univers" • 10 — Elena — "Vreau să pierd" • 11 — Elena — "Te-aș numi iubire"

In the early 1990s, the number of broadcasters eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest increased significantly with the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the subsequent admission into the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) of the broadcasters of the countries that emerged from the breakup. The merger of the EBU with its Eastern European counterpart, the International Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT), further expanded the number of broadcasters by including those from countries of the former Eastern Bloc. The broadcasters from seven of those new countries confirmed their intentions to debut at the 1993 contest. With this large influx of participants, the EBU was forced to create a new measure to counter overcrowding in the contest. The EBU decided to hold a one-off qualification round to select the entries from three of those seven new countries, which would join the entries from the 22 countries already competing in the Eurovision Song Contest. The Kvalifikacija za Millstreet (Qualification for Millstreet) contest was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 3 April at the television studios of Slovene broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTVSLO). Romania was the fifth country to perform, following Hungary and preceding Slovenia. The Romanian entry came in last place and failed to qualify, receiving 38 points. 12 points were awarded by Croatia, six by Slovakia and five by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Hungary, and Slovenia. The Eurovision site does not count the year in Romania's list of appearances.

Points awarded to Romania • Score — Country • 12 points — Croatia • 10 points • 8 points • 7 points • 6 points — Slovakia • 5 points — * Bosnia and Herzegovina * Estonia * Hungary * Slovenia Points awarded by Romania • Score — Country • 12 points — Slovenia • 10 points — Bosnia and Herzegovina • 8 points — Hungary • 7 points — Croatia • 6 points — Estonia • 5 points — Slovakia