Romania ROMANIA 2016 - Not taking part

[Mii11]

Come on, lets be reasonable and read the whole press release by EBU. This isn't an Eurovision Song Contest specific issue, it's about their whole EBU membership, which is a lot more than just ESC. TVR has been in-debt to EBU since January 2007 and been offered to restructure the debt since 2010. I agree that suspending TVR's membership just three weeks before the Contest is poor timing from EBU's part, but it should have happened already five years ago.

Australia is not a member of EBU but still is allowed to participate. The bunch of hypocrites form EBU don't have a problem with that.

 

[GianlucaTomoe]

EBU is not Caritas, it's an organization which has 73 broadcasters members in 56 countries, and all of them pay regularly every year in order to use its services. It's unacceptable that there are some members like Romania that didn't give a f**k about this basic principle during all these years, and basically the broadcaster of this country used all the EBU-services for free, resulting in the accumulation of this huge debt. It's not like EBU shouldn't have excluded TVR from ESC, it should've been kicked out sooner, if anything. And now TVR has only itself to blame, now they lost all of the EBU-services and most likely they won't even be allowed to broadcast the Olympics and the European Football Championships. And rightfully so.

Promoting European culture my ass, everything that has to be done nowadays needs the money. If one member can't contribute, it better withdraws from ESC and be shamed. I fully approve EBU's move, if it had been me I'd have been even harsher toward TVR.

 

[Uvaro]

Australia is not a member of EBU but still is allowed to participate. The bunch of hypocrites form EBU don't have a problem with that.

if sbs had owed the ebu 16 million francs for nearly a decade they certainly wouldn't have been allowed to enter either. these are two completely different situations.

 

[Matt]

I suppose the EBU had legally the right to do this but I think their Public Image Consultant must have been on vacation or something. I mean they must have known that this wouldn't really win them the Miss Congeniality award.

 

[Brandt]

I suppose the EBU had legally the right to do this but I think their Public Image Consultant must have been on vacation or something. I mean they must have known that this wouldn't really win them the Miss Congeniality award.

EBU did the right thing, I suppose. There is only TVR to be blamed, not anyone or anything else. And the fact that one of the most successful countries in Eurovision lost their access is upsetting, and the singer didn't deserve any of those.

 

[Matt]

EBU did the right thing, I suppose. There is only TVR to be blamed, not anyone or anything else. And the fact that one of the most successful countries in Eurovision lost their access is upsetting, and the singer didn't deserve any of those.

I think that's where it gets a bit more tricky. Did they do the right thing? It's not the fact that they did it but how they executed it. It doesn't take rocket science to realize that this would cause an uproar, crazy conspiracy theories and bitter attitudes from other artists, brodcasters and fans. I don't think anybody is defending TVR, the EBU could have been the good guy in this story but I think messed it up.

 

[eerik]

Australia is not a member of EBU but still is allowed to participate. The bunch of hypocrites form EBU don't have a problem with that.

SBS are an Associate Member of EBU who have been allowed to participate in the ESC, and I don't think they are in debt to EBU.

 

[lavieenrose]

Regardless of whether or not one thinks the song was a great loss to the contest, what a cruel piece of news, especially but not exclusively given how hard everyone involved who had nothing to do with this (Ovidiu and his team) worked. 1

 

[ag89]

Disgusting song contest run by Soviet-Nordic dictatorship. Romania is thrown out of the contest. Meanwhile 'European' country Australia is allowed in. I wonder why? Oh I forgot that EBU and Bjorkman are interested in $$$ rather than promoting European culture. They might as well get rid of this hypocritical slogan because they have just showed that in reality they don't want Europeans to 'Come together'.

Sorry, but you cannot compare incomparable. And what is "European culture"? There are 42 countries, all unique and some similar. Eurovision is not a place for that kind of promotion anyway, it's a TV show.

Mentioning Australia in this context is ridiculous. This is the EBU's decision, not Bjorkman's. Btw, Bjorkman's interest is probably a new record (more countries), not one country less.

 

[John1]

Provided TVR didn't pay in order to "erase" the debt in which they're stuck since 2013~, then it's totally fair to expulse them from the EBU.
No pain, no gain.

 

[Mii11]

if sbs had owed the ebu 16 million francs for nearly a decade they certainly wouldn't have been allowed to enter either. these are two completely different situations.

No they aren't. If EBU had problem with the debts, they shouldn't have allowed Romania to participate and should have made it clear last year. Now that the artist is chosen and the contest is 18 days away, this is extremely flippant to just throw the artist away like some insignificant packaging of a chocolate bar. If they made it clear to Romanian broadcaster that the debts should have been paid by the end of April, then they should (out of courtesy) still allow Ovidiu to sing in Stockholm. They have been bending their own rules for a long time (e.g. they didn't impose any sanctions on Azerbaijani, Gerogian and Montenegrin broadcaster, they allowed Australia to participate even though it is still a formal requirement to be part of EBU in order to participate). These are examples of double standards and are proofs that the theme of 'coming together' is just a disguise for some reprehensible business going on behind the happy facade of tolerance and supposed unity.

 

[Mii11]

SBS are an Associate Member of EBU who have been allowed to participate in the ESC, and I don't think they are in debt to EBU.

According to official rules only EBU active Members are allowed to participate and Australia is not one of them since it is not in European Broadcasting Area (in fact it is on the other hemisphere of the planet!)
http://www.eurovision.tv/page/about/which-countries-can-take-part

 

[Carrie]

Allow Romania to be an example to the rest of Europe. Of course I'm sad for the singer but sadly this is what happens when you're in debt.

 

[Mii11]

Sorry, but you cannot compare incomparable. And what is "European culture"? There are 42 countries, all unique and some similar. Eurovision is not a place for that kind of promotion anyway, it's a TV show.

Mentioning Australia in this context is ridiculous. This is the EBU's decision, not Bjorkman's. Btw, Bjorkman's interest is probably a new record (more countries), not one country less.

European culture = culture of indigenous people living on the European part of Eurasian continent. As simple as that. Australia, as far as I'm concerned, is far away from Europe (even though most of the population is of European origin). It's a TV show that was meant to unite Europe after tragic events of World War II. It's not just another soulless 'TV Show'.

EBU is not Caritas, it's an organization which has 73 broadcasters members in 56 countries, and all of them pay regularly every year in order to use its services.

That doesn't stop them from allowing SVT to broadcast 'refugee-inspired dance routine'

If you don't care about 'promoting European culture my ass', then why do you even follow this contest? Do you realise that it is called EUROvision for a reason?

I'm not saying that Romanian broadcaster should't be punished but the manner in which it was done deserves condemnation. they should ban Romania from participating but from next year onward, not three weeks before this year's contest. It is also shameful that Azerbaijani broadcaster is still allowed to participate despite their questionable 'promotion' of their entries.

 

[AlekS]

I know how humiliating it is & what other broadcasters say about debtors.
In 2010 NTU had debts (6 mil. $) which we reduced in 50% in 2011, later our broadcaster reduced it to 2 mil. and last year we got our shit together paid everything.
In 2015-2016 Ukraine during the war time restructured EBU debts and bought the Olympic broadcast license.
EBU is not a bunch of cruel arseholes & they can compromise and prolonge debts (even though they aren't supposed to ) ... if you execute your obligations.

Romanian government and TVR f---ed ESC fans & your representative & other EBU members. I hope that TVR can save their reputation until it gets even uglier in the court.

 

[cegs5]

We don't know in which terms TVR submitted its entry, there might be commitments they had to EBU. This is after all an entertaiment business, things don't work out of pity or courtesy. Money talks, business are business...In fact, EBU has been extremily permissive during many years that the debt apparently can't be paid.
I'm also very sorry for the artist, his team and Romanian fans, but if someone has to be blamed it's TVR.

 

[0scar]

People are focussing way too hard on ESC in this case. The exclusion of Romania in the ESC is just part of a much bigger situation and not even the worst consequence of this decision.
It's on another level than just ESC, no need for conspiracy theories.

 

[Quent91]

People woke me up at five in the morning to give me the news and I couldn't go back to sleep.

Like what ? There are people on this earth whose main goal in life is to wake up other people at 5am just because a country doesn't participate in Eurovision ? Come on, I'm a eurofan, but this is going too far...

 

[Johnn]

Like what ? There are people on this earth whose main goal in life is to wake up other people at 5am just because a country doesn't participate in Eurovision ? Come on, I'm a eurofan, but this is going too far...

I'd want someone to wake me up at 5 in the morning to tell me a country was disqualified, or really big news (addition of a new country? new rule?).

 

[DanielLuis]

Supposedly the Romanian government and TVR ignored letters sent by the EBU this year about the debts. I understand why the EBU disqualified them if this is true.