This weekend, Romanian broadcaster TVR hosted their Selecția Națională, the culmination of the process to pick their artist for Sweden.  It was a competitive final, with a dozen songs from various genres.  There were even a few familiar faces; Luminița Anghel, who gave Romania its then-highest-ever Eurovision placement when she sang “Let Me Try” in 2005, came back with the showstopping “Unique“.  Last year’s Selecția Națională runners-up, Electric Fence, gave the contest another go with the Gypsy-folk-rock number “Emilia“.

But both were fated to fall at the final hurdle.

Representing Romania this year at Eurovision will be Cezar, who decisively won the televote (amd came in second with the jury) with the opera-disco fusion “It’s My Life”.

34-year-old Cezar Florin Ouatu is a trained countertenor, one of the rarest male vocal categories (not to mention the highest, assuming you’re not veering into full-on castrato territory).  Technically speaking, a countertenor can reach those earth-shattering heights without using falsetto.  While the song itself might be more than a little divisive among fans, it’s tough to argue against Cezar’s actual vocal ability.  He stays well in tune, and doesn’t overextend himself with overblown choreography that would potentially derail him.

Contrast “It’s My Life” with Bulgaria’s ill-fated entry from 2009, Krassimir Avramov’s “Illusion” (if you dare!).  Granted, it could be argued that it was a rough performance by the backing singers that turned fellow countertenor Avramov’s performance into yet another failed Bulgarian attempt at the finals.  Needless to say, it doesn’t set the bar very high for voices like his and Cezar’s at Eurovision.  Considering the fact that Romania have yet to fall at the Semifinal level, this could lead to a, shall we say, interesting result for the Second Semifinal.  This could end up in a shock either way.