2016 Reviews – Romania – Ovidiu Anton – Moment of Silence

Incredibly, Ovidiu Anton, the representative for Romania this year has attempted to get to Eurovision 5 times… Finally, this year, he managed to win the national final with the rock ballad Moment of Silence, but was it worth the wait?

I think it takes someone special to pull off a good rock ballad, and Ovidiu certainly brings the drama but this song is just so blah. There has never been anything to draw me to the song, and I generally enjoy rock music (Cyprus is my favourite this year, so I definitely don’t hate rock music!) however this song is so cliché and so over dramatic, reminiscent of Eurovision entries circa 2007/8.

The sad thing is, I think Ovidiu Anton is a really great vocalist, even live, however this song is just so, so average. There is nothing unpredictable about this song, and once you’ve heard the verse and the chorus, that’s essentially all there is to hear. It doesn’t crescendo into anything, and it just leaves you wondering when the 3 minutes will end.

One thing that this song actually does and others haven’t really don’t this year (probably because it’s outdated, but we’ll judge that on the night) is that this song has theatrics. This isn’t the type of song that Ovidiu can just stand there and sing. You need the sword dancer, and the costumes, and the black eyeshadow – the bigger the better is what this song does, whereas the other entries are more about the simplicity of the song and the voice. It’s quite similar to Cezar in this theatrical sense, however Cezar had a specific of genre of music that hadn’t really been explored too much in Eurovision, so it was all still quite novelty. This genre, I think it’s been there and done that, and I think it’s time to move on.

I don’t even know what else to say. I just don’t like it. This is so lucky to be in semi-final 2, because I think this may have been kicked out by 10 other entries. Being Romania, their chances of being in the final are strong, but I really hope this year they stay in the semi and give another country a chance to qualify. I’m going to give this song a 3/10 – only slightly above San Marino, and that’s purely because Ovidiu’s vocals are really quite strong – 1 point stronger than Serhat’s….

Want your review here too? You have the chance to share your thoughts! Click here for more information!