TOP 10 NEW YEAR'S / FIREWORK-RELATED SONGS

So, as we wrap up 2013, with all its good and bad... let's recap some of the most famed New Year (or fireworks - related) songs and videos.

10. John Lennon - "Merry Xmas (War Is Over)"

While the title certainly alludes to the holly jolly celebrations 7 days ago (Christmas), its lyrics recall about the passing of yet another year.

9. Paula Seling - "A mai trecut un an"

The title itself says it all in this magnificent Romanian tune about the time and how it flies. "Another year over", she chants, reminiscing to the song above.

8. CRBL ft. Adda - "Petre"

This one is clearly a party track, perfect for the midnight celebration, Its music video depicts the countdown to the new year, as it is set on December 31st.

7. Britney Spears - "Till The World Ends"

"See the sunlight, we ain't stoppin'..." this right here challenges everyone to a dance-your-a**-off-till-the-world's-gone-hoedown. And this is the perfect feeling you can get on a night like this!

6. Hurts - "All I Want for Christmas Is New Year's Day"

It's unknown to date why the singer wants to escape from the Christmas period and skip to Jan. 1st, but the beautiful song and its deep lyrics make it a good listen.

5. Rihanna - "Only Girl (In the World)"

Notice the firework burst throughout the middle eight and towards the end of the video.

4. Katy Perry - "Firework"

Katy Perry here urges you to "own the night" like a firework on the 4th of July, but the song can be related to any public holiday with a display of fireworks and lasers included.

3. Jennifer Lopez - "Waiting for Tonight"

The song was used frequently as a celebratory anthem for the dawn of the new millennium. The music video was well known for featuring a Y2K dance party... So, practically, people used to rock to this tune on this occasion. And they still use to! 

2. ABBA - "Happy New Year" 

Arguably the most famous New Year original song in history, ABBA's "Happy New Year" became the soundtrack to many people's NYE celebrations since its release date, in 1979. 

1. Mariah Carey - "Auld Lang Syne"

"Auld Lang Syne" is the most famous New Year's hymn. It is well known in many countries, especially in the English-speaking world, its traditional use being to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight. One of the best known renditions of it was done in 2010 by Mariah Carey, who was also titled the "Queen of Winter Holidays" for the release of her two multi-Platinum Christmas albums. 


HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014!!!

Romanian Digital Chart: Miley comes in like a wrecking ball !

For the week-ending September 15, 2013 we have a new number-one hit single! Rocketing from 66-1, up by 1,200% with 2,340 downloads, Miley Cyrus' second single taken off her forthcoming album 'Bangerz' , "Wrecking Ball" becomes her first Romanian number-one. It also scores the biggest single-week sales in Romanian digital history, as the only track to move more than 2,000 copies in a sole week.

At number-two we encounter Passenger's "Let Her Go" (1-2), losing 2% of its sales, at 1,105 this week. Nevertheless, it becomes the biggest-selling single week runner-up in the chart's history. At number-three, Avicii's "Wake Me Up" holds steady, but with a 25% loss, down to 412 units. Nicole Cherry's "Memories" falls 2-4 and loses 39% of its sales, down to only 321 this week. Vama's "Perfect fara tine" also falls (4-5), but it gains 3% and moves 295 copies. Check the complete top 10 below:

1. "Wrecking Ball", Miley Cyrus (+65), 2,340
2. "Let Her Go", Passenger (-1), 1,105
3. "Wake Me Up", Avicii (=), 412
4. "Memories", Nicole Cherry (-2), 321
5. "Perfect fara tine", Vama (-1), 295
6. "Roar", Katy Perry (-1), 218 
7. "We Can't Stop", Miley Cyrus (-1), 188
8. "Summertime Sadness", Lana Del Rey (+3), 156
9. "Applause", Lady Gaga (+1), 120
10. "Dear Darlin'", Olly Murs (-3), 98

Romanian Top 100: May 12

1. "Ecou", Elena Gheorghe ft. Glance (-), 516 plays
2. "Marabou", Antonia (-), 454 plays
3. "Thrift Shop", Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (up 2), 427 plays
4. "Iarna pe val", Cabron ft. What's Up & Iony (down 1), 374 plays
5. "Te pup, pa pa", J. Yolo (up 12), 367 plays
6. "Dincolo de cuvinte", Smiley & Alex Velea (down 2), 365 plays
7. "Amandoi", Matteo (up 2), 362 plays
8. "P.O.H.U.I.", Carla's Dreams ft. INNA (down 2), 348 plays 
9. "C'est la vie", Khaled (down 2), 342 plays
10. "Girl on Fire", Alicia Keys ft. Nicki Minaj (down 2), 306 plays
11. "In lipsa ta", Andreea Banica ft. What's Up (up 4), 304 plays
12. "Just Give Me a Reason", P!nk ft. Nate Ruess (-), 301 plays
13. "Diamonds", Rihanna (down 3), 268 plays
14. "Stay", Rihanna ft. Nate Ruess (down 1), 230 plays
15. "Try", P!nk (up 1), 229 plays
16. "Inevitabil va fi bine", Andra (up 11), 222 plays
17. "Pic Pic", Voltaj (up 1), 220 plays
18. "Pernele moi", Corina ft. Pacha Man (down 4), 216 plays
19. "Vedeta mea", Cortes ft. Connect-R (up 2), 214 plays
20. "Feel this Moment", Pitbull ft. Christina Aguilera (up 14), 212 plays

Romanian Top 100: May 6th

    For the wee-ending May 6th, 2013 "Ecou" by Elena Gheorghe ft. Glance spends a third week atop the airplay chart, with 494 plays.

1. "Ecou", Elena Gheorghe ft. Glance (-), 494 plays
2. "Marabou", Antonia (-), 471 plays
3. "Iarna pe val", Cabron ft. What's Up & Iony (-), 459 plays
4. "Dincolo de cuvinte", Smiley & Alex Velea (-), 402 plays
5. "Thrift Shop", Mackelmore & Ryan Lewis (-), 379 plays
6. "P.O.H.U.I.", Carla's Dreams ft. INNA (-), 344 plays
7. "C'est la vie", K'haled (up 13), 343 plays
8. "Girl on Fire", Alicia Keys ft. Nicki Minaj (down 1), 304 plays
9. "Amandoi", Matteo (down 1), 300 plays
10. "Diamonds", Rihanna (-), 285 plays 

Romanian Top 100: April 28, 2013

    Here we are again, with brand new information about music charts and statistics about the Romanian Top 100. Elena Gheorghe extends her reign over the singles chart with a second week atop. Also notable is the greatest gainer of the week - P!nk ft. Nate Ruess' "Just Give Me A Reason", which vaults 29-10 on the chart.

    Here is if the top ten for this week;

1. "Ecou", Elena Gheorghe ft. Glance (-), 485 plays
2. "Marabou", Antonia (up 1), 464 plays
3. "Iarna pe val", Cabron ft. What's Up & Iony (down 1), 448 plays
4. "Dincolo de cuvinte", Smiley & Alex (up 3), 393 plays
5. "Thrift Shop", Macklemore / Ryan Lewis (up 3), 368 plays
6. "P.O.H.U.I.", Carla's Dreams ft. INNA (up 3), 347 plays
7. "Girl on Fire (Inferno version)", Alicia Keys ft. Nicki Minaj (up 4), 308 plays
8. "Amandoi", Matteo (up 6), 308 plays
9. "Diamonds", Rihanna (down 3), 274 plays
10. "Just Give Me A Reason", P!nk ft. Nate Ruess (up 19), 265 plays GREATEST GAINER

    Outside the top-ten, "Pernele moi" by Corina and Pacha Man fall 4-11, while "Chiara daca ai plecat" by DJ Rhynno & Sylvia falls 5-15. The song "More Than Friends" by INNA, nonetheless, moves from 24 to a new peak position of number-nineteen. Also inside the top thirty we find P!nk's top-two hit single "Try", falling 16-24 on the chart. Rihanna featuring Mikky Ekko's "Stay" moves upwards, towards number-fourteen approaching its initial peak (#12).

    Don't forget to check Mediaforest.ro to find out the week's hottest chart news from Romania and more!

Romanian Top 100: April 21

    This week we have another number-one single! We proudly announce that Elena Gheorghe ft. Glance score yet another smash hit in Romania, as their collaborative effort "Ecou" rockets 3-1 and becomes the new number-one hit of the Romanian Top 100!

    On its eighth week in the chart the song moves towards the top spot, surpassing the song "Iarna pe val" by Cabron ft. What's Up, Iony which falls off the top position after only one week spent there. "Ecou" is, nonetheless, just 10 spins ahead of the runner-up, marking the smallest margin of this year. With 456 plays per week, it scores the lowest spins for a single week since Nov. 2012, yet it still gathers 259 spins on the radio alone. Its total audience impression of this week reaches 6 million. Only "Diamonds" by Rihanna encountered a bigger audience, back in March. That song is currently at biggest free-fall of the week. 

But let's see what's the situation inside the top 10, this week:

1. "Ecou", Elena Gheorghe ft. Glance (up 2), 456 plays
2. "Iarna pe val", Cabron ft. What's Up & Iony (down 1), 446 plays
3. "Marabou", Antonia (up 1), 444 plays
4. "Pernele moi", Corina ft. Pacha Man (up 1), 370 plays
5. "Chiar daca ai plecat", DJ Rhynno ft. Sivlia (up 2), 341 plays
6. "Diamonds", Rihanna (down 4), 340 plays
7. "Dincolo de cuvinte", Smiley & Alex (up 8), 335 plays
8. "Thrift Shop", Macklemore / Ryan Lewis (up 3), 315 plays
9. "P.O.H.U.I.", Carla's Dreams ft. INNA (up 9), 310 plays
10. "Beautiful Lie", Sore ft. Mihai Ristea (up 10), 306 plays

    Interestingly, this week the total of radio spins was down by 63% from the last week. TV plays also suffered a decrease of 19,5%. Also, noticeable, the first half of the top 10 is completely made of Romanian tracks, while the entire top-ten only hosts two international singles, and a total of only four (4) English songs, plus another one at #4 which contains lyrics in English, too. The rest is 100% Romanian.

Latey-latey: Romanian Top 100, April 14

We apologize for the tardiness of our report last week, but we had some difficulties; Nevertheless, here is the Top 10 Report for the week-ending April 14, 2012:

1. "Iarna pe val", Cabron ft. What's Up (up 1), 473 plays
2. "Diamonds", Rihanna (down 1), 464 plays
3. "Ecou", Elena Gheorghe ft. Glance (up 9), 428 plays
4. "Marabou", Antonia (up 2), 419 plays
5. "Pernele moi", Corina ft. Pacha Man (up 4), 417 plays
6. "Oliver Twist", D'Banj (down 1), 356 plays
7. "Chiar daca ai plecat", DJ Rhynno ft. Silvia (up 1), 346 plays
8. "One Day (Reckoning Song)", Asaf Avidan (down 2), 342 plays
9. "Girl On Fire", Alicia Keys ft. Nicki Minaj (up 9), 311 plays
10. "Try", P!nk (down 5), 281 plays

Facts and stats: Rihanna

Rihanna scores her seventh week at number-one on the Top 100, due to encounter of 461 plays on radio/TV for the week-ending April 7 with "Diamonds". So, we count her top-ten most successful singles in Romania, so far.

10. "Don't Stop the Music"

The single off "Good Girl Gone Bad" reached number-three on the Romanian charts, one of her twelve top-five hits in our country.

9. "Russian Roulette"

The lead single for the artist's fourth studio album, "Russian Roulette" peaked at number-two for several weeks during Spring 2010, in the same time with "Rude Boy"'s reign at number-one. It was a number-one on the Radio Chart and it was also among the top 30 most played songs that year.

8. "Man Down"

"Man Down" was one of the biggest hits of summer 2011 in Romania, peaking at number-five on the nation-wide chart, while reaching the summit of the International Songs Chart  and Ringtone Songs for multiple weeks. It was covered by many notorious Romanian artists and became one of Rihanna's most known songs here ever since.

7. "Disturbia"

The "Bam bam bee dam" hook from "Disturbia" became one of the most beloved tunes in Romania, following the song spending one week at the top of the charts in Nov., 2008.

6. "Only Girl (In the World)"

The electro-pop tune became RiRi's fifth number-one and spent two weeks atop the charts.

5. "Love the Way You Lie"

"Love the Way You Lie", actually an Eminem ft. Rihanna collab, ruled the charts in Romania for three weeks in Fall 2010, and it was also a great summer hit that year.

4. "We Found Love"

Pairing with Calvin Harris, Rihanna sure got the ingredients for a worldwide hit! "We Found Love" reached number-two on the tally, being blocked by "I Follow Rivers" which spent more than three consecutive months at number one. But "We Found Love" became the longest-running number-two track that never hit the top spot. Also, it was the eighth biggest-hit of 2012 in Romania.

3. "Umbrella"

Of course, Rihanna's biggest-selling single is also on our top 3! Spending three weeks at number-one and becoming the greatest hit of summer 2007, we find it at number-three in our countdown.

2. "Rude Boy"

If you visited Romania during summer 2010, you would have seen all the buzz around "Rude Boy"! Every single speaker on every single beach, in every single holiday resort, was broadcasting "Rude Boy". Also, it spent five weeks atop the chart and became the most downloaded ringtone of that year in Romania.

1. "Diamonds"

And, obviously, at number-one we find "Diamonds"! Starting off slowly, the song only reached the Romanian top 10 in early 2013, but it peaked at number-one and settled there for seven weeks (and counting). It also topped every possible chart in Romania during 2013 (Digital Songs, Video Chart, Airplay Songs, International Songs, Ringtone, Streaming Chart, etc).

Digital Report

As the midweek passed, we have our numbers for the fourteenth week of the Digital Chart in 2013.
The top five is per following:
1. "Marabou" by Antonia (3-1) 1,098 (+5%)
2. "Diamonds" by Rihanna (1-2) 676 (-31%)
3. "Ecou" by Elena ft. Glance (6-3) 596 (+40%)
4. "Just Give Me A Reason" by P!nk (5-4) 413 (+11%)
5. "Stay" by Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko (4-5) 393 (-39%)

Also notably, at number-eight we encounter "I Follow Rivers" by Lykke Li, who topped this chart for over 10 weeks 15 months ago. A place lower, at number-nine Adele re-bounds into the top 10 with "Skyfall" 104 (+15%). Justin Timberlake's "Mirrors" debut at number-twelve, while Chris Brown's "Fine China" enters directly at number-nineteen. Moreover, Rihanna and Calvin Harris' "We Found Love" spends its 65th week inside the top ten of the digital chart, at number-seventeen.

In terms of novelty, this week's hot shot debut is at number-six, and it is Yoko Ono's "Hold Me" (Dave Aude Mix), which opens with 287 paid units. Agnetha (ex-ABBA) also manages to make her "When You Really Loved Someone" chart here, as it starts at number-eighteen on the Digital Chart, with 67 sales.
INNA and Rihanna also debut album-cuts inside the top-forty this week! At number-seven, the dance-oriented "In Your Eyes" off Party Never Ends arrives with 250 units and marks the highest place for a non-single track on the chart since Nov. 2009, when Shakira premiered "Man in This Town" right at number-four with 2,016 sales. (It also managed to spend five non-consecutive weeks inside the top ten of the chart, as it re-entered the top in spring 2010, when it also re-peaked at #4, this time only with 500 sold units; It spent a total of 14 weeks in the chart and sold 3,213 copies as of Nov 2012, receiving a Silver certification from UPFR for sales exceeding 2,500). Shakira's "Men" was the thirtieth best-selling song of 2009 and the eighty-eighth best of 2010. Rihanna also opens with "Loveeeeeee Song" ft Future at number-twenty, selling 66 copies.

Stay tuned for more news to come!

That Rihanna reign just won't let up!

Rihanna is surely a name that is going to be remembered by millions. Whether is she the Queen of Pop or the Black Madonna, or not, she is still far ahead of her colleagues nowadays. Not only she is the top digital artist of all times (worldwide, in the US, in the UK and also in Romania) and she has the most number-one singles in a bunch of countries (including the US - 12, Canada - 8 and soon Romania) and she won hundreds of international awards, including the prestigious Grammy seven times! (she also won the Media Forest Award for Most Played Artist in Romania in 2010, 2011 and 2012), but she's going to dethrone Shakira, Madonna and Kylie Mingoue as the biggest chart power in Romania of all time!

Her single "Diamonds", her sixth number-one, spent six consecutive weeks in the top, becoming her most successful single in the country and becoming the greatest hit of the year, so far. "Diamonds" has also been atop the Romanian Digital Chart for an incredible 15 non-consecutive weeks, 13 of which only in 2013, as she had the ONLY single to peak the chart this year, so far. It sold over 20,000 digital copies in Romania and it is by far her biggest-selling single here, being certified 2xPlatinum by  UNPFR. She is also the most certified artist in Romania, four of her other singles were certified at least Platinum (including her second best effort, We Found Love, sales stand at 18,000). The single is also atop the Video Chart and the Radio Chart for several weeks, and it is also the biggest-selling physical single of the first semester. She has another single in the top-twenty, "Stay" featuring Mikky Ekko, which spent its fifth week in the chart as the greatest gainer. The single also made its way through the Video Chart where it moved 8-7 in its fourth week on the top 10. On the Digital Chart, it also keeps itself within the top five for a seventh week (having previously peaked at number-two, after Rihanna's own "Diamonds").

Rihanna is also the biggest-selling, most-downloaded, most streamed, most played and most Googled person of the year in Romania so far. She sold over 40,000 copies so far, her songs were streamed millions of times, while she was the MOST PLAYED ARTIST on Radio+TV for the whole year to date, registering over 5,000 spins as of March, 31. Thirty-four of her songs received more than 2 radio/TV plays during the first three months of the year, only Madonna has more songs to face this fact. She is also the most requested artist on both radio and music television. Over 5,000 people personally requested one of her songs at the radio. Her song "Diamonds" received the biggest audience impact of the year in the 10th week when over 4,000,000 people listened to the song on radio.

Her latest album Unapologetic was sold in more than 6,000 copies so far, most of them digitally and it was shipped in over 9,000 issues for Romania and Moldova. It was the number-one album of the Romanian Albums Chart compiled by UNPFR (Uniunea nationala a producatorilor de fonograme din Romania) for the whole year so far, which means thirteen (13) straight weeks. The total of weeks spent at number-one reaches 14 if we count the debut week in Nov. 2012, but it was then pushed to number-two by P!nk's The Truth About Love. For the first three years of this decade, only four international albums sold more copies than Unapologetic: 21 by Adele with 29,500; The Fame (Monster) by Lady Gaga with 28,000; The Fame STANDARD EDITION with 26,800 and Born This Way also by Lady Gaga with 25,300. From these only 21 reigned for more weeks - 45.

If Rihanna will break any other records or achieve more milestones in Romania you, the readers of this official blog, will know first! 

Do TV shows affect record sales in Romania?

     It was proven that contest TV shows, mainly music/dance related ones, affect the musical charts and record sales in countries like the US or the UK, but how do they affect our national record sales?
    A clear example would be the aftermath of grand international names performing live at Romanian TV shows on audience peaks in front of millions of people watching on their TV sets. One of these moments was when t.A.T.u performed their smashed hits "All the Things She Said" and "All About Us" last year in November, 2012 at Vocea Romaniei / The Voice. The following week, it was reported that "All the Thing She Said" entered the Romanian Digital Chart at number-one with 2,334 digital copies sold within 3 hours, a groundbreaking record. The song "All About Us" also re-entered the top 100 of the chart, right at number seventy-four.
    Also last year, in December 2012 on X Factor, Eurovision winner Loreen performed her pan-European hit "Euphoria", making it re-enter the top 10 of the digital chart, right at number-seven. She mashed it up with her relatively new single "My Heart Is Refusing Me" which entered the chart right at number-four.
    As for 2013, our clearest examples are from the newly introduced Romania danseaza (So You Think You Can Dance?) and during the third season of Romania's Got Talent. First of all, Got Talent contestant Anca Negrau performed a cover of Shakira's "Whenever, Wherever" as her impersonator during the auditions. Shakira's hit went from number ninety-eight right to number-two on the Digital Chart, exactly ten years after reaching number-one on the Romanian Top 100. For the live shows, Negrau also performed "Gypsy" (a song which was also #1 in the Romanian Top 100, though some take it as only being a #7 hit). After her performance, the single re-entered the Digital Chart right at number-seven, but also received substantial online streams from Romania, including on YouTube/VEVO. Also in 2013 the song "Telephone" by Lady Gaga and Beyonce was danced to during the second episode of Romania Danseaza/SYTYCD. The song, thus, re-entered the Romanian Digital Chart right at number-three, its peak (in 2010 it only managed to enter the top five at number-four).

It's "Diamonds" vs "Try"

    This week, "Diamonds" becomes Rihanna's longest running number-one single on the Romanian Top 100, with six (6) weeks in! It surpasses the reign of "Rude Boy" (5 weeks, 2010). Last week it only scored 460 spins on radio+TV. The number-two is getting closer to its top potision. "Try" by P!nk moves 3-2 with 383 spins (+17%) and makes its way towards the hot spot. The two singers each have another top 40 entry; P!nk has the balladry duet "Just Give Me A Reason" at number thirty-five, while Rihanna has her one with "Stay" at number fifteen (also moving 8-7 on the video chart). At number-three we have "Iarna pe val" by Cabron ft. What's up, Iony, while the third place is gained by Corina and Pacha Man with their "Pernele Moi".
    Considerably low after last week, the song "Ready or Not" by Bridgit Mendler descends 39-86 with a loss of over 350% in airings. Nevertheless, it moves 9-1 on the Pop Chart but it falls to number twenty-eight  on the Digital Chart.
    On the digital sales chart, we have Elena ft. Glance with "Ecou" moving from 65 towards 10, while on the physical chart INNA's latest album 'Party Never Ends' falls 39-145. We, even though, have a greatest gainer when it comes to physical singles sales: "P.O.H.U.I" which features INNA's vocals enters straight at number-one on the chart, while "Only Teardrops" (this year's Danish representative at the Eurovision Song Contest) enters the Romanian Physical Chart at number twenty-three, while entering the Radio Chart at number forty-nine, a record for a Eurovision song, only broken by Loreen with "Euphoria" last year (#1), Elena with "The Balkan Girls" from 2009 (#1) and "My Number One" by Helena (2005 winner, #1). No other Eurovision tune entered this chart more than a month before the semi finals or the grand final. It is also the 114th most downloaded song in Romania, the second best ESC entry this year, only behind Germany's Cascada with their Glorious, at number 89 on the Romanian Digital Chart.

    Also notable, this week "Diamonds" by Rihanna passes the 20,000 mark (20,890 digital units sold) and goes certified 2xPlatinum by the UNPFR. "Try" by P!nk is also close to getting its first certification, with 8,976 sales of digital copies.


    Don't forget to check mediaforest.ro to see the full lists of last week's most played songs in Romania and other international chart news.

Romanian Top 100: March 24, 2013

    This week, "Diamonds" by Rihanna scores its fifth consecutive week at number-one on the airplay based national chart, with a total of 470 plays. The runner-up of the chart is "One Day" by Asaf Avidan, with 426 spins. At number three (3) with 395 spins we have P!nk and her newest smash hit "Try". 

    Also, on Monday March 25, the music video for "Ecou" by Elena Gheorghe premiered through YouTube and it is about to lead the song into the top ten of the chart for the following week. 

    As previously reported, this week's highest new entry is "Ready or Not" by Bridgit Mendler, at number thirty-nine. INNA has the most entries this week with: "More Than Friends", "P.O.H.U.I.", "INNdiA" and "Tu si eu".

Don't forget to check mediaforest.ro for the weekly updates and the daily news from overseas. 

Ready or not here I come, here I come

"Ready or not here I come, here I come / You're like a breath of fresh air in my lung"

    The song "Ready or Not" by Disney Diva Bridgit Mendler became this week's highest new entry on the Romanian Top 100 at number thirty-nine (39) helped by radio airplay and fan requests sent to UTV and UTV HD. On the iTunes Chart, the single rises 77-23, while on the Pop Chart it moves from 19 to 9. On the official Digital Chart it keeps steady at number-eighteen.

         
Don't forget to check mediaforest.ro for the weekly updates, tomorrow March 25.
                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                         March 24, 2013, Bucharest

Romanian Top 100: March 17, 2013

     For the eleventh week of the chart this year, "Diamonds" by Rihanna is still the number-one, for a fourth consecutive week. It is the song's 22nd week inside the chart and it lost 12% of its plays gathered the previous week. It gained a total sum of 467 spins on both radio and music television during these last seven days. This is the lowest #1 week figures, following 481, 488 and 490 spins per week during the last weeks. The song also tops both the Radio Songs Chart and the Video Chart, with 269 and 198 plays, respectively. 

   With 422 spins, the runner up is Asaf Avidan's "One Day", while D'Banj's "Oliver Twist" and Deepcentral's "O Stea" follow up steady with 411 and 407 spins each. The top five is completed by P!nk with her hit "Try", which jumps 11-5 and gains 367 spins this week. At number-six with 365 airing we have "Iarna pe val" by Cabron featuring What's Up (both having other simultaneous top-tens with "Apa" / "K la meteo"). The top ten ends with "Chiar daca ai plecat" by DJ Rhino ft. Silvia, Phelipe (344) and "Brutal Hearts" by Bedouin Soundclash (335). 

     This weeks's greatest gainer is "In lipsa ta" by Andreea Banica and What's up (67-18), but Elena's "Ecou" and INNA's More Than Friends are also evident movers (27-18; 22-14). 

Don't forget to check mediaforest.ro for daily updates.

Selecţia Naţională Eurovision 2013

    

    On March 9, Romania chose its representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. After a tremendous journey of 32 song (12 reaching the final), the Romanian tele-voters  picked Cezar "The Voice" Ouatu to represent their country at the European-wide music contest in May. The winner song is entitled "It's My Life" and though it reminds of a Bon Jovi or a Dr. Alban, it has nothing to do with the classics. Following the unexpected outcome, the countertenor met with both acclaim and criticism. Not only Romanians, but also foreign Euro-fans dismissed the song and called it "horrible", or "disgusting". On the other hand, it has the support of big names such as Andrea Bocelli or Angela Gheorghiu. 

    He won with a total of 9,774  SMS+Phone votes, almost 1,000 more than the runner up. At the juries, it gathered 47 points, thus being at number three in their ranking. The betting odds and the fan polls, even though, indicated that Luminita Anghel, Al Mike ft. Renee Santana, or Electric Fence shall win the competition.

    After the results were made public for the Europeans, Romania's position in the betting odds chart descended from its initial peak at #10 towards a disappointing #18 #20 #23 #33 (and still going down!). This means historical lows for the country when it comes to betting odds, after a top-three placing last year (when Romania only came up the twelfth) and top ten placings in 2006, 2009 and 2010.

    For the moment, the early favorites of the contest are Denmark and Norway (with 3.00 to 5.00 odds), being represented by Emmelie De Forest and Margaret Berger respectively. The German representatives Cascada are also among the favorites to win

    Also Eurovision-related, Agnetha (in the video above, former member of Swedish group ABBA) is releasing a new album this May ('A'). The lead single off the new record, her first in almost a decade, is "When You Really Loved Someone" a pure europop ballad with electro influences allover. It has all the chances to become an easy listening radio hit, what do you think?

Rihanna shines bright...

    ...for a third week atop the Romanian Top 100. According to our ally Media Forest, Rihanna's "Diamonds" has been played for a total of 490 plays on the main radio/TV music stations in Romania for the past 7 days. As of the week-ending March 10, 2013 the song spends a third consecutive week atop the airplay based chart and gains 2 spins more than the last week (~+5% up). The previous weeks, it gathered 488, respectively 481 plays. BELOW YOU CAN SEE THE RADIO / TV STATISTICS.

    This is the Barbadian diva's sixth number-one in Romania, following "Umbrella", "Disturbia", "Rude Boy", "Love the Way You Lie" and "Only Girl (In the World)" with the last tree all being number-ones during the current decade. She is also the artist with the most top-five hit single in our national chart history, five other singles of her reaching the top five (namely "Don't Stop the Music", "Russian Roulette", "S&M", "Man Down" and "We Found Love"). All in today, this is RiRi's second most lengthy chart topper, only behind "Rude Boy" which spent two more weeks in the summit.
    On the other hand, this week's runner-up is Asaf Avidan's "One Day" with 429 spins. It was also the number-one of the video chart, but it was dethroned on this week by "Diamonds". On the digital chart, "Diamonds" stills holds at number-one, marking over 13,500 donwloadable units sold within the first 6 months. Hurt's album 'Exile' also debuts within the top 200 albums chart, while P!nk's 'The Truth About Love' reached its 5,000th digital download. On the physical albums chart, we have INNA with her third studio album - 'PARTY NEVER ENDS' debuting at a rather underwhelming position just outside the top 10 (#11).

    This is all for the time being, don't forget to check on Mediaforest.ro for the weekly charts and the newly introduced international charts for Moldova, the UK and France.

                               Bucharest, March 11, 2013 8:45 AM GMT +1