Former Eurovision acts to take part in ‘Golden Stag Festival’

The International Golden Stag festival takes place in Romania next month and is set to feature several familiar faces.
The annual event, organised by Romanian broadcaster TVR, takes place between 29th August and 2nd September. The festival has two main components; an international contest and a special guest segment featuring both Romanian and foreign artists.

The Eurovision connection

Eighteen artists will compete in this year’s edition, several of which are previous Eurovision representatives. Ovidiu Anton (Romania 2016), Lidia Isac (Moldova 2016), John Karayiannis (Cyprus 2015) & Ryan O’Shaughnessy (Ireland 2018) will perform in the hope of winning this year’s trophy and 25,000 Euros. A total of 110 artists applied to take part in this year’s festival.
Other notable names include Inis Neziri, Sebastian Schmidt & Karl Wlliam Lund who have all previously participated in a Eurovision national selection within the last five years.

The Golden Stag’s impressive back-catalogue

The Golden Stag Festival was born in 1968 when broadcaster TVR looked to create their own version of the MTV Music Awards. The decision to create the event was in the hope that the contest would inspire both local and international musicians. Since its first edition, well-known artists have graced the festival’s stage over the years, including James Brown, Pink, Ricky Martin & Sheryl Crow. The Golden Stag has also played a part in the discovery of future talent, with participations from a young, then unsigned, Christina Aguillera and Julio Iglesias.

This year’s edition marks the 50th anniversary of the festival’s creation and will be celebrated over the course of five evenings. On 29th August, a gala will take place, looking back at the event’s history using content from the TVR archive. The next two evenings will be dedicated solely to the contest, in which each of the competing acts will perform. On 1st September, the winner will be decided and presented with their award. The event will end on 2nd September with a Centennial Gala, showcasing the best of traditional Romanian folk music.

See the full list of competing acts

The shortlisted acts were selected by an expert panel consisting of; Daniel Jinga (Conductor & Composer), Liana Stanciu Georgescu (Journalist), Felix Crainicu (Radio Producer), Andrei Tudor (Composer), Andreea Archip (Journalist) & Garbiel Scîrlet (Festival Director).
The eighteen artists taking part in this edition are:
1. Inis Neziri (Albania)
2. Amaliya Margaryan (Armenia)
3. Kaye Oliver Fabian C (Belgium)
4. John Karayiannis (Cyprus)
5. Kelly-Joyce Bale (France)
6. Ryan O’Shaughnessy (Ireland)
7. Omer Netzer (Israel)
8. Damiano Borgi (Italy)
9. Tiziana Camelin (Italy)
10. Dinara Cairo (Kazakhstan)
11. Antonia Gigovska (Macedonia)
12. Karl William Lund (UK)
13. Lidia Isac (Moldova)
14. Dora Gaitanovici (Romania)
15. Ovidiu Anton (Romania)
16. Blejusca Raluca (Romania)
17. Sebastian Schmidt (San Marino)
18. Jorge Gonzalez (Spain)