Who is Alexandra Căpitănescu, the winner of Eurovision Romania 2026 / In the past she won a highly watched talent show in Romania
Romania's representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 was chosen on Wednesday, in a final broadcast live by TVR, the organizer of the national selection. The artist Alexandra Căpitănescu received the most points from the seven jurors and, thus, she will represent Romania in Vienna with the song “Choke me”.
Alexandra Căpitănescu became known to the general public after, in 2023, she won the “Vocea României” musical contest. She was then 19 years old and was part of the artist Tudor Chirilă's team. At the blind auditions, she turned all four chairs.
Shortly after winning the show, Alexandra Căpitănescu released her debut single, “Căpitanu'”. The track was enthusiastically received, quickly amassing hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube. In April 2024, he released his first EP, also titled “Căpitanu'”, which includes five songs that consolidated his artistic identity, according to the artist's description on Spotify.
Eurovision 2026 final winner Romania. Alexandra Căpitănescu will represent the country in Vienna – VIDEO
Winner of Eurovision Romania 2026, tribute tour for Laura Stoica
Alexandra Căpitănescu started, at the end of 2024, on a tribute tour dedicated to Laura Stoica. In the same year, she released the song “Arde”, a reinterpretation of the famous chorus of the hit “Fire”, sung by Laura Stoica.
Alexandra Căpitănescu also collaborated with the band VAMA, with whom she released the song “Butterflies in the Stomach”. In 2025, he also released the songs “Falling Star”, “Dilaila” or “Tare”.
Eurovision 2026: What is the song “Choke me”, with which Alexandra Căpitănescu will represent Romania
Alexandra Căpitănescu says that the song “Choke me” is a metaphor for the feeling of being overwhelmed by strong emotions and your own expectations.
The song reflects a deeply personal struggle with inner fears and pressure—the feeling of being “suffocated” by doubt, self-criticism, or a desire for growth and transformation, according to its Spotify description.
“And the chorus is quite positive: we say how important self-love is and it conveys to be gentler with ourselves, in general, in everything we do, in all fields, because that's the only way we reach our true potential. If we didn't set our own limits, we would reach 100% of our potential”, said the artist according to eurovisionromania.ro.
Eurovision 2026: When will Romania find out if it reaches the final in Vienna
The draw for the designation of the participating countries in the two semi-finals of the Eurovision 2026 contest took place on January 12, in Vienna.
Following the draw, it was determined that Israel, Montenegro, Estonia, Georgia, Portugal, San Marino, Croatia, Sweden, Poland, Belgium, Lithuania, Serbia, Finland, Moldova and Greece will compete in the first semi-final, held on May 12. In the second semi-final, on May 14, Albania, Denmark, Armenia, RomaniaCyprus, Switzerland, Norway, Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Malta, Bulgaria Australia, Ukraine, Czech Republic and Latvia.
The points awarded by the judges will be combined with the results of the public vote to determine the ten qualifying songs from each semi-final. These 20 songs will join the proposal made by Austria, last year's winner and automatic participant in the final on 16 May.
France, Germany, Italy and Great Britain also qualify directly for the finals, without taking part in the semi-final selection, thanks to their status as main sponsors.
