| "Miracle" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byPaula Seling andOvi | ||||
| from the album A Bit of Pop Won't Hurt Anyone | ||||
| Released | 28 February 2014 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:03 | |||
| Label |
| |||
| Composer | Beyond51 | |||
| Lyricists |
| |||
| Producer | Beyond51 | |||
| Paula Seling and Ovi singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio sample | ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Miracle" onYouTube | ||||
| Eurovision Song Contest 2014 entry | ||||
| Country | ||||
| Artists | ||||
| As | Paula Seling and Ovi | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Composer | Beyond51 | |||
| Lyricists |
| |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | 2nd | |||
| Semi-final points | 125 | |||
| Final result | 12th | |||
| Final points | 72 | |||
| Entry chronology | ||||
| ◄ "It's My Life" (2013) | ||||
| "De la capăt" (2015) ► | ||||
| Song presentation | ||||
| Official performance video | ||||
| "Miracle " (Final) onYouTube | ||||
"Miracle" is a song recorded by Romanian singerPaula Seling and Romanian-Norwegian performerOvidiu Cernăuțeanu for the latter's 2014 studio albumA Bit of Pop Won't Hurt Anyone. It was written by Beyond51,Frida Amundsen, Ovi and Philip Halloun, while production was solely handled by Beyond51. The track was made available fordigital download on 28 February 2014 in various countries, along withCDs released in Romania and Norway by theRomanian Television (TVR) and DaWorks, respectively. "Miracle" has been described as a love-themeddance andEurodance song, featuringtechno beats and apiano in its instrumentation.Reviewers compared the recording to the music of multiple producers, includingBenny Benassi andAvicii.
Itrepresented Romania in theEurovision Song Contest 2014 inCopenhagen after winning the pre-selection showSelecția Națională. This marked the second time that Seling and Ovi took part in the contest, previously having placed third in2010 with "Playing with Fire". In 2014, the country reached 12th place in a field of 26, scoring a total of 72 points. During the duo's show, the backgroundLED screen displayed blue tones alongside butterflies and colour streams, while a circular piano was also used onstage as a symbol for unity. Severalpyrotechnics were present during the performance, including the first use ofholograms in the contest's history. "Miracle" received mixed reviews from music critics, who praised the duo's vocal delivery and the song's composition and dance nature, but criticized its lack of innovation and low-quality lyrics.
In order to promote and support "Miracle", Seling and Ovi made various appearances to perform the song and embarked on a tour in several European countries in early 2014, including the United Kingdom. An accompanying music video was filmed at theMediaPro Studios inBuftea, Romania by Alex Ceaușu and uploaded onto the officialYouTube channel of the Eurovision Song Contest on 28 April 2014. It portrays the duo and background dancers performing to the song in a flooded cabin, which eventually "comes to life" with grass and trees.[1] Several observers noticed similarities between the clip and the visual forRuth Lorenzo's "Dancing in the Rain" (2014). Commercially, "Miracle" reached the lower ends of the single charts in Belgium'sFlanders region, Ireland and the United Kingdom after the contest.
"Miracle" was written by Beyond51,Frida Amundsen, Ovi and Philip Halloun, while production was solely handled by Beyond51.[2] Ovi met with Halloun at a songwriting camp in Sweden in June 2013, where they penned the song's lyrics in a few hours.[3][4] "Miracle" was subsequently produced in the fall of the same year.[3] During a press conference, Ovi revealed that the song was intentionally "generic", as he wanted to reach a wider audience with simple and memorable lyrics.[5] "Miracle" has been described as a love-themeddance andEurodance recording,[6][7][8] featuringtechno beats and apiano in its instrumentation.[7] During the song'sbridge, Seling holds a note for 18 seconds.[5][9]Reviewers compared "Miracle" to the music ofAvicii,Swedish House Mafia,Benny Benassi andCascada.[7][9]
It wasdigitally released on 28 February 2014 in various countries,[10] preceded by a teaser and a leak of ademo version in December 2013 and January 2014, respectively.[9][11] A CD single of the song was also made available in Romania and Norway in 2014 by theRomanian Television (TVR) and DaWorks, respectively, both featuring "Playing with Fire" (2010) alongside other versions of the original track. Radu Bucura shot the accompanying cover artworks.[2][12] The stems of the song were also released through theiTunes Store under the title "Miracle (Make Your Own Remix Kit)".[13]
Upon its release, "Miracle" was met with mixed reactions from music critics. Reviewers fromWiwibloggs were generally positive, praising the duo's vocal delivery and the song's composition and dance nature, while criticizing it as being "generic" and "cheap", and having low-quality lyrics. Overall, the reviewers on the website gave the song 8.06 out of 10 points.[7] In a 2016 Wiwibloggs poll called "What is your favourite Eurovision song from Romania?", "Miracle" finished in fifth place with over 400 votes.[14] Ines Hristea ofFormula AS thought that "Miracle" had a "melodic" and "elegant" composition.[15]The Corkman praised the track's beginning, but criticized it for "becom[ing] a bit of a production mess" eventually.[6] In a negative review, Irving Wolther fromEurovision.de criticized "Miracle" as unoriginal,[16] while Felix Bayer ofDer Spiegel awarded it 3 out of 10 points.[17] Commercially, the song reached the lower ends of the charts in Belgium'sFlanders region, Ireland and the United Kingdom.[18][19][20]
Prior to the release of an accompanying music video for "Miracle", a lyric as well as a live performance video were premiered in January and February 2014, respectively,[21][22] along with a clip for an acoustic version of the track in March 2014.[23] The latter featured Seling and Ovi sitting at a double piano previously presented during their performance at the2010 Eurovision Song Contest.[24] The official music video was subsequently uploaded onto Eurovision'sYouTube channel on 28 April 2014.[25] It was filmed at theMediaPro Studios inBuftea, Romania by Alex Ceaușu, while make-up and hair styling were done by Romelia Pelin and Marius Costea, respectively.[3][26] A choreography was created by Judith State and Mircea Andrei Ghinea, and clothes were provided by Amir Dobos and Magda Mohamed. The shooting was completed in the span of one day, whilepost-production took several days afterwards.[3] Thegovernment of Romania provided Seling and Ovi's team with over 259,000lei, which part of was used for the making of the video.[26] Five tons of grass have been used for the clip, as well as artificial wind and rain.[3]
The music video starts with Ovi and Seling successively playing a piano in a "stark, derelict" and flooded cabin provided with old-fashioned furniture.[1][3][27] Two dancers are also shown performing choreography in the same place while it starts to rain. As the clip transitions, the cabin "comes to life in the rain", becoming a "mini-paradise" with a tree and grass on the piano. Both the singers and dancers are involved in the same activities as in the previous set.[1][25] Seling elaborated on the video: "It speaks of the miracle of life, coming from another miracle, of love. Nature results in the empty room from another miracle, water, the source of life."[26] Several observers noticed similarities between the clip and the visual forRuth Lorenzo's "Dancing in the Rain", which representedSpain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014.[27] Bogdan Honciuc of Wiwibloggs speculated that the tree represented theforbidden tree,[1] while an editor of Urban.ro praised the video as "colored", "vernal" and "in tone with the song's message".[28]
For further promotion, Seling and Ovi performed "Miracle" on multiple occasions. They appeared on Romanian talk show'Neatza cu Răzvan și Dani on 20 February 2014,[29] and also performed the song in afolk rendition onO dată-n viață. Wearingtraditional Romanian clothing, they were accompanied by Moldovan orchestra group Lăutarii.[24] After conducting a tour in multiple European countries, including the United Kingdom, during March and April 2014,[30][31] the duo sang "Miracle" at a match betweenFC Steaua București andASC Oțelul Galați on 20 May 2014.[32] Following the song's promotion phase, it was notably performed duringSelecția Națională 2017 alongside "Playing with Fire".[33]
TheRomanian Television (TVR) organized theSelecția Națională in order to select Romania's entrant for the2014 Eurovision Song Contest and opened the submission period for artists' and composers' entries between 15 January and 14 February 2014. The event took place on 1 March 2014, for which 12 songs had been internally shortlisted by a jury panel. Subsequently, "Miracle" was chosen to represent in Romania in the contest, after the votes of an expert jury panel (12 points) and the televoting (ten points) were combined, resulting in 22 points.[34][35] This marked the duo's secondSelecția Națională win after 2010's "Playing with Fire" which went on to place third at Eurovision, Romania's best result to date.[36] Wolther of Eurovision.de praised Seling and Ovi's performance for the "spectacular gimmicks that they use very effectively".[16] Seling accidentally broke theSelecția Națională trophy after falling off her hands, which was the subject of irony of an article written by an editor of Ele.ro.[37]
The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 took place at theB&W Hallerne inCopenhagen, Denmark and consisted of two semi-finals on 6 and 8 May, and the final on 10 May 2014. According to the Eurovision rules, all participating countries, except the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom), were required to qualify from one semi-final to compete for the final; the top ten countries from the respective semi-final progressed to the final.[40] Seling and Ovi sang 15th in the second semi-final followingSlovenia, while they performed sixth in the Grand Final followingNorway and precedingArmenia.[40]
At the beginning of the duo's performance, Seling is shortly superimposed as ahologram on the right side of the stage before eventually appearing by herself on the left side to join Ovi. This marked the first usage of holograms in Eurovision's history.[41] Both also hug each other "heart-warming[ly]" before the last chorus.[38] They are accompanied by four backing vocalists, including Julie Lindell, who are not visible onstage for most of the performance.[39][42] Seling wore a six-kilogram "shiny" dress that featured severalsequin and metal inserts, alongside self-designed silver sandals.[43] According to Ovi, the "crucial element" of the performance was a circular piano that symbolized unity, in homage to a double piano used during their 2010 Eurovision performance. It was also projected on theLED screen and stage floor.[38] Blue tones were further displayed on the screen alongside silhouettes of butterflies and whirling colour streams moving along to the song's tempo.[39]Pyrotechnics in form of vertical flames were implemented in front of the stage.[38]
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Romania in the second semi-final and Grand Final of the contest. On the first occasion, the country finished in second place with a total of 125 points, including 12 fromMalta,Israel andAustria, ten fromGreece andNorway, and eight fromMacedonia,Germany andBelarus.[44] In the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest, Romania finished in 12th position, gathering a total of 72 points, including 12 awarded byMoldova, eight by Malta, Israel,Spain and Austria, and six byAzerbaijan.[45]
| Points awarded to Romania (Semi-Final 2) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
| Points awarded to Romania (Final) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
|
|
| Chart (2014) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[18] | 73 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[19] | 88 |
| UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[20] | 174 |
| Country | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Various[10] | 28 February 2014 | Digital download | — |
| Norway[2] | N/A 2014 | CD single | DaWorks |
| Romania[12] | Promotional CD single | TVR |
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)