Eurovision 2021 Review: Romania – Roxen – Amnesia


Roxen brings a modern pop number to Eurovision representing Romania
Romania was planning on sending young pop talent Roxen to Eurovision last year and was one of the first countries to ask their representative to try again in 2021 after the cancellation of the contest. Her ballad ‘Alcohol You’ ended up in the top 10 of my ranking of last year’s participating songs and was considered to be a favorite to qualify for the big final in its semi final. Will she be able to actually do it this year with her new song ‘Amnesia’?

‘Amnesia’ is a midtempo pop song written by songwriters Adelina Stinga and Victor Bourosu. The modern sounding track also has a lyrical topic that is used often in contemporary pop music: self love and struggles with mental health. Over the chorus, Roxen sings how she has lost herself and forgot how to love herself, while telling others who are experiencing the same that they are not alone.

Roxen has a beautiful tone of voice that suits this contemporary production perfectly, although they could have toned down the autotune in some places. It is one of those songs in the contest that I could actually picture being played on hit radio stations these days. She has been compared to Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa before and although these comparisons might be lazy, they at least show Roxen has a current appeal. I would argue that the hook and build up of ‘Amnesia’ are impressive enough to stick with the viewers, even when competing with numerous other countries. My only slight issue with this entry is that the lyrics are often hard to understand because of Roxen’s pronunciation of the English words. Some of the lines are also written in a clunky matter, but we will forgive them as at least the melodies are more than on point.

In the music video we see Roxen dressed in black, interacting with a group of modern dancers dressed in white. The choreography is a treat to watch and seems to beautifully depict the struggles with mental health of the lyrics. A similar staging in Rotterdam in May could definitely bring in more points for Romania. Either way, ‘Amnesia’ is a final worthy song to these ears.

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