Where are they now? Alina Eremia

In 2005, Romania made their third Junior Eurovision appearance with a young lady by the name of Alina Eremia. She came fifth on the night with 89 points with her song "Țurai!", and has gone on to become a very popular singer in her own country.

"Junior Eurovision was the greatest experience of my childhood," recalls Alina 10 years on. "First of all, I sang for the first time in front of a big audience, over 10.000 people - for an aspiring singer, that feeling can't be replaced. Secondly, behind the scenes, it was a great atmosphere! There were always good vibes although though it was a competition. The organisation was impeccable, we felt like little stars!".

Romania took part in the first Junior Eurovision in 2003 landing in the top ten, and a year later broke int the top five - all things that inspired Alina to try and take part. "I watched the competition from the first edition and that was the moment I decided that I want to give it a shot," she told us. "My mentor, Cornel Fugaru, encouraged me to apply. I started to think about the song, then do it and send it to the pre-selection. After I was accepted, we had the national selection.I wanted to win really bad, and fortunuately I did. After that, there were two months of intense training to prepare for Hasselt."

"Junior Eurovision propelled me in my career," continues Alina, who is now rather famous in Romania! "Ten years later, I'm signed to a very good Romanian Record Label, and I am a very well-known singer in my country with over 60 million video views on Youtube!". The young singer has enjoyed a lot of success with her music in Romania, which keeps her busy: "My songs are very popular here and some of them reached number one on radio and television. I've also done a lot of television shows, commercials, and campaigns.

With such success domestically, could a trip to the Eurovision Song Contest be on the cards? "The thought of representing Romania in Eurovision has been on my mind for a while, so I'm tempted to participate. I'm waiting for the perfect moment and the perfect song" she revealed.

Eurovision or not, Alina is back in the studio and preparing for some more big events. "Now I'm working on my new single, that will be released in September, and I'll shoot the video next week," she told us. "I'm also preparing for the Media Music Awards, which is an important event in our country that will take place next month."

Finally, would would Alina say to any aspiring young singers who are thinking of taking part in Junior Eurovision now? "First of all, I wish them all good luck. Enjoy this experience as much as you can, make friends, live every second of it, because believe me, you will remember it years and years after! It's a great opportunity to be seen, so leave your emotions behind and do your best. Have faith in yourself!" 

Wise words indeed! You can follow Alina on Facebook and Instagram, as well as her record label on YouTube.