Alexandra Capitanescu, who came third at the Eurovision 2026 song contest with “Choke Me”, said on Sunday that the success belonged to everyone who supported her, and that Romania had shown it could be a united nation that supports its talents.

“I’m better at singing into a microphone than speaking. Thank you all for being here, and I know that some of you have been with us from the very beginning, when nobody knew who we were and we struggled to get people to notice us. (…) It was an extraordinarily wonderful experience, but also a very difficult one. (…) We finished in third place, but we were second in the public vote, which means we are the ‘winners of hearts’. Judging music and art is highly subjective, but I believe most in what the public feels. The public’s intuition is the strongest. (…) We could never have achieved this on our own,” Alexandra said at Henri Coanda International Airport upon returning to the country.

She admitted that she was ‘overwhelmed’ with emotion and said that many concerts lay ahead for her and her team.

“There were so many people back home supporting us – our families, our fans, the people who voted for us, Romania itself. Romania has now shown that it can be a united nation, a nation that supports its talents,” Alexandra Capitanescu added.

Bulgaria won the 70th edition of Eurovision 2026 for the first time, followed by Israel and Romania, represented by Alexandra Capitanescu, who scored 296 points in the final held on Saturday evening in Vienna.

On stage in Vienna, Alexandra Capitanescu was accompanied by Bogdan Stoican (guitar), Matei Mihail Cohal (bass guitar), Thomas Carcota (piano), and Luca Alexandru Sofron (drums).