The
Romanian Television (TVR) opened a submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries between 8 and 10 February 2016 to the
Selecția Națională, in order to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. A jury panel made up of music professionals rated all songs, revealing their 12 finalists on 11 February. During the contest's semi-final held on 4 March, Anton qualified for the final in first place, gaining 54 points from the jury. On the latter occasion two days later, he was chosen to represent Romania at Eurovision, with 6,585 televotes. During Anton's performance, he was accompanied by a sword dancer and several backing vocalists—including singer Teodora Dinu. Irving Wolther of Eurovision.de applauded the singer's vocals, but deemed his show as "lifeless". This led to strong reactions against the decision, including from Anton. He was eventually invited by
Moldova's
TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM) to accompany their entrant
Lidia Isac on the Eurovision stage, with the intent of singing "
Falling Stars" as a duet, but he declined the offer. In order to promote Anton's intended Eurovision participation, he had performed "Moment of Silence" at Eurovision In Concert in
Amsterdam, as well as at the London Eurovision event in
London in April 2016. He also appeared on the third semi-final of the sixth season of
Românii au talent in May. Other performances of "Moment of Silence" include at the
Selecția Națională 2017, and at the 2018
Golden Stag Festival, during which he acted as the representative for Romania. ==Anton version==