Missed opportunities: Paula Seling - Step Back

Picture the scene. It's early evening on 31st December 1999 in a dusty radio studio somewhere in downtown Bucharest. An eager-to-please disc-jockey is preparing to play in the new year with some of the usual classics and hits, but before that, he wants to present a track he's been sent by a new, up-and-coming young artist. Her people claim she's the Romanian Britney Spears, and apparently she's going to be huge. And our hero has got the exclusive first play of this new record.

He slides the CD into the player, links into the track and Bucharest hears 'Step Back' for the very first time.

And that's that, perhaps one of the most famous missed opportunities in recent Eurovision history. Paula Seling is instantly disqualified from the Romanian Final, the producers being incredibly strict about the rules, particularly the 1st January cut-off as it was back then. For one man's error and the want of waiting just a few hours, Romanian TV loses one of its first real contenders.

The incident is notorious in fan circles. Whether the story really went down as described is debateable and probably unverifiable. Whether it would have won what was likely a deeply rigged national final is equally uncertain. And as for its chances at Eurovision, it would have had to compete against Alsou and Ines for the Britney-votes – a tough fight in 2000.

Of course, we will never know. It's still a damn good little pop song though.