The Semifinals
The Romanian Semi-Finals were held at the TVR TV Studios in Bucharest hosted by Kitty Cepraga & Leonard Miron. The top 6 songs in each semi-final, chosen by televoting (50%) & an „expert“ jury (50%), qualified for the final.
Semi-Final 1 – February 15th
| 1 | Lumea noastra | Our world | Krypton | 7 | 7th= | – |
| 2 | Anytime | Anytime | Selena | 1 | 12th | – |
| 3 | Friends are friends | Friends are friends | Valahia | 16 | 3rd= | F |
| 4 | Fata de la tara | Girl from the country | Desperado | 7 | 7th= | – |
| 5 | The only one | The only one | Nicoleta Matei | 16 | 3rd= | F |
| 6 | Once upon a time | Once upon a time | Razvan Crivaci & Liviu Sorescu | 8 | 6th | F |
| 7 | Let’s have a holiday | Let’s have a holiday | Aurelian Temisan | 19 | 1st | F |
| 8 | Oxigen | Oxygen | D’La Vegas | 11 | 5th | F |
| 9 | Un om intre oameni | One man among many people | Supermarket | 4 | 10th | – |
| 10 | Let’s go! | Let’s go! | Paula Seling | 18 | 2nd | F |
| 11 | Golden bird | Golden bird | Marius Dragomir | 3 | 11th | – |
| 12 | A fost o vreme când | There was a time when | Sfinx Experience | 6 | 9th | – |
Semi-Final 2 – February 22nd
| 1 | Come with us | Come with us | Centrul Civic | 13 | 3rd= | F |
| 2 | Tacerea doare | The silence hurts | Malina | 9 | 7th= | – |
| 3 | Mereu aproape | Always near me | Latin Expres | 1 | 10th= | – |
| 4 | Goodbye, hello, goodbye | Goodbye, hello, goodbye | Aurelian Temisan | 16 | 2nd | F |
| 5 | My life | My life | Genius | 11 | 6th | F |
| 6 | Dominus | The God | Costi Ionita | 13 | 3rd= | F |
| 7 | Make this love come true | Make this love come true | Alexandra Ungureanu | 12 | 5th | F |
| 8 | Albastru aprins | True blue | Bogdan Bradu | 7 | 9th | – |
| 9 | Don’t break my heart | Don’t break my heart | Nicola | 24 | 1st | F |
| 10 | Tell me | Tell me | Open | 0 | 12th | – |
| 11 | Doar tu stii | Only you know | Oana Sârbu | 1 | 10th= | – |
| 12 | Spune | Say it | Hara | 9 | 7th= | – |
Malina (Olinescu) represented Romania in ESC 1998.
The Final
The Romanian Final was held on March 1st at the TVR TV Studios in Bucharest, hosted by Kitty Cepraga & Leonard Miron. The winner was chosen by 50% televoting and 50% „expert“ jury. Nicola was favourite with both the jury and televoters. Aurelian Temisan withdrew his song „Goodbye, hello, goodbye“ as he didn’t want to split his televotes between two songs. The song „Dominus“ by Costi Ionita was disqualified due to similarities between it and the song „Ty prosti“ by the Russian Group Hi-Fi.
| 1 | Friends are friends | Friends are friends | Valahia | 11 | 3rd= |
| 2 | Oxigen | Oxygen | D’La Vegas | 5 | 10th |
| 3 | Don’t break my heart | Don’t break my heart | Nicola | 24 | 1st |
| 4 | My life | My life | Genius | 9 | 6th= |
| 5 | Let’s go! | Let’s go! | Paula Seling | 11 | 3rd= |
| 6 | Once upon a time | Once upon a time | Razvan Crivaci & Liviu Sorescu | 9 | 6th= |
| 7 | Make this love come true | Make this love come true | Alexandra Ungureanu | 11 | 3rd= |
| 8 | The only one | The only one | Nicoleta Matei | 7 | 9th |
| 9 | Come with us | Come with us | Centru‘ Civic | 9 | 6th= |
| 10 | Let’s have a holiday | Let’s have a holiday | Aurelian Temisan | 20 | 2nd |
Nicola previously took part in the Romanian Finals of 1993 (as Nicoleta Alexandru), 1994, 1996 (19th), 1998 (6th) (as Nicoleta Nicola), 2000 (13th) and 2002 (equal 5th). At the ESC, she came 10th.