| "Zaleilah" | ||||
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| Single by Mandinga | ||||
| from the album Club de Mandinga | ||||
| Released | 16 September 2011 | |||
| Length | 3:38 (Single version)
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| Mandinga singles chronology | ||||
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| Eurovision Song Contest 2012 entry | ||||
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| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | 3 | |||
| Semi-final points | 120 | |||
| Final result | 12 | |||
| Final points | 71 | |||
| Entry chronology | ||||
| ◄ "Change" (2011) | ||||
| "It's My Life" (2013) ► | ||||
"Zaleilah" is a song by Romanian band Mandinga for their fifth studio album, Club de Mandinga (2012). It was written by Costi Ioniță along with band lead singer Elena Ionescu and member Omar Secada. Produced by Ioniță and Dimitriu Silviu, it was released on 16 September 2011. Musically, "Zaleilah" has been described as Latin-influenced, with other inspirations including Balkan, Cuban, Gypsy and salsa music. A bilingual love song performed in English and Spanish language, its instrumentation consists of a bagpipe, marching drums, accordions and trumpets. Reviewers noticed similarities between "Zaleilah" and "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" (2010) by Colombian singer Shakira and "Zou Bisou Bisou" (1964).
"Zaleilah" represented Romania in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, Azerbaijan, after winning the pre-selection show Selecția Națională. The country reached 12th place in a field of 26, scoring a total of 71 points. Mandinga's show featured the band members performing choreography and accompanying Ionescu, with pyrotechnics and fireworks also being used. The song received mixed reviews from music critics. While it was praised for its catchiness and dance nature, some viewed it as mediocre and unoriginal. "Zaleilah" received a nomination in the Best Song category at the 2011 Romanian Music Awards.
In order to promote and support "Zaleilah", Mandinga made various appearances to perform the song and embarked on a tour in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2012. An accompanying music video was filmed by Florin Botea in both Romania and Dubai, and was uploaded to YouTube on 9 February 2012. On the same date, the clip was shown at the Grand Cinema Digiplex in Băneasa Shopping City. It portrays Ionescu "waking up" in Dubai after putting on a ring she found near to a club's bathroom tap.[1] Commercially, "Zaleilah" reached the top 100 of various charts after Eurovision, and peaked at numbers two and six in Romania and Moldova, respectively. Uniunea Producătorilor de Fonograme din România (UPFR) certified the track Gold for exceeding 10,000 digital downloads in Romania.