So, one of my boys from Pro TV tells me: "Boss, you won't believe what happened last night on Românii au talent!" And I tuned in, bro, because Mioara was glued to the show, one elbow deep in a bag of sunflower seeds. And no joke, my jaw dropped! The Re-born troupe, 12 girls from Târgu Mureș, aged 15 to 19, took the grand prize of €120,000! And that's not all—they also snagged the Originality Award of €10,000! That's €130,000, cuz! With that cash, you could buy my 2008 BMW about ten times over, no kidding.
The girls are contemporary dance and gymnastics dancers, trained by Mihaela Codreanu, a teacher with 26 years of experience at the Children's Palace in Târgu Mureș. The choreographer said this is the most talented generation she's ever worked with. And check out what they did in the final: a piece about how daily stress turns adults into kids and the fragility of emotions. Seriously, I saw myself when I'm calculating my loan payments and find out diesel prices went up! But the girls danced so hard your heart stopped, with lightning-fast transitions between emotions. I swear on all I hold dear, I had tears in the corners of my eyes—but I won't admit it to anyone.
And this isn't their first rodeo, bro. They're already world champions in Rome (1st, 2nd, and 3rd places), national and international champions at the Children's Palaces, and last year they had 7 international choreographies and won awards at all of them. But what conditions do they have, man? They train in a tiny space with mirrors about to fall off, no funding. After school, they move rehearsals to the school gym or straight into the yard. And they dream of renovating that hall at the Children's Palace in Târgu Mureș, a building that was a hospital during the war and hasn't been fully renovated since 1960. For real, that's what Brian's school looks like too, bro—plaster falling on kids' heads. Shame on whoever's responsible!
The jury went nuts over them. Bobonete said, "You were perfectly synchronized. Perfect entire moment. Truly impressive. You've got talent in spades," and Carmen Tănase added, "Your evolution is impressive—you made a full arc. Like you jumped with a pole." Andra, our queen, said: "Everything was so bright, such good energy. Bravo, Mihaela!" What can I say, now that's a jury, not like others who just argue on other shows.
Second place went to Albert Oprea, who took €20,000, and third, Antonia Voroneanu, a 10-year-old contortionist who's like rubber, got €10,000. And now, listen up—there was also a special moment: Alexandra Căpitănescu, winner of Vocea României and third place at Eurovision 2026, performed live. She first stepped on the Românii au talent stage in 2019 at age 15, and now she came to launch her new single, "Heat," a rock song about the adrenaline of Eurovision. Coming up, Alexandra performs at Rock Days at Nibiru and at Hard Rock Cafe in Bucharest, and she's working on an album with her band. Good for her—smart and talented girl!
Anyway, I'm happy for these girls, but I'm sorry I couldn't vote. I tried to send an SMS to 1444, but Mioara told me not to waste money on nonsense because we have installments at Lidl. So I voted on voteaza.protv.ro, from Brian's computer. But, cuz, €130,000 for a group of girls who train in the yard? That's Romania, bro: talent grows in crappy conditions, and the money goes to those who deserve it. Now, I'm off to Fane's terrace to drink a beer and tell Gică Dinamovistul that the girls from Târgu Mureș have more talent than his football team.
