Scots teacher's Eurovision song knocked out of Romanian competition

A Scots teacher whose song was shortlisted for the Romanian entry to the Eurovision Song Contest has revealed that it has been knocked out of the competition.

Jamala wins 2016 Eurovision Song Contest at Ericsson Globe Arena on May 14, 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden.

Tear Up The Dark, penned by Kinross High music teacher Jason Blyth, attracted the attention of Bucharest-based singer Teodora Dinu after his pupils posted it online. However, it was knocked out of the semi finals on Sunday night.

Mr Blyth wrote on Facebook: “Gutted - we didn’t make the semi finals. We gave it everything...so proud of Teodora. It’s definitely been a fantastic last few months...just have to come back stronger next year...we will.”

Ms Dinu was last year a backing singer for Romania’s selected entry but was unable to take part in the competition after the country was disqualified when the national broadcaster failed to pay its debts.

The song is about a friend of Mr Blyth’s who was told when he was a teenager that he was going to lose his sight but went on to represent Ireland as a paralympian swimmer at the Beijing Olympics.