TVR opened a submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries between 9 November 2018 and 10 December 2018. The broadcaster received 126 submissions after the submission deadline passed. An expert committee reviewed the received submissions with each juror on the committee rating each song between 1 (lowest) and 10 (highest) based on criteria such as the melodic harmony and structure of the song, the orchestral arrangement, originality and stylistic diversity of the composition and sound and voice quality. After the combination of the jury votes, the top twenty-four entries that scored the highest were selected for the national final. The competing entries were announced on 20 December 2018. Among the competing artists was Dan Bittman, who previously represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994, and Mihai, who previously represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006.
