Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Moldova participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal. The artist and song that represented Moldova in the 2018 contest was selected through the national final, O melodie pentru Europa 2018, organised by the Moldovan broadcaster TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM), on 24 February 2018.
| Eurovision Song Contest 2018 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Moldova | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | O melodie pentru Europa 2018 | |||
| Selection date(s) | Audition stage: 24 January 2018 Final: 24 February 2018 | |||
| Selected entrant | DoReDoS | |||
| Selected song | "My Lucky Day" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) | Philipp Kirkorov John Ballard | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Qualified (3rd, 235 points) | |||
| Final result | 10th, 209 points | |||
| Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Background
Prior to the 2018 Contest, Moldova had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirteen times since its first entry in 2005.[1] The nation's best placing in the contest was third, which it achieved in 2017 with the song "Hey Mamma!" performed by SunStroke Project. To this point, Moldova have another two top ten placing at the contest were achieved in 2005 thanks the song "Bunica bate toba" performed by Zdob și Zdub placed sixth and 2007 where "Fight" performed by Natalia Barbu placed tenth.
For the 2018 Contest, the Moldovan national broadcaster, TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM), will broadcast the event within Moldova and organise the selection process for the nation's entry. TRM confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest on 8 November 2017.[2] Moldova has selected their entry via a national selection show since 2008, a procedure that was continued for their 2018 participation.[3]
Before Eurovision
O melodie pentru Europa 2018
O melodie pentru Europa 2018 is the national final format developed by TRM in order to select Moldova's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. Unlike in previous years, the event only included one final, held on 24 February 2018. A semi-final was planned for 22 February 2018, but was later scrapped.[3][4]
Format
The selection of the competing entries for the national final and ultimately the Moldovan Eurovision entry takes place over two rounds. On 24 January 2018, all artists who submitted a song to the broadcaster were invited to take part in a live audition, where the sixteen qualifiers were decided. The winner will be decided by voting from the Moldovan public and a jury of music professionals during the final on 24 February 2018.[3][5]
Competing entries
Interested artists and composers had until 15 January 2018 to submit their entries to the Moldovan broadcaster. On 15 January 2018 it was announced that 28 entries were submitted to the national selection.[6] However, on 22 January 2018 the Moldovan broadcaster TRM disqualified Pelageya Stefoglo since the singer broke the rules of the selection with participating with her entry "Let's Start Together Right Now" in the Belarusian national selection.[7]
| Live audition round – 24 January 2018[4] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Artist | Song (English translation) | Composer(s) |
| 1 | Sasha Bognibov | "Love" | Sasha Bognibov |
| 2 | Anna Timofei | "Endlessly" | Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Niklas Bergqvist, Simon Johansson, Georgios Kalpakidis |
| 3 | Che-MD | "Inima-n stîngă" (Heart on the left) | Michael Smolenko |
| 4 | Maria Codreanu | "Zâmbește soarelui" (Smile to the sun) | Vlad Mircos, Galina Furdui |
| 5 | Ruslan Tsar | "Come to Life" | Ruslan Tsar |
| 6 | Doinița Gherman | "Dance in Flames" | Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Niklas Bergqvist, Simon Johansson |
| 7 | Sandy C & Aaron Sibley | "Once Upon a Time" | Aaron Sibley |
| 8 | Tolik | "Broken Glass" | Leah Muscat Rodo, Malin Johansson, Rickard Bonde Truumeel |
| 9 | Dima Gaitur | "Ona moya" (She is mine) | Eduard Lopatenko |
| 10 | Vera Țurcanu | "Black Heart" | David Gällring, Karl Sahlin, Vera Țurcanu, Nikos Sofis |
| 11 | 5 Stele | "Moldavian Dance" | |
| 12 | Tudor Bumbac | "Numai pentru tine" (Only for you) | |
| 13 | DoReDoS | "My Lucky Day" | Philipp Kirkorov, John Ballard |
| 14 | Bostan | "Frățică" (Brother) | |
| 15 | Felicia Dunaf | "Alien" | Primož Poglajen, Will Taylor, Michael James Down |
| 16 | Nicoleta Sava | "Esencia del Sur" (Essence of the South) | Rafael Artesero, Jose Juan Santana, Viorica Atanasov |
| 17 | Lavinia Rusu | "Altundeva" (Somewhere else) | Alkemics Sound, Eugeniu Doibani |
| 18 | Marina Cudalb | "Bianco e nero" (Black and white) | Marina Cudalb, Tiziano Jannacci |
| 19 | Denny Feyton | "Maybe It's Love" | |
| 20 | Laura Bagrii | "Da bucuriei" (Yes to happiness) | Francisc Florin Baculea, Laura Bagrii |
| 21 | Anna Odobescu | "Agony" | Valeriu Pașa |
| 22 | Ilia Sorocean & Dasha DaGro | "Minds & Veins" | Ilia Sorocean |
| 23 | BellaLuna | "Moments" | Mitya Effterman, Maxim Safrin |
| 24 | Shvets | "The World" | Daniel Șveț |
| 25 | Saidy | "Beauty Song" | |
| 26 | Constantin Cobîlean | "Numai tu" (Only you) | Constantin Cobîlean |
| 27 | Viorela | "The Gates of Love" | Viorela Moraru |
| — | |||
| Artist | Song (English translation) | Composer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Anna Odobescu | "Agony" | Valeriu Pașa |
| Anna Timofei | "Endlessly" | Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Niklas Bergqvist, Simon Johansson, Georgios Kalpakidis |
| BellaLuna | "Moments" | Mitya Effterman, Maxim Safrin |
| Che-MD | "Inima-n stîngă" (Heart on the left) | Michael Smolenko |
| Constantin Cobîlean | "Numai tu" (Only you) | Constantin Cobîlean |
| Doinița Gherman | "Dance in Flames" | Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Niklas Bergqvist, Simon Johansson |
| DoReDoS | "My Lucky Day" | Philipp Kirkorov, John Ballard |
| Felicia Dunaf | "Alien" | Primož Poglajen, Will Taylor, Michael James Down |
| Ilia Sorocean & Dasha DaGro | "Minds & Veins" | Ilia Sorocean |
| Lavinia Rusu | "Altundeva" (Somewhere else) | Alkemics Sound, Eugeniu Doibani |
| Nicoleta Sava | "Esencia del Sur" (Essence of the South) | Rafael Artesero, Jose Juan Santana, Viorica Atanasov |
| Ruslan Tsar | "Come to Life" | Ruslan Tsar |
| Sandy C & Aaron Sibley | "Once Upon a Time" | Aaron Sibley |
| Tolik | "Broken Glass" | Leah Muscat, Malin Johansson, Rickard Bonde Truumeel |
| Vera Țurcanu | "Black Heart" | David Gällring, Karl Sahlin, Vera Țurcanu, Nikos Sofis |
| Viorela | "The Gates of Love" | Viorela Moraru |
Final
The final took place on 24 February 2018. DoReDoS with the song "My Lucky Day" was selected as the winner and will compete in the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.[8]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tolik | "Broken Glass" | 30 | 3 | 385 | 10 | 13 | 4 |
| 2 | Lavinia Rusu | "Altundeva" | 30 | 4 | 59 | 2 | 6 | 10 |
| 3 | Bella Luna | "Moments" | 14 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 4 | Anna Timofei | "Endlessly" | 28 | 2 | 39 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| 5 | Ilia Sorocean & Dasha DaGro | "Minds & Veins" | 25 | 1 | 54 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| 6 | Che-MD | "Inima-n stîngă" | 3 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 7 | Constantin Cobîlean | "Numai tu" | 8 | 0 | 134 | 7 | 7 | 9 |
| 8 | DoReDoS | "My Lucky Day" | 104 | 12 | 3,813 | 12 | 24 | 1 |
| 9 | Sandy C & Aaron Sibley | "Once Upon a Time" | 36 | 5 | 113 | 4 | 9 | 6 |
| 10 | Anna Odobescu | "Agony" | 54 | 8 | 62 | 3 | 11 | 5 |
| 11 | Nicoleta Sava | "Esencia del Sur" | 16 | 0 | 171 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| 12 | Doinița Gherman & One Voice | "Dance in Flames" | 52 | 7 | 134 | 6 | 13 | 3 |
| 13 | Felicia Dunaf | "Alien" | 40 | 6 | 56 | 1 | 7 | 8 |
| 14 | Viorela | "The Gates of Love" | 5 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| 15 | Vera Țurcanu | "Black Heart" | 69 | 10 | 123 | 5 | 15 | 2 |
| 16 | Ruslan Tsar | "Come to Life" | 8 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Detailed Jury Votes | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Song | A. Chiriac | P. Gămurari | N. Țărnă | V. Cușnir | S. Gorgos | I. Aculov | L. Știrbu | L. Șolomei | A. Tostogan | Total |
| 1 | "Broken Glass" | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 30 | |||
| 2 | "Altundeva" | 6 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 30 | |||
| 3 | "Moments" | 4 | 2 | 8 | 14 | ||||||
| 4 | "Endlessly" | 7 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 28 | |||
| 5 | "Minds & Veins" | 1 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |||
| 6 | "Inima-n stîngă" | 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 7 | "Numai tu" | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 8 | |||||
| 8 | "My Lucky Day" | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 104 |
| 9 | "Once Upon a Time" | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 36 | |
| 10 | "Agony" | 7 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 54 |
| 11 | "Esencia del Sur" | 2 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 16 | |||||
| 12 | "Dance in Flames" | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 52 | ||
| 13 | "Alien" | 10 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 40 | |
| 14 | "The Gates of Love" | 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 15 | "Black Heart" | 3 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 69 |
| 16 | "Come to Life" | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||||||
At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 29 January 2018, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Moldova was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2018, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[9]
Once all the competing songs for the 2018 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Moldova was set to perform in position 7, following the entry from Russia and preceding the entry from Netherlands.[10]
Semi-final
It was later revealed that Moldova had placed third in the second semi-final, receiving a total of 235 points, 153 points from the televoting and 82 points from the juries.
Voting
Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.
Points awarded to Moldova
| Points awarded to Moldova (Semi-final 2) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Televote | ||||
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
| Jury | ||||
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
| Points awarded to Moldova (final) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Televote | ||||
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
| Jury | ||||
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
Points awarded by Moldova
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Split voting results
The following five members comprised the Moldovan jury:[11]
- Anatol Chiriac – Chairperson – composer
- Cristina Scarlat – singer, composer, represented Moldova in the 2014 Contest
- Vera Țurcanu – singer, actress
- Vitalie Catană – singer, producer, composer
- Rodica Aculova – singer
| Split voting results from Moldova (Semi-final 2) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Country | Jury | Televote | |||||||
| A. Chiriac | C. Scarlat | V. Țurcanu | V. Catană | R. Aculova | Average Rank | Points | Rank | Points | ||
| 01 |  Norway | 9 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 02 |  Romania | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 12 |
| 03 |  Serbia | 15 | 6 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 2 | 10 | |
| 04 |  San Marino | 12 | 12 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | ||
| 05 |  Denmark | 6 | 9 | 8 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 4 |
| 06 |  Russia | 2 | 4 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 8 |
| 07 | Moldova | |||||||||
| 08 |  Netherlands | 5 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 3 |
| 09 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia | 4 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 5 |
| 10 |  Georgia | 7 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 12 | ||
| 11 |  Poland | 11 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | ||
| 12 |  Malta | 16 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 14 | |
| 13 |  Hungary | 17 | 10 | 15 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 10 | 1 | |
| 14 |  Latvia | 8 | 15 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 8 | 3 | 13 | |
| 15 |  Sweden | 14 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 2 | |
| 16 |  Montenegro | 13 | 17 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 15 | ||
| 17 |  Slovenia | 10 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 11 | |
| 18 |  Ukraine | 3 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 7 |
| Split voting results from Moldova (final) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Country | Jury | Televote | |||||||
| A. Chiriac | C. Scarlat | V. Țurcanu | V. Catană | R. Aculova | Average Rank | Points | Rank | Points | ||
| 01 | Ukraine | 5 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| 02 |  Spain | 17 | 19 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 14 | 20 | ||
| 03 | Slovenia | 16 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 17 | 15 | 22 | ||
| 04 |  Lithuania | 18 | 10 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 13 | 17 | ||
| 05 |  Austria | 3 | 11 | 14 | 3 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 13 | |
| 06 |  Estonia | 1 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 1 |
| 07 | Norway | 12 | 2 | 7 | 17 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 5 |
| 08 |  Portugal | 19 | 24 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 24 | 24 | ||
| 09 |  United Kingdom | 20 | 12 | 24 | 20 | 12 | 21 | 23 | ||
| 10 | Serbia | 21 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 14 | ||
| 11 |  Germany | 14 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 4 |
| 12 |  Albania | 22 | 16 | 17 | 21 | 2 | 11 | 19 | ||
| 13 |  France | 8 | 17 | 16 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 11 | ||
| 14 |  Czech Republic | 4 | 23 | 15 | 8 | 21 | 12 | 5 | 6 | |
| 15 | Denmark | 13 | 6 | 23 | 25 | 24 | 17 | 12 | ||
| 16 | Australia | 2 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 18 | |
| 17 |  Finland | 23 | 25 | 22 | 24 | 9 | 22 | 25 | ||
| 18 |  Bulgaria | 6 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 3 |
| 19 | Moldova | |||||||||
| 20 | Sweden | 15 | 13 | 19 | 13 | 22 | 20 | 15 | ||
| 21 | Hungary | 25 | 20 | 25 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 9 | 2 | |
| 22 |  Israel | 24 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 12 |
| 23 | Netherlands | 7 | 5 | 12 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 16 | |
| 24 |  Ireland | 9 | 22 | 21 | 14 | 20 | 19 | 21 | ||
| 25 |  Cyprus | 10 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 7 |
| 26 |  Italy | 11 | 21 | 20 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 3 | 8 | |
References
- "Moldova Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
- "Moldova: National Final Preparations Underway". eurovoix.com. 8 November 2017.
- "START Înregistrări la EUROVISION 2018". trm.md. 1 December 2017.
- "Rezultatele audițiilor publice ale pieselor înscrise în cadrul selecției naționale Eurovision 2018" [The results of the public auditions of the songs submitted for the Eurovision 2018 national selection]. TRM.md (in Romanian). TeleRadio-Moldova. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
- http://wiwibloggs.com/2018/01/25/moldova-16-finalists-live-auditions/212051/
- "MOLDOVA: JUST 28 SONGS FOR O MELODIE PENTRU EUROPA AS SUBMISSIONS CLOSE". wiwibloggs.com. 15 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
- "Moldova: Pelageya Stefoglo Disqualified from the National Final". eurovoix.com. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
- Mercereau, Damien (11 March 2018). "Eurovision 2018 : DoReDos, le folklore moldav" (in French). Le Figaro. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
- Jordan, Paul (29 January 2018). "Which countries will perform in which Semi-Final at Eurovision 2018?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
- "Running order for Eurovision 2018 Semi-Finals revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
- Groot, Evert (30 April 2018). "Exclusive: They are the expert jurors for Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
External links
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