Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016

Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Country  Moldova
National selection
Selection process O Melodie Pentru Europa 2016
Selection date(s) Semi-finals:
23 February 2016
25 February 2016
Final:
27 February 2016
Selected entrant Lidia Isac
Selected song "Falling Stars"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Gabriel Alares
  • Sebastian Lestapier
  • Ellen Berg
  • Leonid Gutkin
Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2015 • 2016

Moldova will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Falling Stars" written by Gabriel Alares, Sebastian Lestapier, Ellen Berg and Leonid Gutkin. The song will be performed by Lidia Isac. The Moldovan broadcaster TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM) organised the national final O Melodie Pentru Europa 2016 in order to select the Moldovan entry for the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. An initial 47 entries competed to represent Moldova in Stockholm, with 24 being shortlisted to participate in the televised national final after auditioning in front of a jury panel. After two semi-finals and a final which took place in February 2016, "Falling Stars" performed by Lidia Isac emerged as the winner after gaining the most points following the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public televote.

Background

Prior to the 2016 Contest, Moldova had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest eleven times since its first entry in 2005.[1] The nation's best placing in the contest was sixth, which it achieved in 2005 with the song "Boonika bate toba" performed by Zdob și Zdub. Other than their debut entry, to this point, Moldova's only other top ten placing at the contest was achieved in 2007 where "Fight" performed by Natalia Barbu placed tenth. In the 2015 contest, "I Want Your Love" performed by Eduard Romanyuta failed to qualify Moldova to compete in the final.

For the 2016 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 2016 Eurovision Song Contest on 13 October 2015.[2] Moldova has selected their entry via a national selection show since 2008, a procedure that was continued for their 2016 participation.[3]

Before Eurovision

O Melodie Pentru Europa 2016

O Melodie Pentru Europa 2016 was the national final format developed by TRM in order to select Moldova's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. The event included two semi-finals and a final to be held on 23, 25 and 27 February 2016, respectively. All shows in the competition were broadcast on Moldova 1, Radio Moldova Actualități, Radio Moldova Tineret and Radio Moldova Muzical as well as online via the broadcaster's official website trm.md. The final was broadcast online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[4][5]

Format

The selection of the competing entries for the national final and ultimately the Moldovan Eurovision entry was initially planned to take place over three rounds.[4] The first round was scheduled to occur on 10 December 2015 where a jury panel was supposed to shortlist fifty entries from the received submissions. Since only 47 valid entries were received at the submission deadline, this round of the selection was cancelled. The second round was a live audition of the 47 entries in front of a jury panel that took place on 19 December 2015. Entries were assessed on criteria such as voice quality, stage presence and strength of the composition.[4] The panel selected 24 semi-finalists to proceed to the third round, the televised national final.[6] 12 semi-finalists competed in each semi-final on 23 and 25 February 2016. Eight songs qualified to the final from each semi-final; seven of the qualifiers qualified based on the combined votes from an expert jury and public televoting results, while the eighth qualifier in each semi-final was the entry that achieved the highest televote score from the remaining entries after a second round of public televoting took place during an after-show. The sixteen qualifying entries competed in the final on 27 February 2016 where the winner was selected by the 50/50 combination of an expert jury vote and a public televote. In the event of a tie, the entry that receives the highest score from the expert jury vote was declared the winner.[4]

Competing entries

Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries between 13 October 2015 and 7 December 2015.[4] Rules from the 2015 edition that allowed for international artists to apply were modified, allowing an international act to compete only if they were part of a duo or group where 50% of the lead vocalists were of Moldovan nationality.[4] Songwriters could hold any nationality.[4] Artists could submit more than one song, however, if they were chosen as a semi-finalist with more than one song, the artist would have to choose one entry to continue with in the competition.[4] At the conclusion of the submission deadline, 47 valid entries were received by the broadcaster.[7]

The live audition round took place on 19 December 2015 at TRM Studio 2 in Chișinău where 24 semi-finalists were selected to advance.[6] The jury panel that evaluated the songs during the live auditions and selected the 24 semi-finalists consisted of Petre Toma (musician), Valeria Barbas (singer/composer), Andriano Marian (conductor of the Youth Orchestra), Ruslan Țăranu (singer/composer) and Luminița Dumbrăveanu (lyricist).[8] During the auditions, the group Elle petitioned the jury to allow them to sing an additional song due to one of their original group members having withdrawn from participation.[9] The jury allowed the group to perform the song "Extaz", which was not originally sent to the broadcaster during the submission period.[10] Alexandru Ceapă did not attend the auditions and therefore his song "Viorele" was disqualified.[11] The 24 semi-finalists were allocated to one of the two semi-finals, each containing 12 entries, in a draw that was held on 11 February 2016 at TRM Headquarters in Chișinău.[12]

On 1 February 2016, "Imagine" performed by Katherine and the 2012 Belarusian Eurovision entrants Litesound was withdrawn from the competition and replaced with the song "Va fi târziu" performed by Valentina Nejel.[13] On 15 February, "Tare" by Elle was withdrawn and replaced by Vitalie Todirașcu and his song "Belladonna"; 2007 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Natalia Barbu was part of the group Elle.[14]

Artist Song (English Translation) Composer(s)
Andrei Ionita & Onoffrei "Lie" Andrei Ionița, Ion Onofrei
Anna Gulko "Never Let Go" Will Taylor, Georgios Kalpakidis, Nikos Sofis
Beatrice "Saved My Heart for You" Nicklas Säwström, Christian Löwenborg Wahlström
Big Flash Sound "Când vrei" (When you want) Big Flash Sound, Virgil Carianopol
Che-MD "Vodă e cu noi" (Come with us) Mihail Smolenco
Chris Maroo "Tonight" Smally, Gloria Gorceag
Chriss Jeff "Good Life" Andrei Mihai, Elena Morosanu, Dorian Micu
Cristina Pintilie "Picture of Love" Alex Calancea, Ana Colesnicov
Diana Brescan "Till the End" Niklas Pettersson, André Zuniga
Doinița Gherman "Irresistible" Ylva Persson, Linda Persson
DoReDoS "FunnyFolk" Ion Moraru, Lidia Scarlat
Emilia Russu "I Am Not the Same" Smally, Gloria Gorceag
Felicia Dunaf "You and Me" Smally, Gloria Gorceag
Lidia Isac "Falling Stars" Gabriel Alares, Sebastian Lestapier, Ellen Berg, Leonid Gutkin
Max Fall feat. Dan Vozniuc & Malloy "Game Lover" Dan Vozniuc, Maxim Bodiu
Maxim Zavidia "La La Love" Serghei Ialovițki, Daniel Murzac
Nadia Moșneagu "Memories" Valeriu Pașa, Elena Negruța
Priza "Rewind" Georgios Kalpakidis, Mickey Huskic
Rodica & Ivan Aculov "Stop Lying" Ivan Aculov, Lidia Scarlat
Valentin Uzun "Mine" Veaceslav Daniliuc, Daniela Mirzac
Valentina Nejel "Va fi târziu" (It will be late) Marian Stîrcea, Radmila Popovici-Paraschiv
Valeria Pașa "Save Love" Valeriu Pașa
Viola "In the Name of Love" Violeta Julea, Victoria Demici
Vitalie Todirașcu "Belladonna" Vitalie Todirașcu

Shows

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final took place on 23 February 2016 at TRM Studio 2 in Chișinău, hosted by Gloria Gorceag and Sergiu Beznițchi.[5] Seven songs qualified to the final based on the combination of votes from a public televote and the votes of an expert jury. The jury that voted in the first semi-final included Iurie Mahovici (composer), Valeria Barbas (composer, musicologist), Andriano Marian (conductor of the Youth Orchestra), Boris Cremene (actor), Geta Voinovan (singer-songwriter), Vladimir Beleaev (composer), Svetlana Gozun (dancer), Ruslan Țăranu (singer/composer) and Angela Ciobanu (actress).[15] The eighth qualifier, "I Am Not the Same" performed by Emilia Russu, was selected by an additional televote between the remaining non-qualifiers and was revealed during a post semi-final discussion show. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2013 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Aliona Moon and the ballet company Just Friends performed as guests.[5]

Semi-final 1 – 23 February 2016
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
1 Doinița Gherman "Irresistible" 73 10 442 7 17 3
2 Valentina Nejel "Va fi târziu" 32 3 142 2 5 9
3 Valeria Pașa "Save Love" 104 12 188 5 17 2
4 Emilia Russu "I Am Not the Same" 37 5 151 3 8 8
5 Che-MD "Vodă e cu noi" 23 1 505 8 9 7
6 Chris Maroo "Tonight" 0 0 99 1 1 12
7 Valentin Uzun "Mine" 21 0 508 10 10 6
8 Chriss Jeff "Good Life" 36 4 30 0 4 10
9 DoReDoS "FunnyFolk" 60 8 331 6 14 4
10 Viola "In the Name of Love" 48 6 178 4 10 5
11 Maxim Zavidia "La La Love" 59 7 689 12 19 1
12 Priza "Rewind" 29 2 13 0 2 11
Semi-final 2

The second semi-final took place on 25 February 2016 at TRM Studio 2 in Chișinău, hosted by Mihaela Cârnov and Sergiu Beznițchi.[5] Seven songs qualified to the final based on the combination of votes from a public televote and the votes of an expert jury. The jury that voted in the first semi-final included Iurie Mahovici (composer), Valeria Barbas (composer, musicologist), Andriano Marian (conductor of the Youth Orchestra), Boris Cremene (actor), Geta Voinovan (singer-songwriter), Vladimir Beleaev (composer), Svetlana Gozun (dancer), Ruslan Țăranu (singer/composer) and Ion Razza (singer).[16] The eighth qualifier, "You and Me" performed by Felicia Dunaf, was selected by an additional televote between the remaining non-qualifiers and was revealed during a post semi-final discussion show. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, alternative rock band Gândul Mâței performed as guests.[5]

Semi-final 2 – 25 February 2016
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
1 Rodica & Ivan Aculov "Stop Lying" 42 4 1,041 10 14 5
2 Lidia Isac "Falling Stars" 51 5 1,425 12 17 1
3 Cristina Pintilie "Picture of Love" 62 7 402 7 14 4
4 Diana Brescan "Till the End" 20 1 263 4 5 9
5 Max Fall feat. Dan Vozniuc & Malloy "Game Lover" 71 8 579 8 16 3
6 Andrei Ionița & Onoffrei "Lie" 55 6 160 2 8 7
7 Felicia Dunaf "You and Me" 24 2 302 5 7 8
8 Nadia Moșneagu "Memories" 75 10 322 6 16 2
9 Big Flash Sound "Când vrei" 75 12 74 0 12 6
10 Anna Gulko "Never Let Go" 18 0 94 1 1 12
11 Beatrice "Saved My Heart for You" 1 0 227 3 3 11
12 Vitalie Todirașcu "Belladonna" 28 3 29 0 3 10
Final

The final took place on 27 February 2016 at TRM Studio 2 in Chișinău, hosted by Sergiu Beznițchi and Olivia Furtună.[5] The sixteen songs that qualified from the preceding two semi-finals competed and the winner was selected based on the combination of a public televote and the votes of an expert jury. The jury that voted in the final included Iurie Mahovici (musician), Valeria Barbas (composer, musicologist), Andriano Marian (conductor of the Youth Orchestra), Boris Cremene (actor), Geta Voinovan (singer-songwriter), Ion Brătescu (leader of the National Opera and Ballet Theater), Svetlana Gozun (dancer), Pavel Gamurari (lecturer and member of the Union of Composers and Musicologists in Moldova), Ion Razza (singer), Liviu Știrbu (composer) and Aliona Moon (singer, 2013 Moldovan Eurovision entrant). In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2012 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Pasha Parfeny and the dance troupe Space performed as guests.[5] "Falling Stars" performed by Lidia Isac was selected as the winner.[17]

Final – 27 February 2016
Draw Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place
1 Valentin Uzun "Mine" 17 0 2,481 6 6 8
2 Maxim Zavidia "La La Love" 66 7 2,573 7 14 5
3 Doinița Gherman "Irresistible" 43 3 2,004 3 6 7
4 Lidia Isac "Falling Stars" 67 8 8,362 12 20 1
5 Big Flash Sound "Când vrei" 57 5 328 0 5 9
6 Che-MD "Vodă e cu noi" 0 0 609 0 0 16
7 Andrei Ionița & Onoffrei "Lie" 28 1 290 0 1 12
8 Cristina Pintilie "Picture of Love" 74 10 2,631 8 18 2
9 Nadia Moșneagu "Memories" 26 0 673 1 1 13
10 Rodica & Ivan Aculov "Stop Lying" 20 0 2,021 4 4 10
11 Emilia Russu "I Am Not the Same" 5 0 142 0 0 15
12 Viola "In the Name of Love" 35 2 440 0 2 11
13 DoReDoS "FunnyFolk" 59 6 8,287 10 16 4
14 Max Fall feat. Dan Vozniuc & Malloy "Game Lover" 46 4 1,972 2 6 6
15 Valeria Pașa "Save Love" 86 12 2,185 5 17 3
16 Felicia Dunaf "You and Me" 9 0 386 0 0 14

Promotion

Lidia Isac made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Falling Stars" as the Moldovan Eurovision entry. On 6 March, Lidia Isac performed the Moldovan entry as a guest during the final of the Romanian Eurovision national selection Selecția Națională 2016.[18] On 3 April, Isac performed during the Eurovision Pre-Party, which was held at the Izvestia Hall in Moscow, Russia and hosted by Dmitry Guberniev.[19] On 9 April, Isac performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Hera Björk.[20] Between 11 and 13 April, Lidia Isac took part in promotional activities in Tel Aviv, Israel and performed during the Israel Calling event held at the Ha'teatron venue.[21]

At Eurovision

Lidia Isac during a press meet and greet

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.[22] On 25 January 2016, 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 first semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2016, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[23]

Once all the competing songs for the 2016 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 3, following the entry from Greece and before the entry from Hungary.[24]

Semi-final

Lidia Isac during a rehearsal before the first semi-final

Lidia Isac will take part in technical rehearsals on 2 and 6 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 9 and 10 May.[25] This includes the jury show on 9 May where the professional juries of each country will watch and vote on the competing entries.

The Moldovan performance features Lida Isac dressed in a short black dress with small metallic blue mirror pieces performing a choreographed routine on stage with one dancer, who is dressed like a cosmonaut.[26][27] The stage features light and dark blue lighting and LED screen projections of blue effects and falling stars. The dancer that joins Isac on stage is Iuri Rîbac. Lidia Isac is also joined by two off-stage backing vocalists: Ellen Berg and Gabriel Alares.[28] During rehearsals, Lidia Isac and the Moldovan delegation decided to perform a portion of the song in French.[27]

Voting

Voting during the three shows will be conducted under a new system that will involve each country now 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 will consist 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 will judge each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.[29] 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 will be released shortly after the grand final.[30]

Split voting results

The following five members will comprise the Moldovan jury:[29]

References

  1. ↑ "Moldova Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  2. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (13 October 2015). "Moldova: TRM confirms participation in Eurovision 2016". esctoday.com. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Weaver, Jessica (13 October 2015). "Moldova: National selection dates and rules released". ESCToday. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Regulamentul cu privire la desfăşurarea selecţiei naţionale şi desemnarea reprezentantului Republicii Moldova la Concursul Internaţional Eurovision 2016" (in Romanian). TRM. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dubceac, Iulia (22 February 2016). "Află cine sunt prezentatorii etapei naţionale Eurovision 2016". trm.md (in Romanian). TeleRadio-Moldova. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  6. 1 2 Omelyanchuk, Olena (19 December 2015). "Moldova on its way to semi-finals". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  7. ↑ Juhász, Ervin (7 December 2015). "47 songs entered in Moldova! What happens next?". escbubble.com. ESCBubble. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  8. ↑ "Semifinaliştii Selecţiei Naţionale Eurovision 2016". eurovision.md (in Romanian). Eurovision Fanclub Moldova. 19 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  9. ↑ Honciuc, Bogdan (17 December 2015). "Moldova: Elle changes band composition, song". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  10. ↑ Ko, Anthony (19 December 2015). "Moldova: Semi-finalists reveal for O melodie pentru Europa". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  11. ↑ "Audiţiile publice ale pieselor înscrise în cadrul selecţiei naţionale Eurovision 2016. Partea II" (in Romanian). TRM. 20 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  12. ↑ Voinotinschi, Natalia (11 February 2016). "A fost desemnată ordinea evoluării semifinaliştilor Eurovision 2016". trm.md (in Romanian). TRM. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  13. ↑ "Un concurent s-a retras din etapa naţională a concursului Eurovision 2016". trm.md (in Romanian). TRM. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  14. ↑ "Un alt concurent s-a retras din etapa naţională a concursului Eurovision 2016". trm.md (in Romanian). TRM. 15 February 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  15. ↑ Brey, Marco (23 February 2016). "First semi-final qualifiers in Moldova". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  16. ↑ Omelyanchuk, Olena (25 February 2016). "Moldova: Qualifiers in the second semi-final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  17. ↑ Omelyanchuk, Olena (27 February 2016). "Lidia Isac will sing for Moldova in Stockholm". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  18. ↑ "Moro-show și bongos show – recitaluri inedite în finala Eurovision România". tvr.ro (in Romanian). TVR. 5 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  19. ↑ Granger, Anthony (3 April 2016). "Tonight: Russian Eurovision Pre-Party". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  20. ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (10 April 2016). "Highlights of the 8th Eurovision In Concert". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  21. ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (14 April 2016). "First ever preview party held in Israel". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  22. ↑ Jordan, Paul (21 January 2016). "Semi-Final Allocation Draw on Monday, pots revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  23. ↑ Jordan, Paul (25 January 2016). "Allocation Draw: The results!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  24. ↑ Jordan, Paul (8 April 2016). "Running order of the Semi-Finals revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  25. ↑ "Media Activities" (PDF). eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  26. ↑ Omelyanchuk, Olena (2 May 2016). "First day of rehearsals at the Globe Arena". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  27. 1 2 Brey, Marco (6 May 2016). "Day 5 at the Globe Arena". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  28. ↑ "Lidia Isac: Falling stars". eurovisionartists.nl (in Dutch). Eurovision Artists. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  29. 1 2 "Here are the judges for Eurovision 2016!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  30. ↑ Jordan, Paul (18 February 2016). "Biggest change to Eurovision Song Contest voting since 1975". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 18 February 2016.

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