Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

If Kirkorov and Dream Team (who are also behind  the Greek entry) had a reason to celebrate in Estonia last weekend their Saturday got even better in Moldova, where Natalia Gordienko's Prison won. As planned. Some fans were even saying the whole Finala națională was just a staged internal selection.....  Singer, dancer and DJ Natalia (32) is an Eurovision veteran having been part of Moldova's Loca team in 2006 with Arsenium and Connect-R. As most she has been through several national and international competitions over the years picking up prizes and awards, and has won both Slavianski Bazaar and New Wave, but there isn't much of a recording career to talk about, just a couple of singles. Another Eurovision veteran Pasha Parfeny came second and the third one, Geta Burlacu withdraw the last minute for reasons to me unknown... Check out the full results (results in the bottom with zero votes in order based on televotes)  and performance videos below: ...

Moldova's O Melodie pentru Europa - or whatever it is called this year -  2020 final takes place tonight. There will be both televoters and a jury voting to determinate the winner. I have already ranked the songs here so no much more to add in that field. Sum-sum-summer of love all the way! Denis Midone – Like a champion Natalia Gordienko – Prison Geta Burlacu – Răspunde Viorela Moraru – Remedy Valentin Uzun & Irina Kovalsky – Moldovița Lavinia Rusu – Touch Dima Jelezoglo – Do it slow Dianna Rotaru – Dale dale Pasha Parfeny – My wine Live Beat – Love me now Pașa Valeria – It’s time Maria Ciolac – Our home Sasha Letty – Summer of love Irina Kit – Chain reaction Petronela Donciu & Andreea Portărescu – We will be legend Lanjeron – Hi five Julia Ilienko ft. Dar Mishel – Tears Catarina Sandu – Die for you Alexandru Cibotaru – Cine te-a facut să plângi Maxim Zavidia – Take control

Moldova has decided to go for a national final after all, even if it was possible the jury would pick up the winner already in the auditions where all 35 shortlisted entries out of submissions (or all the fullfilled the rules apparently) had to perform their song. Two acts withdraw or didn't show up at all. Twenty acts made it to the final to be held on February 29 with both expert jury and televoters choosing the winner. Among the acts three veterans: Geta Burlacu, Natalia Gordienko and Pasha Parfeny. At this point it is always a bit sad how uneven situation it is for the songs as some have a big money backing them with full prodcution and video all made while some others are clearly poorly made or even demos. The big money is behind Natalia with Kirkorov-Kontopoulos but is it good? No. I rather listen to Maria Ciolac for example once we get to hear it as it should be heard, finished and well produced hopefully. This said I guess my favorite is the old school Italy disco entr...

Anna Odobescu has won the Moldovan national final with Stay . 1. Anna Odobescu - Stay (jury 12+ televote 10) 22 2. Maxim Zavidia - I Will Not Surrender (5+12) 17 3. Diana Brescan - Lies (10+5) 15 4. Vera Țurcanu - Cold (8+7) 15 5. Lemonique - Gravity (7+8) 15 6. Tinna Gi - Virus (6+6) 12 7. Marcela Scripcaru - Meteor (4+1) 5 8. Aurel Chirtoacă - La cinema (3+2) 5 9. Siaj - Olimp (2+3) 5 10. Che-MD feat. Elizaveta Ivasiuk - Sub Pământ (1+4) 5

Moldova skipped the semi-finals and went for one-off final instead with ten songs due to lack of submissions and their overal quality. 28 made the live auditions where these ten were chosen. Then again, you only need one song.... I don't even try to guess who wins or have no idea who'd be the pre-contest favorite, with this lot it comes down to staging and live performance. I suppose though the winner is among those six pictured above.... Several familiar names taking part once again from Che-MD to Diana, Aurel and Vera.  Aurel Chirtoacă - La cinema  ** Vera Țurcanu - Cold  *** Marcela Scripcaru - Meteor  *** Siaj - Olimp  * Maxim Zavidia - I Will Not Surrender  ** Diana Brescan - Lies  ** Tinna Gi - Virus  * Lemonique - Gravity  *** Anna Odobescu - Stay  * Che-MD feat. Elizaveta Ivasiuk - Sub Pământ  ***

Moldova's national final selecția națională 2019 received a total of 28 (!!!) submissions. Two of them were kicked out before the live auditions on February 2 (full list below). There's all from Bognibov to songs in Italian and a tribute (?) to Italian legend Adriano Celentano - is Italy the new Spain in music exploition? Add bananas, lies, virus, soulmates, meteor and emergency. And as usual the overall quality is ... ehhm... questionable. With the 30 secs first hearing I'd say Emergency ..... Update Feb 2: The ones in green are finalists, the rest out..... Ala Zasmenco - Emergency Anna Odobescu - Stay Tinna Gi - Virus Siaj - Olimp Gheorghe Feghiu - Laura Iana Ghirba - What if we were Irina Tarasiuc & Lume - Ca Adriano Celentano Chirill Palic - I want you to know Pelageya Stefoglo - Mi amor Vera Țurcanu - Cold Iurie Sadovnic & Legenda - Robin Hood Viorela - Light up the night Viorela - Beggin Alex Bognibov - Love me like my dau...

  No surprise here. DoReDos have won with the help of Kirkorov and will sing My lucky day for Moldova in the Eurovision song contest 2018 in Lisbon. DoReDos – My lucky day ( jury 12 + televote12) 24 Vera Țurcanu – Black Heart (10 + 5) 15 Doinița Gherman and One Voice  - Dance in flames (7 + 6) 13 Tolik – Broken Glass (3 + 10) 13 Ana Odobescu – Agony (8 + 3) 11 SandyC & Aaron Sibley – Once upon a time (5 + 4) 9 Nicoleta Sava – La Esencia del Sur (0 + 8) 8 Felicica Dunaf – Alien (6 + 1) 7 Cobîlean Constantin – Numai tu (0 + 7) 7 Lavina Rusu – Altundeva (4 + 2) 6 Anna Timofei – Endlessly (2 + 0) 2 Ilia Soroceanu & Dasha DaGro – Minds & Veins (1 + 0) 1 Bella Luna – Moments (0 + 0) 0 Ruslan Tsar – Come to Life (0 + 0) 0 Viorela – The Gates of Love (0 + 0) 0 Che MD – Inima-n stângă (0 + 0) 0

Moldova was ment to have a semifinal before the final but as no one but the usual wannabes from Perssons to Pogladens and Downs not forgetting Artesero-Santana dumb their songs to countries like Moldova where it is known the competition isn't so hard and most anyone can get to the semifinals it all just wasn't worth the semifinal. Here they are and it's not a nice hearing. Then there's Kirkorov who's going to win anyways. If not fair then with money. Or that's the sad impression one gets. Maybe Moldovan tv should next year just stop this amateurish cheap circus and choose internally? There's no fear Moldova would repeat their accidental success last year. The most professional sounding one is Sandy & Aaron, but is it strong enough? Maybe not, but best by far. (And then again, he doesn't sound very Moldovan, does he?) This is by far the worst national final of the season. Any decent song has foreign songwriters, so I don't even want to judg...

Moldova had live auditions to all the eligible 27 (of 31 submissions) and after hearing what they had in offer (likes of Sasha Bognibov, ehm)  dropped the semifinal and chose 16 for the final directly. Some names are at it again: Doinita, Che MD, DoReDos, Felicia.... Apparently it's all settled for DoReDos to win with their Kirkorov penned nonsense anyways. But could it be Doinita's time finally with her latin number penned by those ever trying Persson sisters? If we want an entry in language then it'd be Nicoleta Sava.  Anna Odobescu – Agony Anna Timofei – Endlessly Bella Luna – Moments Che MD – Inima-n stanga  Cobilean Constantin – Numai Tu  Doinita Gherman – Dance In Flames DoReDos – My Lucky Day Felicia Dunaf – Alien Ilia Soroceanu & Dasha DaGro – Minds & Veins Lavinia Rusu – Altundeva  Nicoleta Sava – Esencia Del Sur  Ruslan Tsar – Come To Life Sandy C & Aaron Sibley – Once Upon A Time Tolik – Broken Glass ...

Pictured is Moldova's national flower, dog rose Moldova organized its usual national final, O melodie pentru Europa. TRM received 40 submissions, all of them wree invited for live auditions and 14 were invited for the semifinal. The selection also included a fair share of withdrawels and disqualifications. Eurovision veterans Sunstroke Project won the semifinal and the final finished with a tie with jury's favorite Ethno Republic but the televote was decisive (phew) and they return to Eurovision after seve years with Hey, mamma! written by Anton Ragoza, Serghei Ialovitki, Seghei Stepanov, Mihail Cebotarenco and Alina Galetcaia. Sunstroke Project is Sergei Yalovitsky (vocals), Anton Ragoza (violinist, composer) and the Epic Sax Guy Sergey Stepanov, who became a real internet phenomenom after their 2010 particiation with Olia Tira. The year before they already tried to get to Eurovision and again in 2012 and 2015 so they are really eager to do it again. The trio celebra...

The third busy weekend in the Eurovision boubble. As usual I will gather and update here the information and the results as they happen ( so the links are being constantly updated ). Enjoy! Friday February 24 SLOVENIA FINAL Moldova Saturday February 25 DENMARK FINAL  and HERE UKRAINE FINAL  and HERE MOLDOVA FINAL  and HERE Iceland Sweden Lithuania Sunday February 26 LATVIA FINAL  and HERE Portugal Romania

Following Omar Naber for Slovenia tonight we have another comeback when Sunstroke Project (and the Epic Sax Guy) wins after a tie the Moldovan final with Hey Mamma . Let's see if Ukraine follows with another mama song :-)

Eight songs made it last night to tonight's final. The jury preferred with margin Hey, mamma and Discover Modova, followed by Breathe and Dor de mamă. The televoters then added to the lot Join us in the rain and Glow, that the juries really didn't like, Freedom that was jury's 5th and Don't lie. Mst likely Sunstroke Project will walk this and join last night's Slovenian Omar Naber as an Eurovision returnee. Watch here from 18.35 CET Sunstroke Project - Hey, mamma! Samir Loghin - Glow Valeria Pașa - Freedom Aurel Chirtoacă - Dor de mamă Diana Brescan - Breathe Marks & Ștefăneț - Join us in the rain Ethno Republic & Surorile Osoianu - Discover Moldova Vozniuc feat. Vio Grecu - Don't lie

Moldova's national selection O melodie pentru Europa hasn't had an easy start this year (again).  A total of 40 entries were submitted and invited for a live audition. One withdraw already before that, one didn't show up but in the end they managed to sort out 14 semifinalists. Then Constantin Cobilean was disqualified as his song was already performed in Russia two years ago in a talent show. Then Irina Kit withdraw as it was noted her song was a bit too similar to Akon's Bananza . Finally one of the favorites Boris Covali withdaw due to personal reasons, whatever they may be. They were replaced by Nadia Mosneagu, Samir Loghin and Valentina Nejel & Sergiu Punga. To be honest they could have cut the songs straight to say six, as most of them are as usual very bad, and in most cases the heavy accented English isn't helping the matters either. If it was for me I'd make the final SunStroke Vs. Samir (hoping he will fix his live vocals asap) than be done wi...

Moldova had the auditions to their submitted entries and not surprisingly Sasha Bognibov didn't make it while Boris Covali and Eurovision veterans Sunstroke Project did with 12 other lucky ones. From the semifinal eight acts will qualify for the final; four chosen my expert jury, four my televoters. Cobilea Constantin was disqualified when it was found out his songs was an old one, and he was replaced by Nadia Mosneaga. Irina Kit withdraw without any given reason. She was replaced by Samir Loghin.  Boris Covali - Călător Sunstroke Project - Hey Mamma THE ONE - Dance Emilia Russu - If only you Sandy C - A Beautiful World Dan Vozniuc feat. Viorel ‘Vio’ Grecu - Don’t lie Diana Brescan - Breath Marks & Stefanet - Join us in the rain ETHNO REPUBLIC & Surorile Osoianu - Discover Moldova Big Flash Sound - Logic Valeria Pașa - Freedom Chirtoacă Aurel - Dor de mamă *Cobîlea Constantin - Mama  disqulified Irina Kit (Ìrina Kitoroaga) - Baby, Don’t ...

February is coming to an end so are the national finals. This weekend we will get at least seven new entries, and other selections are still going on in Israel, Sweden and Lithuania. All this after having had the pleasure to discover the German and British entries in the last days (and maybe the French , too). And it's not over: during next week we will discover Armenia, Israel, Australia, Romania, Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, Poland and Russia! But let's enjoy this weekend and it's offerings first! This post will be updated while things happen so do come back and check the links. Have a lovely weekend! Saturday, February 26 18.40 Moldova - O melodie pentru Europa - FINAL Watch here - Read more here  and here 19.40 Hungary - A Dal - FINAL Watch here - Read more here  and here 20.00 Finland - #UMK16 - FINAL Watch here - Read more here , here , here , here   LIVE BLOG  and here 20.00 Slovenia - EMA 2016 - FINAL Watch here - Read...

One of the favorites, Lidia Isac won in Moldova tonight. She won televote and jury ranked her third - the exact opposite what happened to Sandhja in Finland btw - and won. Jury's favorite was Valeria Pasa but televoters ranked her only 6th. It was a very close run in the televotes: 8.362 for Lidia and 8.267 for DoReDos. (2.631 for Cristina so it was a two horse run). 96 votes more for DoReDos we would have had a 3-way tie on top! I don't know the Moldovan rules who would have won then....

Moldova's O melodie pentru Europa 2016 comes to the final tonight. Sixteen songs survived the two semifinals earlier this week (here and here). There will be 50-50 televote and expert jury. I haven't really listened so much of these and have no real favorite so I'm only hoping they will pick up something decent.... and I don't mean something irresistible made in Sweden but something more authentic like Uzun.  Valentin Uzun - Mine Maxin Zavidia - La la love Doinita Gherman - Irresistibile Lidia Isac - Falling stars Big Flash Sound - Cand vrei Che-MD - Voda e cu noi Andrei Ionita & Onoffrei - Lie Cristina Pintilie & Alex Calancea band - Picture of love Nadia Mosneagu - Memories Rodica & Ivan Aculov - Stop lying Emilia Russu - I'm not the same Viola - In the name of love DoReDos - Funnyfolk Max Fall feat Vozniuc Dan & Molloy - Game lOVER Valeria Pasa - Save love Felicia Dunaf - You and me

Moldova's  O melodie pentru Europa 2016 continues tonight with the second semifinal. Eight songs will qualify for the final - seven by 50-50 televote-jury, and additional one of the remaining ones by televote only. This second semifinal seems a bit more interesting than the first one. Lidia, Diana, Andrei & Onoffrei, Felicia, Anna... all sounded worth second listening. Maybe. I only listened short snippets :-) ELLE withdraw and were replaced by Vitalie. For reasons no one knows... Rodica and Ivan Aculov – Stop lying Lidia Isac – Falling Stars Cristina Pintilie – Picture of love Diana Brescan – Till the End Max Fall feat Dan Vozniuc & Malloy – Game over Andrei Ionita & Onoffrei – Lie Felicia Dunaf – You and Me Nadia Mosneagu – Memories Big Flash Sound – Când vrei Anna Gulko – Never let go Beatrice – Saved my heart for you Vitalie Todiraşcu - Belladonna * ELLE – Tare *

Ucrainian Eduard Romanuyta has won the Moldovan national final with I want your love . He already took part in the Ucrainian national finals 2012 and 2013. He came second in the jury votes behind Valeria Pasa but ruled the televote. Below are the results (jury+televote). They once again didn't agree much, except for Eduard for some reason. Stela managed only 7th thanks to juries, while televoters runner up got a null points from the jury! 1. Eduard Romanyuta (10+12) 22 2. Valeria Pasa (12+4) 16 3. Sunstroke Project (6+8) 14 4. Miss M (8+3) 11 5. Serj Kuzenkoff (5+6) 11 6. DoReDos (0+10) 10 7. Stela Botan (1+7) 8 8. Diana Brescan (7+0) 7 9. Dana Marchitan (4+2) 6 10. Doinita Gherman (0+5) 5 11. Marcel Rosca (3+1) 4 12. Irina Kitoroaga (2+0) 2 13. Glam girls (0+0) 14. Julia Sandu (0+0) 0 15. Lidia Isac (0+0) 0 16. Mihaela Andrei (0+0) 0 Not everyone is happy about the results as accusations of corruption and vote rigging started the moment the ...