Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

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A Century of Love
)
Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Country Moldova
National selection
Selection processO melodie pentru Europa 2008
Selection date(s)9 February 2008
Selected entrantGeta Burlacu
Selected song"A Century of Love"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Oleg Baraliuc
  • Vica Demici
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (12th)
Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2007 • 2008 • 2009►

TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM) organised the national final O melodie pentru Europa 2008 in order to select the Moldovan entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade
, Serbia. 27 entries competed to represent Moldova in Belgrade, with 12 being shortlisted to participate in the televised national final which took place on 9 February 2008. "A Century of Love" performed by Geta Burlacu emerged as the winner after gaining the most points following the combination of votes from a jury panel, a TRM committee and a public televote.

Moldova was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 20 May 2008. Performing during the show in position 4, "A Century of Love" was not announced among the 10 qualifying entries of the first semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. This marked the first time that Moldova failed to qualify to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest from a semi-final since its first entry in 2005. It was later revealed that Moldova placed twelfth out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 36 points.

Background

Main article: Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2008 Contest, Moldova had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest three 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 doba" 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.

The Moldovan national broadcaster,

TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM), broadcast the event within Moldova and organised the selection process for the nation's entry. TRM confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest on 5 November 2007 despite rumours of a withdrawal due to financial difficulties.[2][3] Moldova has selected their entry via an internal selection in 2007. However, the broadcaster opted to select their entry in 2008 via a national selection show.[3]

Before Eurovision

O melodie pentru Europa 2008

O melodie pentru Europa 2008 was the national final format developed by TRM in order to select Moldova's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. The event took place at the National Palace in Chișinău, hosted by Rusalina Rusu and Sergiu Raelanu, and included a final to be held on 9 February 2008.[4] The show was broadcast on Moldova 1, TV Moldova Internațional and Radio Moldova as well as online via TRM's official website trm.md.[5][6]

Competing entries

Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries between 5 November 2007 to 11 December 2007.[7] Artists were required to be of Moldovan nationality and could submit more than one song, while an international act was able to compete only if they were either part of a duo or group with at least a member who was of Moldovan nationality or were part of the backing performers with a maximum of two international members. Songwriters could hold any nationality.[3][8] At the conclusion of the submission deadline, 27 valid entries received by the broadcaster and an advisory online public vote was held via trm.md from 12 December 2007.[9] A jury consisting of music professionals as well as representatives of TRM and OGAE Moldova selected 12 finalists out of the 27 received entries, which were announced on 14 December 2007.[10][11]

Artist Song Songwriter(s) Points Place
Olia Tira "Always Will Be" Ruslan Țăranu 86 1
Alexa "We Are One" Alexandru Braşoveanu, Elena Buga 82 2
Edict "I Believe" Valeriu Cataragă, Alina Dabija 63 3
Geta Burlacu "A Century of Love" Oleg Baraliuc, Vica Demici 52 4
Cristina Rujitcaia "You Make Me Feel Crazy" Cristina Rujitcaia 52 5
Catrina Pislaru "Dance With Me" Valentin Dânga, Hans-Christian Rahn 49 6
Jay Mon "Point of View" Ruslan Țăranu 39 7
Dana Marchitan "Your Name" Ruslan Țăranu 35 8
Galina Scoda "Your Own Vision" Marian Stîrcea, Radmila Popovici-Paraschiv 27 9
Scroom "Jane" Iulian Munteanu, Radu Zariciuc 24 10
Elena Demirdjean "Living Creatures" Marian Stîrcea, Elena Reznic 22 11
Liusia Znamensky "Don't Deceive My Heart" Ruslan Țăranu 18 12

Final

The final took place on 9 February 2008. Twelve songs competed and the winner was selected based on the combination of a public televote, the votes of an expert jury and the votes of a committee consisting of TRM representatives.

Glasul Naţiunii), Diana Stratulat (producer) and Victoria Buketaru (director of Fresh FM), while the committee included George Musta (conductor of the TRM National Symphony Orchestra), Ion Kerpek (music producer), Vadim Styngachu (TRM representative of television) and Boris Foksa (member of the TRM coordinatory unit).[13] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2006 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Natalia Gordienko and 2007 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Natalia Barbu performed as guests.[14]

At the conclusion of the voting, Geta Burlacu and Olia Tira were tied at 30 points each. The tie was resolved with each member of the expert jury and committee casting one vote for one of the two songs, and "A Century of Love" performed by Geta Burlacu was selected as the winner with 7 votes to 5.[15]

Final – 9 February 2008
Draw Artist Song Jury Committee Televote Total Place
Votes Points
1 Liusia Znamensky "Don't Deceive My Heart" 3 2 410 0 5 11
2 Elena Demirdjean "Living Creatures" 5 10 1,350 7 22 5
3 Scroom "Jane" 1 4 458 0 5 12
4 Galina Scoda "Your Own Vision" 6 12 1,329 6 24 4
5 Dana Marchitan "Your Name" 4 3 1,223 5 12 8
6 Jay Mon "Point of View" 2 6 773 2 10 9
7 Catrina Pislaru "Dance With Me" 7 5 644 1 13 7
8 Cristina Rujitcaia "You Make Me Feel Crazy" 3 2 829 3 8 10
9 Geta Burlacu "A Century of Love" 12 8 4,293 10 30 1
10 Edict "I Believe" 6 7 1,124 4 17 6
11 Alexa "We Are One" 8 7 7,665 12 27 3
12 Olia Tira "Always Will Be" 10 12 2,603 8 30 2

Preparation

On 20 March, Geta Burlacu released the final version of "A Century of Love" which featured an improved arrangement and the use of additional instruments.[16] The official music video for the song premiered on 15 April.[13][17]

Promotion

Geta Burlacu made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "A Century of Love" as the Moldovan Eurovision entry. On 23 February, Geta Burlacu performed the Moldovan entry as a guest during the Ukrainian Eurovision national final.[18] On 4 and 5 April, Burlacu took part in promotional activities in Romania which included television appearances.[17]

At Eurovision

It was announced in September 2007 that the competition's format would be expanded to two semi-finals in 2008.

Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top nine songs from each semi-final as determined by televoting progress to the final, and a tenth was determined by back-up juries. 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 28 January 2008, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals. Moldova was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 20 May 2008.[20] The running order for the semi-finals was decided through another draw on 17 March 2008 and Moldova was set to perform in position 4, following the entry from Estonia and before the entry from San Marino.[21]

The two semi-finals and the final were televised in Moldova on Moldova 1 and TV Moldova Internațional. All broadcasts featured commentary by Lucia Danu and Vitalie Rotaru. The Moldovan spokesperson, who announced the Moldovan votes during the final, was Vitalie Rotaru.

Semi-final

Geta Burlacu during a rehearsal before the first semi-final

Geta Burlacu took part in technical rehearsals on 11 and 15 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 19 and 20 May.[22] The Moldovan performance featured Burlacu dressed in a purple dress with a white and red petticoat underneath as well as a red scarf, and performing on stage barefoot with a trumpet player who wore a red shirt and white trousers. The performance began with Geta Burlacu sitting on a big white sofa and holding a teddy bear in her hands with the trumpet player kneeling in front of it, while it was concluded with Burlacu cuddling in the lap of the trumpet player on the sofa at the end. The stage featured LED screen projections of red, dark green and yellow colours.[23][24] The trumpet player that joined Geta Burlacu on stage is Petru Haruta.[25]

At the end of the show, Moldova was not announced among the top 10 entries in the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. This marked the first time that Moldova failed to qualify to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest from a semi-final since its first entry in 2005. It was later revealed that Moldova placed twelfth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 36 points.[26]

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Moldova and awarded by Moldova in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Romania in the semi-final and the final of the contest.

Points awarded to Moldova

Points awarded to Moldova (Semi-final 1)[27]
Score Country
12 points
10 points  Romania
8 points
7 points
6 points  Armenia
5 points
4 points  Greece
3 points
2 points
1 point  Andorra

Points awarded by Moldova

References

  1. ^ "Moldova Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  2. ^ Kuipers, Michael (21 June 2007). "Moldova to make participation decision in October". Esctoday.com.
  3. ^ a b c Klier, Marcus (5 November 2007). "Moldova to take part in 2008 Eurovision Song Contest". Esctoday.com.
  4. ^ "MOLDOVAN NATIONAL FINAL 2008". Eurovision Song Contest National Finals Page.
  5. ^ "EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2008". trm.md (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 2008-03-07. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  6. ^ Klier, Marcus (9 February 2008). "Tonight: Moldova decides for Eurovision 2008". Esctoday. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Înregistrare ESC 2008". trm.md (in Romanian). 5 November 2008. Archived from the original on 2007-11-05. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  8. ^ Kalimeris, Aris (26 November 2007). "Moldova: TRM call for songs". Esctoday.com.
  9. ^ Floras, Stella (12 December 2007). "Moldova: Listen to the 27 submitted songs". Esctoday.com.
  10. ^ Viniker, Barry (14 December 2007). "Exclusive: 12 songs for Moldova national final". Esctoday.com.
  11. ^ "Press Release". trm.md (in Romanian). Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  12. ^ "Geta Burlacu to Belgrade representing Moldova". eurovision.tv. 9 February 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Moldova 2008".
  14. ^ Floras, Stella (9 February 2008). "Live: Moldova selects for Eurovision 2008". Esctoday. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  15. ^ Floras, Stella (10 February 2008). "Moldova sends Geta Burlacu to Eurovision". Esctoday.com.
  16. ^ Floras, Stella (20 March 2008). "Moldova: New version of Geta's song online". Esctoday. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  17. ^ a b Kalimeris, Aris (17 April 2008). "Moldova: "A century of love" video clip ready". Esctoday. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Super Saturday: Ukraine picks for Ani Lorak". eurovision.tv. 21 February 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  19. ^ "Eurovision: 2 semi finals confirmed!". ESCToday.com. 2007-07-31. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
  20. ^ "Semi-Final Allocation Draw: the outcome!". eurovision.tv. 28 January 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  21. ^ Sietse Bakker (2008-03-17). "Belgrade 2008: The running order!". Eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 2008-03-18. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
  22. ^ Floras, Stella (3 May 2008). "Eurovision 2008: Rehearsal schedule". Esctoday. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  23. ^ "Moldova: Ethno-Jazz on a sofa". eurovision.tv. 11 May 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  24. ^ "From Chisinau to Brussels!". eurovision.tv. 15 May 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  25. ^ "Moldova". Six on Stage. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  26. ^ "First Semi-Final of Belgrade 2008". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  27. ^ a b "Results of the First Semi-Final of Belgrade 2008". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  28. ^ "Results of the Grand Final of Belgrade 2008". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
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