Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Mikhail Gutseriyev
  • Sharon Vaughn
  • Finals performance
    Semi-final resultQualified (7th, 179 points)
    Final result13th, 115 points
    Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest
    ◄2020 2021 2022►

    Arsenium and Connect-R, placing twentieth with the song "Loca", and was due to compete in the 2020 contest with "Prison
    ". The Moldovan song, "Sugar", was presented to the public on 4 March 2021.

    Moldova was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 20 May 2021. Performing during the show in position 7, "Sugar" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 22 May. It was later revealed that Moldova placed seventh out of the 17 participating countries in the semi-final with 179 points. In the final, Moldova performed in position 14 and placed thirteenth out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 115 points.

    Background

    Prior to the 2021 Contest, Moldova had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifteen times since its first entry in 2005.

    Fight" performed by Natalia Barbu placed tenth, and in 2018 where "My Lucky Day" performed by DoReDoS also placed tenth. In the 2019 contest, "Stay" performed by Anna Odobescu
    failed to qualify Moldova to compete in the final.

    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 2021 Eurovision Song Contest on 20 October 2021. The broadcaster opted to select their entry in 2021 via an internal selection, marking the first time since 2007 that a Moldovan entry was internally selected; Moldova has selected their entry via a national selection show between 2008 and 2020.[2]

    Before Eurovision

    Internal selection

    Natalia Gordienko was internally selected to represent Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 following the cancellation of the 2020 contest

    On 26 January 2021, TRM confirmed that Natalia Gordienko would remain as Moldova's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.[3] Prior to the broadcaster's announcement, it was reported in mid-2020 that Gordienko had been working with Dimitris Kontopoulos and 1995 Russian Eurovision entrant Philipp Kirkorov in order to create her song for the 2021 contest.[4][5]

    The song to be performed by Natalia Gordienko, "Sugar", was presented to the public on 4 March 2021 during a live streamed event held at the Crave Theatre in Moscow, Russia.[6][7] The music video, which was filmed in Kyiv, Ukraine by Katya Tsarik and directed by Fokas Evangelinos, was released on the same day.[8] "Sugar" was written by Dimitris Kontopoulos and Philipp Kirkorov with lyrics by Mikhail Gutseriev and Sharon Vaughn.[6]

    Promotion

    Natalia Gordienko made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Sugar" as the Moldovan Eurovision entry. On 8 March, Natalia Gordienko performed during the Russian Eurovision national final.[9] On 22 March, Gordienko appeared and performed during the bTV late night show Shouto na Nikolaos Tsitiridis in Bulgaria, where she also recorded her 'live-on-tape' performance.[10][11] A Russian language version of the song, titled "Tuz bubi", was also recorded and released prior to the contest on 9 April.[12]

    At Eurovision

    According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "

    Big Five" (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. The semi-final allocation draw held for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 on 28 January 2020 was used for the 2021 contest, which Moldova was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 20 May 2021, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[13]

    Once all the competing songs for the 2021 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 Poland and preceding the entry from Iceland.[14]

    The two semi-finals and the final were televised in Moldova on Moldova 1 as well as broadcast via radio on Radio Moldova. All broadcasts featured commentary by Doina Stimpovschi.[15] The Moldovan spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Moldovan jury during the final, was 2010 and 2017 Moldova Eurovision representative (as part of SunStroke Project) Sergey Stepanov.

    Semi-final

    Natalia Gordienko took part in technical rehearsals on 10 and 13 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 19 and 20 May. This included the jury show on 19 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.[16]

    The Moldovan performance featured Natalia Gordienko dressed in a silver glittery dress designed by Lebanese designer Zuhair Murad and performing a choreographed routine on a white spinning platform with four dancers dressed in black blazers.[17] The stage featured black and pink lights lighting and LED screen projections of pink lines and moving squares.[18][19] During the performance, Natalia Gordienko performed a 17-second note, making it the longest note ever performed at the Eurovision Song Contest as of now.[20] The dancers that joined Natalia Gordienko on stage are Igor Kuleshyn, Kostya Vechersky, Maxim Bondar and Slava, and Gordienko was also joined by an off-stage backing vocalist: Victoria Chalkitis.[21]

    At the end of the show, Moldova was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Moldova placed seventh in the semi-final, receiving a total of 179 points: 123 points from the televoting and 56 points from the juries.

    Final

    Shortly after the second semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries were announced during the semi-final. Moldova was drawn to compete in the second half.[22] Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Moldova was subsequently placed to perform in position 14, following the entry from Spain and before the entry from Germany.

    Natalia Gordienko once again took part in dress rehearsals on 21 and 22 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. While performing a repeat of her semi-final performance during the final on 22 May, Gordienko dropped her microphone, causing one of her dancers to help her recover it and allowing the performance to continue. Moldova placed thirteenth in the final, scoring 115 points: 62 points from the televoting and 53 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 a diversity in gender and age represented. The judges assess each entry based on the performances during the second Dress Rehearsal of each show, which takes place the night before each live show, against a set of criteria including: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.[23] Jury members may only take part in panel once every three years, and are obliged to confirm that they are not connected to any of the participating acts in a way that would impact their ability to vote impartially. Jury members should also vote independently, with no discussion of their vote permitted with other jury members.[24] The exact composition of the professional jury, and the results of each country's jury and televoting were released after the grand final; the individual results from each jury member were also released in an anonymised form.[25][26]

    Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Moldova and awarded by Moldova in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

    Points awarded to Moldova

    Points awarded by Moldova

    Detailed voting results

    The following members comprised the Moldovan jury:[25][26]

    Detailed voting results from Moldova (Semi-final 2)[27]
    Draw Country Jury Televote
    Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Rank Points Rank Points
    01  San Marino 4 2 3 9 2 2 10 14
    02  Estonia 3 8 9 12 9 8 3 8 3
    03  Czech Republic 13 12 7 11 3 10 1 16
    04  Greece 5 3 4 2 6 3 8 1 12
    05  Austria 7 14 8 7 11 12 12
    06  Poland 11 7 6 13 8 11 4 7
    07  Moldova
    08  Iceland 8 11 5 1 12 5 6 5 6
    09  Serbia 9 9 12 14 14 13 10 1
    10  Georgia 15 16 13 16 16 16 13
    11  Albania 6 5 10 6 4 6 5 9 2
    12  Portugal 10 13 15 3 5 9 2 7 4
    13  Bulgaria 1 1 1 5 1 1 12 6 5
    14  Finland 14 15 16 8 13 15 3 8
    15  Latvia 12 4 2 15 10 7 4 11
    16   Switzerland 2 6 14 4 7 4 7 2 10
    17  Denmark 16 10 11 10 15 14 15
    Detailed voting results from Moldova (Final)[28]
    Draw Country Jury Televote
    Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Rank Points Rank Points
    01  Cyprus 4 11 14 8 25 10 1 13
    02  Albania 11 12 17 13 8 14 22
    03  Israel 14 14 15 21 17 22 18
    04  Belgium 22 4 8 16 24 12 20
    05  Russia 5 3 2 4 2 2 10 1 12
    06  Malta 3 13 6 2 11 4 7 14
    07  Portugal 13 10 12 6 5 9 2 16
    08  Serbia 12 15 13 19 15 17 21
    09  United Kingdom 25 16 24 17 20 24 25
    10  Greece 6 2 3 5 3 3 8 4 7
    11   Switzerland 7 9 11 10 4 8 3 7 4
    12  Iceland 15 18 10 1 7 6 5 11
    13  Spain 19 19 16 9 19 19 24
    14  Moldova
    15  Germany 16 20 25 11 13 20 17
    16  Finland 21 21 19 7 23 16 6 5
    17  Bulgaria 2 1 1 3 1 1 12 12
    18  Lithuania 20 6 23 18 22 15 9 2
    19  Ukraine 10 7 7 22 12 11 2 10
    20  France 1 8 18 20 9 7 4 5 6
    21  Azerbaijan 8 5 4 23 6 5 6 10 1
    22  Norway 17 17 22 14 10 18 15
    23  Netherlands 23 25 21 15 14 23 23
    24  Italy 18 24 9 25 18 21 3 8
    25  Sweden 24 23 20 24 21 25 8 3
    26  San Marino 9 22 5 12 16 13 19

    References

    1. ^ "Moldova Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
    2. ^ Farren, Neil (26 January 2021). "Moldova: Natalia Gordienko to Eurovision 2021". Eurovoix. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
    3. ^ "Natalia Gordienko returns for Moldova". Eurovision. 26 January 2021.
    4. ^ Gallagher, Robyn (24 June 2020). "Moldova: Natalia Gordienko will reportedly represent Moldova at Eurovision 2021… and she's bringing the Dream Team with her". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
    5. ^ Argyriou, Giannis (15 July 2020). "Moldova: Exclusive details on Natalia Gordienko's song for Eurovision 2021!". Eurovoix. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
    6. ^ a b "Natalia Gordienko treats us to a 'SUGAR' rush". eurovision.tv. 4 March 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
    7. ^ "Gordienko Natalia on Instagram: "4 March 18:00 (CET) subscribe to my YouTube channel/НатальяГордиенко to watch live from Crave Theatre, the red carpet and event…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
    8. ^ Spiteri, Steven (4 March 2021). "Moldova's song for Eurovision 2021 released – Listen to "Sugar"". eurovisionworld.com. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
    9. ^ ten Veen, Renske (1 March 2021). "Eurovision stars, including Natalia Gordienko, confirm themselves as guests for Russia's national final". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
    10. ^ "Наталия Гордиенко изпълнява песента "Sugar"". btv.bg (in Bulgarian). bTV. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
    11. ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (Sergio) (23 March 2021). "Bulgaria: Five countries record their 'Live on Tape' performance in Sofia". Esctoday. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
    12. ^ Jumawan, Tim (11 April 2021). "Natalia Gordienko releases "Туз буби"". escXtra. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
    13. ^ Groot, Evert (17 November 2020). "2020 Semi-Final line-up to stay for 2021". eurovision.tv. Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
    14. ^ "Semi-Final running orders revealed". Eurovision.tv. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
    15. ^ "TRM – Moldova 1". trm.md (in Romanian). Retrieved 17 May 2021.
    16. ^ "Eurovision 2021: Rehearsal Schedule". eurovisionworld.com. 24 April 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
    17. ^ López, Víctor (28 April 2021). "Moldova: Designer Behind Natalia Gordienko's Eurovision Outfit Revealed". Eurovoix. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
    18. ^ Christou, Costa (20 October 2021). "LIVE DAY 3 REVIEW: Moldova's Natalia Gordienko ditches her video concept for the staging". escXtra. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
    19. ^ "Moldova First Rehearsal – Eurovision 2021: Natalia Gordienko – Sugar". ESC Bubble. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
    20. ^ "It's time for Moldova!". eurovision.tv. 21 May 2021.
    21. ^ "Moldova". Six on Stage. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
    22. ^ "Live Blog: Second Semi-Final 2021". eurovision.tv. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
    23. ^ "Voting–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
    24. ^ "Fairness–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
    25. ^ a b "Juries in the Second Semi-Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
    26. ^ a b "Juries in the Grand Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
    27. ^ a b c "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
    28. ^ a b c "Results of the Grand Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.