MOLDOVA 2024

The Moldovan act and song was chosen on February 17th  through their national final "Etapa naționala". On January 23th a live audition round was held where a jury selected the 11 songs and acts that would progress to the final. The winner was selected by a 50/50 combination of a public vote and jury vote. However the result was a tie and the jury vote took precedence. Going to Malmö is their 2007 representative, Natalia Barbu, performing the song "In the middle".

Natalia Barbu was born in the city of Bălți into a musical family. At a very young age, she began learning how to play violin. Later, she'd graduate from the State Conservatory with a major in violin. She competed in many national competitions in Moldova but did not get a record deal until 2006. Her single "Îngerul meu" was number one in the Romanian Top 100 for 11 weeks, The next year she represented Moldova at Eurovision with the song "Fight" coming tenth in the final. In 2012, she changed music labels and started realising new music which lead her in a new direction. The song " Said It's Sad" reached the number 1 position in the Top 10 Airplay Moldova. Another of her songs "Confession" participated in the national selection for Romania in 2013 but did not progress past the semi-final. In total she has released four studio albums and over 20 singles.

This particular song is rather intertwined with its staging which gives ts a rather intriguing feel. Natalia is on stage with 5 other females and all 6 of them are dressed and styled identically in black dresses and slicked-back hair. Each singer has access to two microphones and attached to one of them is a violin. The song has a verse-prechorus-chorus structure which is followed through twice. After each chorus there is a rather catchy vocalised part which has slightly folksy tones to it. Throughout the song, the people on stage have the same armography and clapping routine. After the second chorus the ladies release the violins and then, unseen from the back of their dresses, they each unveil a bow which they then use to play the violin. To finish, Natalia continues the vocalising part but in a much higher - almost operatic - register.

The backdrop, with its fire and smoke imagery and shots of crowns and sculptures, works well in mirroring the flow of the song but the constant camera cutting from straight on to side shots mean the group affect was lessened. With a larger screen behind them, or even below, the effect might be even greater. They may even create a platform so each person is on a different level or put on pedestals that rise up and down. I rather like the black dress aesthetic but they need to stay away from black on the back screen. Lastly, because of the lack of movement, the performance can come across as a little aloof and sterile. They either need to play on this and sell the "cloned puppet" feel or they need to make sure there are plenty of tight face shots and and hone the choreography so that it conveys more emotion. I think the only other issue the staging has is that it doesn't really reflect the song's meaning which also adds to its coldness. I feel like Natalia really sings the song well and the whole three minutes really shows off her vocal ability. The balance and the emphasis of what the delegation want to give to the viewer is what they need to work most on.

ARTIST - Natalia Barbu

SONG -In the middle

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Natalia Barbu, Khris Richards 

MOLDOVA 2023

The Moldovan final "Etapa națională 2023" was held on March 4th at the TRM TV Studios in Chisinau. The winner was chosen by a 50-50 mix of jury and televote/online vote. Going to Liverpool is previous Moldovan representative and songwriter Pasha Parfeni with "Soarele şi luna" (The sun and the moon)

Pavel Parfeni was brought up around music; his mother was a piano teacher while his father was a singer and a guitarist and Pasha himself took up the piano. In 2002 he enrolled at Tiraspol Music College then continued his studies at the State Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts. He then became the singer of SunStroke Project and entered the race to represent Moldova at ESC 2009 coming 3rd. He then left the band to pursue a solo career. He returned to the Moldovan national finals in 2010 and 2011 but eventually won with "Lăutar" which came 11th in the Eurovision final. The next year he wrote "O Mie" for Aliona Moon. Pasha has dipped in and out of the Moldovan selection processes ever since as a songwriter and/or performer.

Pasha is joined on stage by two drummers and is sporadically joined by two antlered female backing singers and a male flautist. The stage is dark and atmospheric; the mood palette of the piece is muted and neutral until the end when a giant sun appears on the backdrop. The song starts with a tribal drum background a flute tune very low in the mix. Pasha sings whisperingly along with the drummers swaying with the music. The two female singers appear and the chorus starts. Pasha kicks towards the camera and behind him appears a flautist who dances around the stage. The beat is very prominent now and the singers reconvene to repeat the chorus again. There is then another verse then a slightly disjointed version of the verse before the flautist and heavy beat appears again. The music drops for a bridge which helps build the song back up for its final chorus to the end.

This song is strangely catchy, without being too in your face or earwormy. The choral nature of the chorus makes the different parts really stand out. The drums give the song a distinctive heartbeat and the flue part gives it a folky edge that their neighbours GO_A would be proud of. There were a lot of technical issues. in particular with the microphones which seemed to be set at the wrong levels. Half the time you couldn't hear Pasha sing and the backing singers sounded very loud. That said, one would hope better sound mixing and equipment would put pay to this in May. Although the stage in Moldova was basic, the stage show idea is extremely strong - the choreography is simple but strong and the costuming in particular is really effective.

Part of me thinks that this is the kind of sound that modern Eurovision is really into. It has echoes of acts such as Kalush, GO_A, KEiiNO, Manizha and Zdob și Zdub all of which have done well - most notably in the public televote. These acts have not only showed that folk electronica works but also that singing in a language that is not English is no barrier to success in this competition. Hopefully they will keep the essence of the stage show and just polish it up. I can imagine the audience waving their flags in time and jumping up and down to it. This will sail through to Saturday night barring a total fail in the vocals department and could be a low key televote winner. Probably won't win but may skew the vote enough to make for an exciting final!

ARTIST - Pasha Parfeni

SONG - Soarele şi luna"

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS -  Pasha Parfeni, Yuliana Scutaru, Andrei Vulpe

MOLDOVA 2022

The Moldovan Final was held on January 29th at the TRM TV Studios in Chisinau. Initially the this particular date was set to be the  'online audition day' followed by a with a national final proper in March but just a day before the auditions were held it was announced the selection would be wrapped up after the auditions show. The winning act and song, chosen solely by a jury was Zdob și Zdub & Frații Advahov with the song "Trenuletul" (The Train)

Zdob și Zdub are stalwarts of the Moldovan Eurovision experience. They were the nation's first ever act at Eurovision in 2005 coming in an impressive 6th place  They then returned in 2012 and came 12th. The band formed almost 30 years ago although the only original member from that formation is singer, Roman. They have a plethora of experience with many concerts and festivals behind them mostly throughout Moldova, Romania and the former Soviet states. Their style or music can mostly be filed under the 'ethno-rock' genre although their music has definite nods towards punk, folk and Balkan sounds. The Advhov Brothers are the founders of a folk orchestra which shares their name and have been bestowed with many Moldovan honors for their contribution and promotion of the Moldovan Folk tradition.

The song starts with a very jolly accordion earworm which dips in and out of the singing. I say singing, it is more like monotone chanting/rapping which actually contrasts quite well with the ever changing backing track. Roman's vocals are very strong and, albeit mostly in Romanian, his diction and intention is very clear. The distinction between the verses and choruses is very marked too especially with the introduction of a very basic dance routine between the two. After two rounds of verse-chorus there is a instrumental break before another round of the chorus. There is then a more frenetic instrumental break an rather more shouty verse concluding with one more roundel of the chorus. They certainly get a lot in for under 3 minutes! The whole atmosphere and relentless nature of the song even sounds like a train - even more so as some of the elongated yelps sound like train whistles.

This is true Balkan style although some might  hear some of the ska-like qualities of the fast and repetitive instrumentation.  The staging and costuming is very basic due to the rushed nature of the staging set up. The lead singer is joined on stage by 3 of his band mates and the two Advahov Brothers. They all seem to be having a great time and seem rather enthused despite the rather simplistic setup. All this plainness leaves the door open to wonder what the band and delegation could have in store for their Eurovision performance - their last two ESC attempts included a drum-playing grandma and a lady on a unicycle. This song will appeal greatly to the Balkan crowd but I also know that this will be fun and heartwarming to those who are not. This will go down BIG in the hall and will have everybody up and dancing (probably doing some kind of train-related conga). Everyone on stage has been doing this for long enough to know how to perform and how get the votes in.

ARTIST - Zdob și Zdub & Frații Advahov
SONG - Trenuletul (The Train)
WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Zdob și Zdub & Frații Advahov

MOLDOVA 2021

The Moldovan song was released on March 4th, with the release of the official music video on youtube. Natalia Gordienko who had won the Moldovan national final in 2020 was selected to try again in 2021, however this time round her song was also selected internally. Her song is called "Sugar". 

The video is set in a pink studio with a 'sweets' theme. Natalia is dressed in a light blue bodice with a lacy top, blue ankle socks and rather large platform shoes. During the song she is joined my male dancers in pink and female dancers who are dressed as ice cream cones. There is also a shot of a man who she is singing to the song to/about. At the end of the song Natalia rips of the man's face to reveal that his head is made of rainbow cake and starts to eat it.

The song is full of short sharp shifts of rhythm which keeps you on your toes but also makes it lacks flow, build and definition. It starts with a short verse supported by a simple beat and during the pre-chorus the beats become more syncopated. Next is an instrumental brass earworm incorporating a simple dance routine (if not a slight rip off of On Fire from last year) We then have the chorus which is sung using her full voice before another go at the brassy earworm. The next verse is even shorter than the last one (and barely registers) before going straight into the pre-chorus, chorus and brass refrain. The comes a rather oddly placed bridge which really halts the flow before a final brass part to the end.

Natalia Gordienko is a seasoned performer and has been singing and taking part in competitions since she was 15. Back in 2006 she took part in the Eurovision Song Contest taking the stage with Arsenium and Connect-R with the song "Loca" only coming 20th out of 24 songs in the final. Although this was not the best result she came back the next year to place 1st in the prestigious "New Wave" contest which has been the springboard for many Eastern European artists. She has  released many different songs, in English, Russian and Romanian but not with much chart success.

This song has been masterminded by Phillip Kirkorov and Dimitris Kontopoulos who have had a major hand in a number of significant Eurovision entries over the past two decades. and have a definite style of song and visual production. However this really not my style and I find the production of this video really off-putting. I wish Natalia actually sang most of the song rather than the croaky 'ickle gurl' voice she seems to out on for the most part. I also find her styling really far too provocative, not to mention female backing dancers just being a pair of legs while the men get normal costumes. I feel like people will like this song because of the production and the stable it comes from rather than the singing and performing prowess of Natalia herself. As for the song itself, its structure is all over the place and feel like it is several parts put together with no focal point. I wonder if this song is a little too soulless or lacking character and oooomph. Compared to her 2020 song this feels a little tacky and Natalia has turned into a  "Poupée de cire, poupée de son"

ARTIST - Natalia Gordienko
SONG - Sugar
WRITING CREDITS - Mikhail Gutseriev, Philipp Kirkorov, Dimitris Kontopoulos, Sharon Vaughn

11/03/12 MOLDOVA

The Moldovan Final was held on March 11th at the TRM TV Studios in Chisinau. Previous to the final there was an online semi-final –where one song joined the already picked finals. The winner was chosen by televoting (50%) and an "expert" jury (50%) and this was announced to be Pasha Parfeny with “Lautar” meaning fiddler or musician.

The song is quite cabaret in its feel which a slight jokiness to it. It almost reminds me of something out of a silent movie, especially with the plinky-plonky piano. All in all the song is  not that bad in its construction although the words to not always seem to make sense – especially when he goes “this trumpet makes you my girl”

The one thing I can say about this is that is does have a very memorable performance. Firstly, Pasha is wearing the most appalling suit ever seen and is flanked by some even more strangely dressed dancer/singers. They do some quite complex choreography  including lots of kind of silent comedy-esque pointing and posing and injects some humour into the show. This suits the style of the music

In a strange kind of way I like the song and feel that although it is a jokey kind of entry it is played out well. That said, I don’t think this will go down well with either the general public or the juries and will more than likely stay in the semi final. On the plus side it will forever be used in “isn’t Eurovision hilarious” clip montages forever and ever.

SONG – Lăutar (musician)

ARTIST – Pasha Parfeny

COMPOSERS – Pavel Parfeny, Alex Brașoveanu

LANGUAGE – English (but Romanian title)

UPDATE 6

MOLDOVA - Zdob şi Zdub have released the video of their entry "So Lucky". It was filmed at a theatre in Tirana and so has that concert type feel. The video has a lot of atmosphere in it and the tone is very much different to their live performance during the Moldovan final.




PORTUGAL – Homens de Luta have finally produced their official video. Most if the video was filmed during the recent unrest and demonstrations regarding the current political situation in the country. Not exactly the view of a country that want the contest next year!




SLOVENIA – Maja Keuc presented the new version of her winning Eurovision song this weekend. The song, now entirely in English, is called “No One” The song, although mimed shows that her accent is not bad, but could be better. The presntation on the night will be alot different.

;;

MOLDOVA

The Moldovan final took place on the 26th of February and the winner was chosen by a 50-50 mixture of jury and teletvoting. The winner was Zdob si Zdub with their song “So Lucky”

Now Zdob si Zdub are already known to he Eurovision audience as they became Moldova’s very first entrant backing 2005 with the strange song about grandmas banging drums. This song is just as strange and in some ways just as catchy.

The staging of the song is very individual. The 5 band members are very active n ht stag and some are also wearing huge furry pointed hats. A minute into a song a young lady in white comes on playing a horn whilst on a unicycle (?) She then interacts with the singer and also cycles around the stage. During the different parts of the song the audience seems to go mad and is lapping up the insaneness on stage. I think that many of the neighbouring Balkan nations might appreciate the song most others may see it as too much of a joke.

The song s a real mishmash of styles. There are slow parts, chanted bits, hyper brass bits as well as rocky parts. To be honest there is no real verse/chorus to the song however, very cleverly, the title ”So Lucky” is chanted every other line, like a kind of call and response idea, so even if you don’t get the song, you certainly remember its name. It is a very Balkan type of song and the turbo-brass part n the middle is a really strange wake up call to the audience. Compared to their 2005 song it is nowhere near as good or catchy but it does have a very good hook and is not forgettable.

Another odd ball entry by the Moldovans, and I think they will need to use the time between now and Düsseldorf to fine tune the act and make it memorable without coming across cheesy or too much of a joke.

SINGER – Zdob si Zdub
SONG – So Lucky
MUSIC –
WORDS –