Moldova was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "I Want Your Love" written by Erik Lewander, Hayley Aitken and Tom Andrews. The song was performed by Eduard Romanyuta. The Moldovan broadcaster TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM) organised the national final O melodie pentru Europa 2015 in order to select the Moldovan entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. 68 entries competed to represent Moldova in Vienna, 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 2015, "I Want Your Love" performed by Eduard Romanyuta emerged as the winner after gaining the most points following the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public televote.
Moldova was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 19 May 2015. Performing as the opening entry for the show in position 1, "I Want Your Love" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Moldova placed eleventh out of the 16 participating countries in the semi-final with 41 points.
Background
Prior to the 2015 contest, Moldova had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest ten times since its first entry in 2005. 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. In the 2014 contest, "Wild Soul" performed by Cristina Scarlat 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 2015 Eurovision Song Contest on 18 September 2014. Moldova has selected their entry via a national selection show since 2008, a procedure that was continued for their 2015 participation.
Before Eurovision O melodie pentru Europa 2015 O melodie pentru Europa 2015 was the national final format developed by TRM in order to select Moldova's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. The event included two semi-finals and a final to be held on 24, 26 and 28 February 2015, 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.
Format The selection of the competing entries for the national final and ultimately the Moldovan Eurovision entry took place over three rounds. The first round occurred on 17 December 2014 where a jury panel shortlisted fifty entries from the received submissions based on criteria such as the quality of the melody and composition, vocals and manner of the performance and the originality of the song. The second round was a live audition of the 50 entries in front of a jury panel that took place on 17 January 2015. Entries were assessed on criteria such as voice quality, stage presence and strength of the composition. The panel selected 24 semi-finalists to proceed to the third round, the televised national final. 12 semi-finalists competed in each semi-final on 24 and 26 February 2015. 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 28 February 2015 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.
Competing entries Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries between 15 October 2014 and 15 December 2014. Both artists and songwriters could hold any nationality. 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. At the conclusion of the submission deadline, 68 valid entries were received by the broadcaster, 19 of them which came from foreign artists from ten countries: seven from the United Kingdom, two each from Russia and Spain, one each from Belarus, Canada, Cyprus, Ireland, Norway, Romania and Ukraine. A jury consisting of Zinaida Brînzilă-Coșleț (lecturer at the Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts), Adrian Beldiman (composer, Radio Moldova chief music editor), Iurie Badicu (producer), Aurel Chirtoacă (singer) and Vlad Costandoi (producer) selected 50 out of the 68 received entries to proceed to the audition round.
The live audition round took place on 19 December 2014 at TRM Studio 2 in Chișinău where 24 semi-finalists were selected to advance. The auditions were broadcast via radio on Radio Moldova Muzical as well as online via trm.md. The jury panel that evaluated the songs during the live auditions and selected the 24 semi-finalists consisted of Adrian Beldiman (composer, Radio Moldova chief producer), Iurie Badicu (producer), Aurel Chirtoacă (singer), Aliona Triboi (singer), Andrei Sava (composer), Victor Buruiană (songwriter) and Vlad Costandoi (producer). The 24 semi-finalists were allocated to one of the two semi-finals, each containing 12 entries, in a draw that was held on 29 January 2015 at TRM Headquarters in Chișinău. On 7 February 2015, "Our Star" performed by Edict was withdrawn from the competition and replaced with the song "Vocea inimii" performed by Anișoara Volînschi.
Artist Song Songwriter(s)Anișoara Volînschi"Vocea inimii"Marcel Roșca Carolina Gorun "Sublime"Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Natasha Turner, Mats Tärnfors Cezara "Am devenit străini"Andrei Iorga, Ene Gelu Sergiu, Sandel Balan, Alin Radu Dana Markitan "Love Me"Patrik Öhlund, Madelene Hamberg Diana Brescan "Up and Down" Eugen Doibani Doinița Gherman "Inimă fierbinte"Doinița Gherman, Ricu Vodă, Cătălin Gondiu Domenico Protino "Let Me Fly"Domenico Protino, Nardi Sandro DoReDoS "Maricica"Pasha Parfeny, Mihai Teodor Edict "Our Star"Valeriu Catarga, Anatol Neagu Eduard Romanyuta "I Want Your Love"Erik Lewander, Hayley Aitken, Tom Andrews Glam Girls "Magia"Alexandru Gorgos, Alina Dabija Irina Kitoroagă "I'm Gonna Get You"Gicu Cimbir, Keith Almgren, Madelene Hamberg, Patrik Öhlund, Erik Anjou Julia Sandu "Fire"Calle Kindbom, David Wilhelmson, Philip E. Morris Åkerblad Kitty Brucknell "Remix"Charlie Mason, Kitty Brucknell, The Elements Lidia Isac "I Can't Breathe"Anton Ragoza, Serghei Stepanov, Mihai Teodor Marcel Roșca "Feelings Will Never Leave"Marcel Roșca Mihaela Andrei "About Love"Vitalie Catană, Gloria Gorceag Miss M "Lonely Stranger"Anastasia Ursu Raby "Hero"Ilie Gorincioi, Elena Buga Serj Kuzenkoff "Danu năzdrăvanu"Veaceslav Daniliuc, Sergiu Cuzencov, Diana Enachii Stela Boțan "Save Me"Stela Boțan, Constantin Dușcu SunStroke Project and Michael Ra "Day After Day"Elena Buga, Michael Ra Valeria Pașa "I Can Change All My Life"Valeriu Pașa Vera and Diana Popa "Faith"Vera Țurcanu Vitalie Todirașcu "Tu singura"Valy Boghean, Anton Bacalbașa
Shows
Semi-finals The two semi-finals took place on 24 and 25 February 2015 at TRM Studio 2 in Chișinău, hosted by Sergiu Beznițchi who was joined by Evelina Vîrlan in the first semi-final and Gloria Gorceag in the second semi-final. Daniela Babici and Sandu Scobioală reported from the green room during both shows. In each semi-final twelve acts competed and seven songs qualified to the final based on the combination of votes from a public televote and the votes of an expert jury, while an eighth qualifier was selected by an additional televote between the remaining non-qualifiers and was revealed during a post semi-final discussion show. The jury that voted in the semi-finals included Vlad Costandoi (producer), Andrei Sava (composer), Serge Kino (DJ and promoter), Zinuţa Julea (lecturer at the Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts), Dumitru Miller (conductor of State Philharmonic Orchestra from Ashdod, Israel), Iurie Badicu (producer and lyricist), Victoria Tcacenco (Associate Professor, Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts. Doctor in arts), Adrian Beldiman (composer, Radio Moldova chief music editor) and Victor Buruiană (songwriter).
In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2006 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Natalia Gordienko, 2008 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Geta Burlacu, 2010 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Olia Tira, 2012 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Pasha Parfeny, 2013 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Aliona Moon, 2014 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Cristina Scarlat, and singers Boris Covali, Cristina Croitoru, Aurel Chirtoacă, Natan performed as guests in the first semi-final, while Aliona Moon and the Tharmis Orchestra performed as guests in the second semi-final.
+ Semi-final 1 – 24 February 2015 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points Votes Points 1 Eduard Romanyuta "I Want Your Love" 63 7 2,955 12 19 1 2 Marcel Roșca "Feelings Will Never Leave" 55 5 172 3 8 7 3 Kitty Brucknell "Remix" 17 1 88 0 1 11 4 Mihaela Andrei "About Love" 22 2 183 4 6 8 5 Raby "Hero" 13 0 306 6 6 9 6 Glam Girls "Magia" 35 3 400 10 13 5 7 Diana Brescan "Up and Down" 74 12 200 5 17 2 8 Serj Kuzenkoff "Danu năzdrăvanu" 63 6 371 8 14 4 9 Domenico Protino "Let Me Fly" 36 4 66 0 4 10 10 SunStroke Project and Michael Ra "Day After Day" 71 10 369 7 17 3 11 Irina Kitoroagă "I'm Gonna Get You" 63 8 155 2 10 6 12 Anișoara Volînschi "Vocea inimii" 10 0 146 1 1 12 + Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 "I Want Your Love" 4 8 12 7 10 5 10 7 63 2 "Feelings Will Never Leave" 8 5 10 7 8 3 3 3 8 55 3 "Remix" 3 3 1 1 4 2 1 2 17 4 "About Love" 1 2 6 2 5 1 5 22 5 "Hero" 5 7 1 13 6 "Magia" 2 3 3 2 8 7 6 4 35 7 "Up and Down" 7 10 12 5 10 5 6 7 12 74 8 "Danu năzdrăvanu" 10 8 4 6 3 7 8 12 5 63 9 "Let Me Fly" 6 5 4 6 4 4 4 3 36 10 "Day After Day" 12 7 10 12 6 12 2 10 71 11 "I'm Gonna Get You" 12 4 2 8 1 12 10 8 6 63 12 "Vocea inimii" 6 1 2 1 10
+ Semi-final 2 – 26 February 2015 Artist Song Jury Televote Total Place Votes Points Votes Points 1 Vera and Diana Popa "Faith" 40 3 228 1 4 11 2 Valeria Pașa "I Can Change All My Life" 72 10 274 2 12 5 3 Carolina Gorun "Sublime" 21 2 318 3 5 9 4 Stela Boțan "Save Me" 50 5 1,135 12 17 2 5 Cezara "Am devenit străini" 43 4 188 0 4 10 6 Doinița Gherman "Inimă fierbinte" 65 8 759 7 15 4 7 Dana Markitan "Love Me" 61 6 533 5 11 6 8 DoReDoS "Maricica" 64 7 807 10 17 1 9 Vitalie Todirașcu "Tu singura" 10 0 189 0 0 12 10 Julia Sandu "Fire" 5 0 594 6 6 8 11 Lidia Isac "I Can't Breathe" 18 1 803 8 9 7 12 Miss M "Lonely Stranger" 73 12 402 4 16 3
+ Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 "Faith" 5 2 6 7 2 7 8 3 40 2 "I Can Change All My Life" 3 6 7 7 12 7 8 12 10 72 3 "Sublime" 4 3 2 1 1 4 6 21 4 "Save Me" 7 8 12 4 5 6 1 6 1 50 5 "Am devenit străini" 5 3 6 10 2 5 10 2 43 6 "Inimă fierbinte" 12 1 8 8 8 10 6 4 8 65 7 "Love Me" 6 7 10 5 4 8 2 7 12 61 8 "Maricica" 10 12 5 3 6 4 12 5 7 64 9 "Tu singura" 4 1 5 10 10 "Fire" 2 3 5 11 "I Can't Breathe" 1 2 1 3 3 3 1 4 18 12 "Lonely Stranger" 8 10 4 12 10 12 10 2 5 73
Final