Moldova participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 in Kyiv, Ukraine. This was Moldova's first entry in the Contest. The entry was selected through a national final, organised by the Moldovan broadcaster TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM). Zdob și Zdub represented Moldova with the song "Boonika bate doba", which qualified from the semi-final and went on to place 6th in the final, scoring 148 points.[1][2] This would remain Moldova's best result until 2017.
On 4 November 2004, TRM confirmed that they were applying to participate in the following Eurovision Song Contest for the first time.[3]O melodie pentru Europa 2005 was the national final format developed by TRM in order to select Moldova's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2005.
Format[]
The selection of the competing entries for the national final and ultimately the Moldovan Eurovision entry took place in two rounds. The first round involved a jury panel selecting fifteen finalists from the received submissions to proceed to the second round, the televised national final. 15 finalists competed in the final on 26 February 2005 where the winner was selected based on the combined votes from an expert jury vote and a public televote.
Competing entries[]
Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries to the Moldovan broadcaster.[3] At the conclusion of the submission deadline, 35 valid entries were received by the broadcaster. A jury panel evaluated the songs and selected 15 finalists for the competition. The jury panel consisted of Lidia Panfil (director), Andrei Sava (composer), Teodor Radulesku (choreographer) and Anatol Kachuk (journalist and music expert).[4][5]
The final took place on 26 February 2005 at the National Palace in Chișinău, hosted by Aurelia Vasilică and Valeriu Myrza.[7] The winner was selected based on the combination of a public televote and the votes of an expert jury. "Boonika bate doba" performed by Zdob și Zdub was selected as the winner.[1]
Moldova made its debut so the country had to compete in the semi-final of the 2005 Contest on 19 May 2005. They performed 4th, following Portugal and preceding Latvia, and received 207 points, placing 2nd and qualifying for the final on 21 May.[8] In the final, Moldova was drawn to perform 7th, following Turkey and preceding Albania. The Moldovan entry scored a total of 148 points and placed 6th in the final.[2]
Moldova
