Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Country	Moldova
National selection
Selection process	O melodie pentru Europa 2014
Selection date(s)	Semi-finals: 11 March 2014 13 March 2014 Final: 15 March 2014
Selected entrant	Cristina Scarlat
Selected song	"Wild Soul"
Selected songwriter(s)	Ivan Akulov Lidia Scarlat
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Failed to qualify (16th, 13 points)
Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2013 • 2014 • 2015►

Moldova participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Moldovan entry was selected through the national final O melodie pentru Europa 2014, organised by the Moldovan broadcaster TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM). Cristina Scarlat performed the Moldovan entry "Wild Soul" written by Ivan Akulov and Lidia Scarlat. The song failed to qualify from the first semi-final, placing 16th (last) with a score of 13 points.

Before Eurovision[]

O melodie pentru Europa 2014[]

O melodie pentru Europa 2014 was the national final format developed by TRM in order to select Moldova's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. The event included two semi-finals and a final to be held on 11, 13 and 15 March 2014, respectively. All shows in the competition were broadcast on Moldova 1 and Radio Moldova 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.^[1]

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 25 January 2014 where a jury panel shortlisted forty 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 40 entries in front of a jury panel that took place on 1 February 2014. Entries were assessed on criteria such as voice quality, stage presence and strength of the composition.^[2] 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 11 and 13 March 2014. 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 15 March 2014 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.^[3]

Competing entries[]

Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries between 26 December 2013 and 23 January 2014. Artists were required to be of Moldovan nationality and could submit more than one song, while songwriters could hold any nationality.^[3] At the conclusion of the submission deadline, 64 entries performed by 58 different artists were received by the broadcaster. A jury consisting of Anatol Chiriac (composer), Valentin Dânga (composer), Nelly Ciobanu (singer, 2009 Moldovan Eurovision entrant), Marcel Ștefăneț (conductor and instrumentalist), Aliona Triboi (singer and musicologist), Andrei Sava (composer) and Angela Rudenco (musicologist, Radio Moldova editor and presenter) selected 40 out of the 64 received entries to proceed to the audition round.^[4] Following an appeal by three artists regarding the rules of the competition, TRM admitted that there was a technical mistake in their initial screening process and decided to also include the previously eliminated entries to proceed to the audition round.^[2][5] "Is This The Way (You Want Me)" performed by Ray Gligor and "Take a Look at Me Now" performed by Nicollette were withdrawn before the auditions as both songs were already competing in the Lithuanian national final for the 2014 contest.

The live audition round took place on 1 February 2014 at Casa Radio in Chișinău, broadcast online via trm.md, where 24 semi-finalists were selected to advance. The jury panel that evaluated the songs during the live auditions and selected the 24 semi-finalists consisted of Anatol Chiriac (composer), Valentin Dânga (composer), Nelly Ciobanu (singer and 2009 Moldovan Eurovision entrant), Aliona Triboi (singer and musicologist), Andrei Sava (composer), Alex Calancea (instrumentalist and producer), Ilona Stepan (conductor), Igor Cobileanski (director) and Tatiana Postolachi (lyricist).^[6][7] On 12 February 2014, Boris Covali withdrew his song "Flying" from the competition after a managerial decision and replaced with the song "Perfect Day" which had also been performed the singer during the auditions.^[8]

In 2016, controversy arose regarding one of the songs that had competed in the audition round. The song "Taking Care of a Broken Heart", written by Aidan O'Connor, Sven-Inge Sjöberg, Larry Forsberg and Lennart Wastesson and performed by Felicia Dunaf, was entered into the Swedish Eurovision Song Contest selection Melodifestivalen 2016 under the title "Himmel för två" (Heaven for two), performed by Anna Book and with Swedish lyrics by Camilla Läckberg. As the song had been published online by the Moldovan broadcaster and webcast live during the audition round, the song was disqualified from the Swedish competition.^[9]

Shows[]

Semi-final 1[]

The first semi-final took place on 11 March 2014 at TRM Studio 2 in Chișinău, hosted by Evelina Vîrlan and Sergiu Beznițchi with Daniela Babici reporting from the green room. Seven songs qualified to the final based on the combination of votes from a public televote and the votes of an expert jury. The jury that voted in the first semi-final included Alex Calancea (instrumentalist and producer), Andrei Sava (composer), Cristina Pintilie (singer), Tatiana Postolachi (lyricist), Ruslan Ţaranu (singer/composer), Ilona Stepan (conductor), Nelly Ciobanu (singer, 2009 Moldovan Eurovision entrant), Anatol Chiriac (composer) and Ina Jeltova (journalist). The eighth qualifier, "Fragmente" performed by Paralela 47, was selected by an additional televote between the remaining non-qualifiers and was revealed during a post semi-final discussion show. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2008 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Geta Burlacu, 2009 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Nelly Ciobanu, 2012 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Pasha Parfeny, and singers Gicu Cimbir, Irina Kitoroagă, Karizma, Cristina Croitoru performed as guests.^[10]

Semi-final 2[]

The second semi-final took place on 13 March 2014 at TRM Studio 2 in Chișinău, hosted by Nicu Ţurcanu and Djulieta Gânu with Vlad Ardovan reporting from the green room. Seven songs qualified to the final based on the combination of votes from a public televote and the votes of an expert jury. The jury that voted in the second semi-final included Alex Calancea (instrumentalist and producer), Andrei Sava (composer), Cristina Pintilie (singer), Tatiana Postolachi (lyricist), Ruslan Ţaranu (singer/composer), Ilona Stepan (conductor), Nelly Ciobanu (singer, 2009 Moldovan Eurovision entrant), Anatol Chiriac (composer) and Ina Jeltova (journalist). The eighth qualifier, "Vis" performed by Margarita Ciorici & Metafora, was selected by an additional televote between the remaining non-qualifiers and was revealed during a post semi-final discussion show. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the band Millenium performed as guests.^[11]

Final[]

The final took place on 15 March 2014 at TRM Studio 2 in Chișinău, hosted by Iurie Gologan and Olivia Furtună with Vlad Ardovan and Daniela Babici reporting from the green room. The sixteen songs that qualified from the preceding two semi-finals competed and the winner was selected based on the combination of a public televote and the votes of an expert jury. The jury that voted in the final included Mihail Culev (composer), Victoria Bucun (choreographer), Petru Vutcărău (director and actor), Nelly Ciobanu (singer, 2009 Moldovan Eurovision entrant), Tatiana Postolachi (lyricist), Ilona Stepan (conductor), Eugen Negruţă (musician), Liviu Știrbu (composer), Anatol Chiriac (composer), Andrei Sava (composer) and Max Chisaru (composer, lyricist and producer). In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2013 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Aliona Moon, the ballet company Free Dance and acoustic funk band Cuibul performed as guests. "Wild Soul" performed by Cristina Scarlat was selected as the winner.^[12]

At Eurovision[]

Cristina Scarlat at the first semi-final dress rehearsal

During the semi-final allocation draw on 20 January 2014 at the Copenhagen City Hall, Moldova was drawn to compete in the second half of the first semi-final on 6 May 2014.^[13] In the first semi-final, the producers of the show decided that Moldova would perform 11th, following Belgium and preceding San Marino.^[14] Moldova failed to qualify from the first semi-final, placing last (16th) in a field of 16 songs with a score of 13 points.^[15]

On stage, Cristina Scarlat was joined by four male dancers: Dragos Hioara, Eugen Simac, Lilian Caraus and Vadim Bianchin. The performance featured the dancers dressed as warriors and performing choreography with elements of Samurai fighting. The dress Scarlat wore was designed by Janna Berezovskaia.^[16] Scarlat performed a new version of Wild Soul, with digitally adapted violine and dubstep elements. She already premiered the new version of her song in the ESCKAZ Festival, held in Moscow.

In Moldova, both the semi-finals and the final were broadcast on Moldova 1 and Radio Moldova with commentary by Daniela Babici.^[17][18] The Moldovan spokesperson revealing the result of the Moldovan vote in the final was Olivia Furtună.^[19]

Voting[]

The tables below visualise a breakdown of points awarded to and by Moldova in the first semi-final and the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. The points awarded by Moldova in the semi-final were based on 100% jury voting due to either technical issues with the televoting or an insufficient number of valid votes cast during the televote period.

Points awarded to Moldova[]

Points awarded to Moldova (Semi-final 1)[20] Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points  Montenegro 5 points 4 points  Albania 3 points 2 points  Ukraine 1 point  Russia Points awarded by Moldova[] Points awarded by Moldova (Semi-final 1)[20] Score Country 12 points  Russia 10 points  Sweden 8 points  Ukraine 7 points  Belgium 6 points  Azerbaijan 5 points  Montenegro 4 points  Hungary 3 points  Portugal 2 points  Netherlands 1 point  San Marino Points awarded by Moldova (Final)[21] Score Country 12 points  Romania 10 points  Ukraine 8 points  Russia 7 points  Austria 6 points  Sweden 5 points  Belarus 4 points  Hungary 3 points  Armenia 2 points  Poland 1 point  San Marino Detailed voting results[] The following members comprised the Moldovan jury:[22] Anatol Chiriac (jury chairperson) – composer Andrei Tostogan – songwriter, singer, producer Tatiana Postolachi – lyricist Nelea Ciobanu-Mărgineanu (Nelly Ciobanu) – singer, represented Moldova in the 2009 contest Iurie Badicu – songwriter, producer, lyricist Detailed voting results from Moldova (Semi-final 1)[23] Draw Country A. Chiriac A. Tostogan T. Postolachi N. Ciobanu I. Badicu Average Jury Rank Points 01  Armenia 10 12 7 12 13 12 02  Latvia 11 15 15 14 14 15 03  Estonia 9 11 14 15 15 13 04  Sweden 4 3 3 2 6 2 10 05  Iceland 15 14 13 13 11 14 06  Albania 12 6 12 9 12 11 07  Russia 1 2 1 1 1 1 12 08  Azerbaijan 5 9 4 3 3 5 6 09  Ukraine 2 4 6 4 4 3 8 10  Belgium 3 5 2 6 7 4 7 11  Moldova 12  San Marino 13 10 11 8 8 10 1 13  Portugal 6 13 9 5 9 8 3 14  Netherlands 14 7 8 10 10 9 2 15  Montenegro 7 8 5 7 5 6 5 16  Hungary 8 1 10 11 2 7 4 Detailed voting results from Moldova (Final)[24] Draw Country A. Chiriac A. Tostogan T. Postolachi N. Ciobanu I. Badicu Average Jury Rank Televote Rank Combined Rank Points 01  Ukraine 4 4 3 4 5 3 3 2 10 02  Belarus 12 14 8 12 6 8 7 6 5 03  Azerbaijan 7 5 9 7 9 7 18 13 04  Iceland 24 23 26 19 24 26 25 26 05  Norway 21 18 14 24 15 20 15 19 06  Romania 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 07  Armenia 9 21 11 25 10 15 5 8 3 08  Montenegro 25 13 24 16 16 21 26 24 09  Poland 10 22 17 18 4 12 8 9 2 10  Greece 11 25 23 11 11 16 14 16 11  Austria 3 9 4 2 3 4 4 4 7 12  Germany 13 7 6 14 17 9 20 15 13  Sweden 2 3 2 3 7 2 6 5 6 14  France 14 26 25 26 18 25 23 25 15  Russia 5 6 5 8 8 6 2 3 8 16  Italy 20 24 20 23 19 24 19 21 17  Slovenia 19 17 21 20 20 22 21 22 18  Finland 26 16 22 21 13 23 22 23 19  Spain 16 15 7 6 25 10 16 14 20   Switzerland 15 8 10 13 26 13 10 11 21  Hungary 6 2 12 5 2 5 12 7 4 22  Malta 17 19 13 17 23 18 24 20 23  Denmark 22 10 15 15 21 17 17 18 24  Netherlands 18 20 16 10 12 14 11 12 25  San Marino 8 12 18 9 22 11 9 10 1 26  United Kingdom 23 11 19 22 14 19 13 17 References[] ^ Turgonyi, Dániel (15 March 2014). "Watch now: Moldova chooses its entry". Esctoday. Retrieved 5 April 2021. ^ a b Honciuc, Bogdan (25 January 2014). "Moldova: TRM admits mistake, will hear all 40 songs live on Saturday". wiwibloggs.com. Retrieved 30 January 2014. ^ a b Fisher, Luke (26 December 2013). "Moldova: Dates and rules for 2014 published". escXtra.com. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014. ^ "40 de piese, avansate pentru selecţia a doua naţională a concursului Eurovision 2014". TRM (in Romanian). 25 January 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014. ^ "Toate piesele depuse, iniţial, pentru concursul Eurovision 2014 vor fi audiate la a doua etapă a selecţiei interne". TRM (in Romanian). 29 January 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014. ^ "Audiţie internă la "Teleradio-Moldova" pentru Eurovision 2014". TRM (in Romanian). 25 January 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014. ^ "Eurovision 2014: 24 de piese selectate în semifinale". TRM (in Romanian). 1 February 2014. 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European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 4 May 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021. ^ Omelyanchuk, Olena (29 April 2014). "Moldova: Cristina as a "warrior woman"". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 29 April 2014. ^ "Fii alături de Cristina Scarlat la Eurovision, cu Moldova 1". TeleRadio-Moldova (in Romanian). 5 May 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014. ^ "Eurovision 2014. Semifinala 1. Partea I". TeleRadio-Moldova (in Romanian). 6 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2014: ecco l'elenco degli spokesperson" (in Italian). Eurofestival News. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2014. ^ a b "Results of the First Semi-Final of Copenhagen 2014". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021. ^ "Results of the Grand Final of Copenhagen 2014". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021. ^ Brey, Marco (1 May 2014). "Who will be in the expert juries?". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 1 May 2014. ^ "Full Split Results | First Semi-Final of Copenhagen 2014". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2021. ^ "Full Split Results | Grand Final of Copenhagen 2014". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2021.