Last night the Wiwi Jury—our in-house panel of music unprofessionals—packed our bags and headed to Chisinau to review Aliona Moon’s Eurovision song “O Mie”. Was her song one in a million? Or one of the other 999,999? Read our reviews to find out…

Vebooboo: After watching years of visually appealing acts from Moldova, I was highly disappointed to see this snoozer win in Chisinau. I absolutely loved Pasha Parfeny’s act last year – I thought it had the best staging of all the acts, and was ecstatic to see it have the privilege of closing out the show. But what the hell was Pasha thinking with this one? Don’t get me wrong—this song is not horrible. But how can this compete against the huge field of female divas singing this year? It can’t. Chisinau would literally go bankrupt if they hosted Eurovision, so perhaps it’s for the best anyway. 

Score: 4.5/10

Pasha Parfeny and Aliona Moon in the Green Room
The dashing Pasha Parfeny with his protege Aliona Moon

HK Dick: I almost peed my pants in excitement when I heard that Pasha Parfeny had written the Moldova entry for 2013. Pasha was part of Sunstroke in 2010 and was responsible for Lautar – the best song of 2012 (well, in my mind)! I was anticipating another Moldavan cracker – slightly offbeat yet as catchy as can be. Imagine my disappointment when watching a re-run of the national final where I saw the Moldovans choose a dreary ballad being screeched by a woman wearing a dress held together by about 50 cock rings (can I say that on a family friendly website)? In all fairness, it’s not as bad as I make it out to be but my expectations were just so high!

Score: 5/10

Alexander: Moldova is sending a pretty strong composition this year, although it does sound quite old-fashioned. I’m glad that they’ve decided to sing in Romanian as the English lyrics made several cheesy references. My main gripe is that Aliona’s performance in the national selection felt very superficial. Although she is an excellent vocalist, she didn’t seem to be portraying the song’s emotion very well. Hopefully she will work to convey a more authentic feeling in Malmö. Also, her dress was a complete rip-off of Sabina Babayeva’s last year…

Score: 6.5/10

Tatiana Heghea, Pasha Parfeny and Aliona Moon in Baku
Tatiana Heghea, Pasha Parfeny and Aliona Moon in Baku

Mr Häggkvist: This is one of the best ballads of this year. I think the English lyrics were bad, but they changed them so I think this is a real contender this year… love to see Pasha Parfeny at piano. He looks so handsome and Aliona is gorgeous so I think Moldova will get another good place.

Score: 7.5/10

Bogdan: It was a very good thing that Aliona Moon’s team decided that she should perform Pasha Parfeny’s song in the Romanian version of “O mie”, because not only did she automatically clinch 12 points from Romania in the Final, if she makes it (a Romanian language song hasn’t been performed by either country at Eurovision in a while), but also she was struggling with English and many fans welcomed the change. The song has its merits and Aliona’s voice and stage presence are great (plus Pasha will be there as well, to figuratively hold her hand through the song). But “O mie” is yet another ballad – and this could be its only downfall.

Score: 8/10 

Wiwi: The opening of this song is abysmal and boring, and Aliona seriously needs to stop holding back. She needs to channel the crazy cave woman that was with her on stage last year as one of Pasha’s backing vocalists. I was about to give this a score of 1.5, but then Aliona reached the bridge which, in many ways, atones for all the sins of the first two minutes. She’s a pretty girl with nice cheekbones, but would I put her in the final? Absolutely not. You can watch her live performance from Eurovision in Concert by clicking here.

Score: 4/10

Deban: Scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours too. This adage is being lived out on the Moldovan stage. Aliona Moon was Pasha Parfeny’s back up singer last year. This year, he composed O Mie for her as a thank you gift. O Mie is a beautiful ballad with several peaks, Clearly composed and arranged by an artist with classic music tastes. Ms Moon sings it beautifully. The sad drawback is that 2013 is the year of good ballads, thus, it may struggle to clinch to its voting audience. Bonus points for switching from English to Romanian; a language that is rarely featured in the contest. I hope the Moldovan delegation go for simpler staging. All the bling bling, the hyperactive dancers, and the LED dress which Ms Babayeva pioneered in Baku is so distracting!

Score: 6.5/10

The Wiwi Jury Verdict: 6/10

You can see the latest reviews and standings on the Wiwi Jury page. You can also listen to all 39 entries on our contestants page.

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Marin
Marin
10 years ago

Bravo Aliona! Melodie si voce superbe. Romancuta basarabeanca ce face cinste acestei natii. Vom fi alturi de tine.

Momo
Momo
10 years ago

Good song but not memorable.

Leon
Leon
10 years ago

A beautiful ballad, well song, with oh so sad lyrics. I don’t think it will make the top 10 but I’m sure it will be successful, especially in the home country.

Samo
10 years ago

Can’t wait for analysis of Swedish entry! Will it be last?

Trevor
Trevor
10 years ago

The picture of Aliona on this page with Pasha makes her look like a startled squirrel in the aftermath of an explosion in a doughnut factory, but her voice is exquisite – powerful and on the money. Bit lost in the midst of other similar entries though.

Tika
Tika
10 years ago

When will we see the score for the Dutch entry?

MrHäggkvist
MrHäggkvist
10 years ago

HK Dick, Pasha Parfeny was out Of The SunStroke Project in 2009, a year before they represent Moldova in Eurovision…

Alex
Alex
10 years ago

@Emily
There will be another dress than the one from the national final. They will stick with the projections on the dress and Pasha Parfeny will be on stage playing the piano. 🙂

Emily
Emily
10 years ago

I wonder how they will stage this…

Vlad
Vlad
10 years ago

It’s a nice song, but she should change her haircut for ESC.

Jack
Jack
10 years ago

not an impressive song but stands a big chance to be in my top 10 list