Two weeks ago, TeleRadio Moldova‘s general producer Leonid Melnic revealed that the broadcaster might not stage its national selection O melodie pentru Europa ahead of Eurovision 2017, due to insufficient funds. TRM‘s final decision on the matter has been postponed until after the presidential elections, which take place today. This article aims to show the advantages of scrapping the national selection and opting for an internal selection — at least for this year.
Sure, a year without the guilty pleasure that is the Moldovan national selection would deprive us of many unintentionally hilarious or downright cringe-inducing moments. (We’re looking at you, Sasha Bognibov!) That’s because TRM usually insists on putting on a big show, consisting of two semi-finals with a total of 24 acts, which requires more talent than Molodva actually has.
Thus, we have been subjected to so-called artists with little to no singing ability slipping through the cracks and into the national final. On the other hand, Moldova is the country that gave us Epic Sax Guy, the wondrous “O mie”, not to mention the famous “boonika”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOP2DSvSO88
Nonetheless, at the end of these shows, the national selection is traditionally won not by the most worthy song, but rather by the wealthiest artists, who have the cash to pump into tele-voting and promotion. With few exceptions, the winner of O melodie pentru Europa has been controversial and that has made many artists in this small Eastern European country turn their backs on this supposedly democratic process. Moreover, the winning act is then supposed to fund their own participation, since the broadcaster had exhausted the funds on expensive LEDs, hosts and interval acts.
Instead of wasting a lot of energy and money on a foregone conclusion, TRM should simply scrap the unnecessary and expensive extravaganza and internally select the act who is able to fund its participation at Eurovision. But who has the dough to pave their own way to Kyiv? We have five suggestions.
Boris Covali
In 2014, Boris came this close to representing Moldova in Denmark. But despite his efforts, a decent song and an estimated 10,000 euros spent on staging and promotion, the jury sent Cristina Scarlat instead. We know what happened to “Wild Soul” (i.e., no grand final for Cristina), but we’re sure everyone at TRM and beyond was left wondering what would Boris could have done with his “Perfect Day”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k_5wKC0n-8
Carla’s Dreams
Earlier this year, Carla’s Dreams frontman Sergiu said that the Moldovan band would not say no to Eurovision, provided that they were selected by televoting alone. We are pretty sure that they would not turn down the offer to represent the country if selected internally, although we wonder if their brand of music would translate well on the Eurovision stage. They are hugely popular in Moldova, Romania and Russia, but that’s about it. Being a niche, hip-hoppy act would probably ensure that the band shares the same fate as the Montenegrin duo Who See in 2013. That is, despite a good song and a powerful performance, the band would most likely finish its Eurovision journey ahead of the final.
M I H A I
Yes, he is not a Moldovan citizen, but just last month, the artist formerly known as Mihai Traistariu said that he would be happy to represent Moldova in Kyiv. Moreover, he announced that he already had a killer song. Why would TRM pass this opportunity by? It would save them a lot of aggravation and financial strain, given that M I H A I is willing to invest his talent, time, and money in order to actually win Eurovision for his neighbouring country.
Pasha Parfeny and Aliona Moon
In 2012, she was his backing vocalist. The following year, he was her songwriter and piano player. Both songs finished 11th on the grand final scoreboard, but we’re willing to bet that a Pasha-Aliona duet would break into the Top 10 in 2017. The beloved Eurovision stars have what it takes to take Europe by storm once again, and with the right song, most likely a power ballad, they could even top Moldova’s record, which stands at 6th place. Fans have been clamouring for the duo to return and 2017 could be the year. The only question is: Do they have the money to foot the bill?
Nicoleta Nuca
We would be remiss not to mention Nicoleta Nuca as a feasible choice for Moldova 2017. The beautiful singer, who shot to stardom on X Factor Romania in 2014, has all the necessary qualities, including a spectacular voice, to make a splash in Kyiv. With the financial backing from her label Global Records, Nicoleta Nuca would be the perfect internal act for Moldova, provided of course that the singer wanted the honour.
What do you think? What other Moldovan artists would you like TRM to select internally, if indeed they are not going to stage a national selection?
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What about Ionel Istrati? He is awesome and completely gorgeous
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlMAIE8Rzrs
What about Dan Balan? 😉 <3
@Charles you must be fun at parties
i wouldn’t mind Aliona and Pasha returning as a duet! nicoleta nuca is unlikely to be interested, unfortunately, she turned her back on Moldova completly
Articles like these scare the hell out of me …the way fans want their voices to be heard as far as Eurovision is concerned is scary … wanting this and wanting that … it’s disturbing enough that we already have Trump as an American president and that the televoting ratio will be changed thanks to traumatized angry upset Russia that wants to win this desperately … leave the decision about selected songs and selected performers to the people who really are responsible for that for heaven’s sake …
How much of the country’s GDP does Moldova’s public TV network spend for their annual national selection process? lelz :))
Well, that was definitely wrong…! I meant, Paliona.
Palomar.
Carla’s Dreams are so talented, they’d bring quality to the 2017 contest.
Yes, getting rid of “O melodie pentru Europa” is great idea. Most of the songs participating in it were weak at best.
When it comes to the artists – what about Nicoleta Dara? I don’t know many Moldovan singers, but I think her songs (especially “Is it true?”) are quite nice. Or maybe Cristina Croitoru
It is tomorrow, right?
@xESCx
Whaaaaat?!
@xESCx
OMG is that tomorrow? 😀 I totally forgot about that.
What about Lerika? She’s part Moldovan, part Russian, but if she says “No-No”, then who else? ?tefan Ro?covan? Let’s find out!
I am wary that the internal selection might have a similar outcome as to what happened back in 2014 until this year. That being said, the broadcaster should also need to sharpen their ways in managing their chosen artists and their song until the ESC finals night as they cannot rely to the talent and popularity of artists alone. Getting rid of the overspending of props and performances is a nice first step.
Anybody know what time the opening ceremony/ running order draw is at tomorrow?
I would like to see an “O mie”-style Pasha-Aliona duet or Irina Rimes singing something similar to Visele.
Nicoleta, Carla’s Dream or Irina Rimes!
The quality of the natinal final is atrocious so they really should consider going internal this year
They must send Tany Vander, she’s amazing
Please do not send MIHAI! I am sure you got better singers there. 🙁
I agree with Bogdan. Moldova’s national selection offers mostly entries of poor quality and they have very little money to spend so they should use an internal selection instead. After all, they did it once in 2007 and sent the marvelous “Fight” that also gave the country their second best result to date.
I admire TRM because each year they try their best to host a big national selection. Something even the BBC can’t seem to afford.
If I remember correctly Moldova selected it’s entry in 2007 internally.
If TRM saves money on not hosting a national selection it might encourage more acts to enter. Because TRM will have more money to spend so the artist themselves doesn’t have to risk their financial health.