After reviewing the submissions of the 28 candidates for Moldova‘s national selection O melodie pentru Europa, broadcaster TRM has announced that Pelageya Stefoglo has been disqualified for having auditioned in the Belarus selection. They also finally announced the date for the live auditions: 24 January.
As we expected last week, Pelageya Stefoglo was disqualified as she entered her song “Let’s Start Together Now” in Belarus as well, which is a clear breach of Moldova’s rules as set by broadcaster TRM. Moreover, the Moldovan singer also performed the song at the live auditions.
Thus, from the 28 acts that entered Moldova’s national selection this year, 27 remain. This must be good news for Aaron Sibley and Sasha Bognibov, who did enter 1in360, the Sammarinese selection, albeit not with the same songs. Plus, their submissions were made prior to the publication of the rules for the Moldovan selection.
Sasha Bognibov in particular breathed a sigh of relief, after crying foul on his Facebook page upon hearing that the organising committee might disqualify the ones who entered other national selections. He then retracted, then deleted his complaint altogether, and we hope that the artist’s reaction will not affect the outcome of his live audition.
Speaking of live audition, TRM also announced the date for the long-awaited event: 24 January, starting 11:00 CET. The auditions will be held in the, ahem, Karaoke Concert Hall Atrium. You will be pleased to know that the live auditions will be broadcast live on the internet as well, on the TRM webpage.
At the live auditions, 16 candidates will be selected by the jury for the sole semi-final on 22 February. There, the jury and viewers will send 10 acts to the National Final two days later, where the winner will be crowned by a 50/50 combination of jury and televote.
Will you tune in to watch Moldova’s live auditions on Wednesday? Who will you be rooting for? Let us know in the comments!
I think this is DoReDoS’s year – they’ve probably got the best chance ever. It’s not a patch on their 2015 song Maricica sadly but it’s still the best of a fairly average lot. Dima Gaitur should also be in with a shout too.
It seems that the live auditions will (also) be broadcast online via Facebook live here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/eurovision.moldova.trm/videos/?ref=page_internal
Can’t wait for tomorrow. I have a great feeling that most of their auditions will be like watching You Tube compilation of worst X-Factor auditions – hilarious!
Joke aside, I hope Anna Timofei and Candy C/Aaron Sibley nail the live, cause they have really good songs.
Pathetic NF. Moldova, Belarus, Lithuania always bring cheap drama and average songs to the contest.
She never stood a chance of winning anyway, no loss to be honest
R.I.P