Moldova was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song "" written by Pavel Parfeni, Andrei Vulpe and Iuliana Parfeni. The song was performed by Pasha Parfeni, who previously represented Moldova in 2012. The Moldovan broadcaster, TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM), organised the national final 2023 in order to select the Moldovan entry for the 2023 contest, with a combination of jury votes and public voting determining the winning entry.

In the first semi-final, Moldova qualified for the final on 13 May.

Background

Prior to the 2023 contest, Moldova had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 17 times since its first entry in 2005. The nation's best placing in the contest was third, which it achieved in with the song "Hey, Mamma!" performed by SunStroke Project. To this point, Moldova has achieved another four top 10 placings at the contest: in when "Boonika bate toba" performed by Zdob și Zdub placed sixth, in when "Fight" performed by Natalia Barbu placed tenth, in when "My Lucky Day" performed by DoReDoS also placed tenth, and in , when Zdob și Zdub returned to compete for a third time with the song "", performed with the Advahov Brothers, which finished in seventh place.

The Moldovan national broadcaster, TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM), broadcasts the event within Moldova and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. TRM confirmed its intention to participate at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest on 20 October 2022. Moldova has selected their entry via a national selection show between 2008 and 2020, while their entry in 2021 was selected via an internal selection. A selection show was to be held on 5 March 2022 to select Moldova's entry for the 2022 contest, but on 28 January 2022 it was revealed the entry would be selected during the auditions following the cancellation of the final due to COVID-19 restrictions. On 23 December 2022, TRM announced that it would hold a national final to select its entry for the 2023 contest.

Before Eurovision

Etapa națională 2023 2023 was the national final format developed by TRM in order to select Moldova's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. The event took place at the TRM Studio 2 in Chișinău, hosted by Doina Stimpovschi, Ion Jalbă and Daniela Crudu, and included a final held on 4 March 2023. The show was broadcast on Moldova 1 and OUTtv as well as online via TRM's official website trm.md and Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.md as well as the broadcaster's Facebook and YouTube pages.

Competing entries Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries between 23 December 2022 and 16 January 2023. Artists could submit more than one song, and an international act was able to compete only if they are part of a duo or group where 50% of the lead vocalists are of Moldovan nationality. At the conclusion of the submission deadline, 33 valid entries were received by the broadcaster. Among the artists that submitted a song were and SunStroke Project, Pasha Parfeni, and Aliona Moon. The live audition round took place on 28 January 2023 at TRM Studio 2 in Chișinău where 10 finalists were selected to advance. The auditions were broadcast on Moldova 2 as well as online via trm.md, eurovision.md and via TRM's Facebook and YouTube pages. The jury panel that evaluated the songs during the live auditions and selected the 10 finalists consisted of Violeta Julea (performer), Ion Chiorpec (head of Radio Moldova Muzical), Vasile Advahov (musician, ), Liviu Știrbu (composer) and Daniela Crudu (journalist at Moldova 1). Entries were assessed on criteria such as the melodic line, originality and interpretation of the composition.

Prior to the auditions, TRM announced that two songs were disqualified from the competition: "Squeeze Paradise" by Nördika due to it having been published before 1 September 2022, and "" by Massimo Sinceri Da-Muse due to it violating the 50% foreign nationality rule. Dianna Rotaru, who entered under the stage name Lola, was due to compete with the song "", but was disqualified after she was unable to attend the live audition round.

Key: Selected for final Disqualified +ArtistSongSongwriter(s) PointsPlace1 Formația Vele "" Ivan Sparivac, Sergiu Carai22272 Corina Ivanov "When Love's Real" Mike Connaris, Mia Nicolai44103 Nördika "Damn and Down" Ruslan Țăranu4574 Nihilist & Lisa Nicky "Final Destination" Elizaveta Pînzari, Vladimir Bejenari27255 Victor Gulick "Let's Dance" Victor Gulick, Serghei Lututovici4586 Surorile Osoianu "" Elena Ioniță, Jonathan Alexandru4767 OL "Why You Play It Cool" Olga Lisicova4858 Adelina Iordachi "Deja Vu" Doina Sclifos43119 "Destiny" Gloria Gorceag, Vitalie Cătană282210 Crista "" Cristina Baban431311 SunStroke Project "Yummy Mommy" Mihai Teodor, Sergei Yalovitsky55112 Nr 11 "" Nadejda "Stetiuc" Rotaru212913 Vera "" Vera Țurcanu, Nikos Sofis351714 Sasha Bognibov "My Favourite Schoolgirl" Sasha Bognibov193015 Rise "Don't Tremble" Lidia Scarlat, Ivan Aculov411416 Ada Deea "Mystic Rose" Rafael Artesero, Jose Juan Santana401517 Cosmina "Indestructible" Cosmina Cotoros, Shawn Myers, Jonas Gladnikoff45918 Lisa Volk "" Elisaveta Smirnova, Marian Stîrcea282319 Angel Kiss "Now I Know" Samuel Bugia Garrido, Roxana Emilia Elekes302120 Gesica Sîrbu "I'm in Love" Eugen Doibani222821 Aliona Moon "" Ștefan Burlacu, Vlad Sabajuc, Aliona Munteanu49422 Tania Pitușcan "" Elad Lahmany, Tatiana Pitușcan322023 Pasha Parfeni "" Pavel Parfeni, Andrei Vulpe, Iuliana Parfeni53224 Ricky Ardezianu "" Ricky Ardezianu, Ianoș Țurcanu, Ion Istrati232625 Harmony Scuffle "Favourite One" Lev Logvinenco, Vadim Psariov331926 Valeria Condrea "We're Now Different" Valeria Condrea401627 Diana Elmas "Miracle" Mats Larsson, Åsa Karlström, Ulf Georgsson, Martin Klaman,Ylva Persson, Linda Persson, Rickard Bonde Truumeel341828 Nino "It Would Be Nice" Sergiu Cristian Baba282429 Y-Limit "Live in Harmony" Roman Lupu, Pavel Malisev431230 Donia "Red Zone" Doina Ianculescu, Robert Andrei Niculae523 Lola "" Eugen Doibani——

Final The final took place on 4 March 2023. 10 songs competed and the winner was selected based on the combination of a public online vote and the votes of an expert jury. The jury that voted in the final included Gabriela Tocari (General Director of Capela Corală Moldova), Vlad Constandoi (founder of Senz Music), Leonid Melnic (Chief Deputy of Telefirm Chișinău), Viorica Atanasov (vocal coach, songwriter) and Gheorghe Mustea (professor at the Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts). In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2022 Moldovan Eurovision entrants Zdob și Zdub and Advahov Brothers, Sudden Lights, Theodor Andrei and the Moldovan National Symphony Orchestra performed as guests. 2023 Polish Eurovision entrant Blanka was also set to perform during the show as a guest, however, her flight to the event was cancelled. +Final – 4 March 2023ArtistSongJuryPublic voteTotalPlaceVotesPointsVotesPoints1Donia"Red Zone"24519661152OL"Why You Play It Cool"296561763Victor Gulick"Let's Dance"173722594Surorile Osoianu""3571,52481545Cosmina"Indestructible"1021135766Nördika"Damn and Down"1011004597Aliona Moon""52101,13371738SunStroke Project"Yummy Mommy"3682,276101829Pasha Parfeni""53125,4281224110Corina Ivanov"When Love's Real"24481376 +Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total1"Red Zone"22686242"Why You Play It Cool"58862293"Let's Dance"34343174""85778355"Indestructible"43111106"Damn and Down"11224107""1010121010528"Yummy Mommy"127557369""7121012125310"When Love's Real"6643524

At Eurovision According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top 10 countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Moldova has been placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 9 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2023 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Moldova was set to perform in position 10, following the entry from and before the entry from .

At the end of the show, Moldova was announced as a qualifier for the final.

Voting Points awarded to Moldova

+ Points awarded to Moldova (Semi-final 1) Score Televote 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

+ Points awarded to Moldova (Final) Score Televote Jury 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Moldova

+ Points awarded by Moldova (Semi-final 1) Score Televote 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

+ Points awarded by Moldova (Final) Score Televote Jury 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Detailed voting results The following members comprised the Moldovan jury: Leonid Melnic Liviu Știrbu Aliona Munteanu Aliona Triboi Viorica Atanasov-Tăbârță + Country Televote Rank Points 01 3 8 02 11 03 14 04 10 1 05 7 4 06 13 07 8 3 08 4 7 09 1 12 10 11 2 10 12 12 13 6 5 14 9 2 15 5 6 Detailed voting results from Moldova (Final) Country Jury Televote Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 3 Juror 4 Juror 5 Rank Points Rank Points 01 21 13 17 16 7 13 15 02 3 9 1 9 11 3 8 17 03 7 8 9 7 25 11 13 04 13 24 20 15 8 15 7 4 05 24 23 21 23 24 25 23 06 25 22 22 18 10 19 12 07 11 15 6 2 6 7 4 8 3 08 17 7 4 6 9 8 3 21 09 2 1 3 1 1 1 12 3 8 10 12 16 8 4 12 10 1 22 11 4 3 2 3 3 2 10 6 5 12 6 4 5 8 4 4 7 19 13 20 21 25 25 17 24 4 7 14 18 12 16 10 16 16 10 1 15 5 6 11 5 5 6 5 16 16 19 17 12 12 15 17 24 17 10 2 7 13 14 9 2 9 2 18 19 1 10 15 11 2 5 6 1 12 20 8 11 18 20 18 14 5 6 21 14 18 14 22 23 20 20 22 22 14 19 24 22 23 18 23 9 5 13 14 21 12 2 10 24 15 19 10 21 20 18 14 25 23 25 24 19 13 22 11 26 16 20 23 17 19 21 25

Notes

See also List of music released by Moldovan artists that has charted in major music markets

References