# Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest

Moldova has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 19 times, debuting in 2005. The Moldovan participant broadcaster in the contest is Teleradio-Moldova (TRM). The country's best result is a third-place finish with "Hey Mamma" by SunStroke Project in 2017.
Moldova's debut in the contest in 2005 was successful, with "Boonika bate doba" by Zdob și Zdub finishing sixth. The country also reached the top ten with "Fight" by Natalia Barbu (2007), "My Lucky Day" by DoReDoS (2018), and "Trenulețul" by Zdob și Zdub and Advahov Brothers (2022). In total, Moldova has reached the final twelve times, failing to qualify from the semi-finals in 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, and 2024. Despite initially confirming participation in the 2025 contest, TRM later withdrew, citing economic and artistic challenges.

## History

Teleradio-Moldova (TRM) is a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. It has participated in the contest representing Moldova since its 50th edition in 2005.
Following Moldova's 20th-place finish in the 2006 contest, TRM announced that it would not participate in 2007, and did not allocate a budget for the 2007 Contest. However, in response to public pressure, TRM filed the preliminary documents to compete and sent Natalia Barbu with song "Fight". She achieved 10th place.
In 2008, Moldova, for the first time in its four years of participation, failed to make the final. "A Century of Love", performed by Geta Burlacu, finished in 12th place in the semi-final. In 2009, Moldova achieved 14th place with Nelly Ciobanu. In 2010, saxophonist Sergey Stepanov of SunStroke Project became the internet phenomenon ("Epic Sax Guy") with his 30-second saxophone solo.
In 2011, Zdob și Zdub represented Moldova for a second time in the contest, with the song "So Lucky" placing 12th in the final. In 2012 and 2013 respectively, Moldova achieved 11th place with Pasha Parfeny and Aliona Moon respectively.
From 2014 to 2016, Moldova failed to qualify for the final. The country finished in last position in the 2014 semi-final, 11th in the 2015 semi-final, and pre-last in the 2016 semi-final. In 2017, Moldova achieved its best result at the contest, when SunStroke Project finished third in the final with the song "Hey, Mamma!". The streak of top 10 results continued in 2018 with the band DoReDos finishing 10th in Lisbon. However in 2019, Moldova failed to qualify for the first time since 2016, finishing 12th in the semi-final.
In 2020, Natalia Gordienko, who previously represented Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, was selected to represent the country with the song "Prison", though the contest was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Gordienko was then internally selected to represent Moldova in 2021 with the song "Sugar". She eventually qualified to the grand final and placed in 13th position with 115 points. Her 17-second note at the end of "Sugar" was reported to be the longest note in Eurovision history. For the 2022 contest in Turin, Zdob și Zdub, who previously represented the country in 2005 and 2011, and the Advahov Brothers were exclusively selected following a live audition round held by the broadcaster. Performing "Trenulețul", the act eventually qualified for the final and ultimately placed seventh with 253 points. The group finished in second place with the public televote in the final, which is Moldova's highest placing in the televote to date. This marked the country's best result since 2005 and third highest placing to date. This was followed in 2023 by an eighteenth place finish with "Soarele și luna", performed by Pasha Parfeni, who previously represented Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. In 2024, Moldova failed to qualify for the first time in five years, with Natalia Barbu, who previously represented Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, finishing in thirteenth place in the semi-final with "In the Middle".
On 16 November 2024, TRM confirmed its intention to participate in the 2025 contest, holding a live audition round for its national final with 26 entries on 18 January 2025. However, on 22 January, TRM announced its withdrawal from the contest due to economic reasons and the perceived quality of its national final. The broadcaster did not rule out a future return to the contest, stating that it would "review the criteria and methodology for selecting the country's representative for the international stage".

## Participation overview

| Year | Entrant | Song | Language | Final | Points | Semi | Points |
| 2005 | Zdob și Zdub | "Boonika bate doba" | English, Romanian | 6 | 148 | 2 | 207 |
| 2006 | Arsenium feat. Natalia Gordienko and Connect-R | "Loca" | English | 20 | 22 | Top 11 in 2005 final | Top 11 in 2005 final |
| 2007 | Natalia Barbu | "Fight" | English | 10 | 109 | 10 | 91 |
| 2008 | Geta Burlacu | "A Century of Love" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 12 | 36 |
| 2009 | Nelly Ciobanu | "Hora din Moldova" | Romanian, English | 14 | 69 | 5 | 106 |
| 2010 | SunStroke Project and Olia Tira | "Run Away" | English | 22 | 27 | 10 | 52 |
| 2011 | Zdob și Zdub | "So Lucky" | English | 12 | 97 | 10 | 54 |
| 2012 | Pasha Parfeny | "Lăutar" | English | 11 | 81 | 5 | 100 |
| 2013 | Aliona Moon | "O mie" | Romanian | 11 | 71 | 4 | 95 |
| 2014 | Cristina Scarlat | "Wild Soul" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 16 ◁ | 13 |
| 2015 | Eduard Romanyuta | "I Want Your Love" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 11 | 41 |
| 2016 | Lidia Isac | "Falling Stars" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 17 | 33 |
| 2017 | SunStroke Project | "Hey Mamma" | English | 3 | 374 | 2 | 291 |
| 2018 | DoReDoS | "My Lucky Day" | English | 10 | 209 | 3 | 235 |
| 2019 | Anna Odobescu | "Stay" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 12 | 85 |
| 2020 | Natalia Gordienko | "Prison" | English | Contest cancelled X | Contest cancelled X | Contest cancelled X | Contest cancelled X |
| 2021 | Natalia Gordienko | "Sugar" | English | 13 | 115 | 7 | 179 |
| 2022 | Zdob și Zdub and Advahov Brothers | "Trenulețul" | Romanian | 7 | 253 | 8 | 154 |
| 2023 | Pasha Parfeni | "Soarele și luna" | Romanian | 18 | 96 | 5 | 109 |
| 2024 | Natalia Barbu | "In the Middle" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 13 | 20 |

## Commentators and spokespersons

For the show's broadcast on TRM, various commentators provided commentary on the contest in the Romanian language. After all points are calculated at the Eurovision Song Contest, the presenters invite a spokesperson from each voting country to announce the results of their vote on-screen.
| Year | Television | Television | Radio | Radio | Spokesperson | Ref. |
| Year | Commentator | Channel | Commentator | Channel | Spokesperson | Ref. |
| 2005 | Vitalie Rotaru | Moldova 1 | Vitalie Rotaru | Radio Moldova | Elena Camerzan | |
| 2006 | Vitalie Rotaru | Moldova 1 | Vitalie Rotaru | Radio Moldova | Svetlana Cocoș | |
| 2007 | Vitalie Rotaru | Moldova 1 | Vitalie Rotaru | Radio Moldova | Andrei Porubin | |
| 2008 | Lucia Danu and Vitalie Rotaru | Moldova 1, TV Moldova Internațional | No broadcast | No broadcast | Vitalie Rotaru | |
| 2009 | Rosalina Rusu and Andrei Sava | Moldova 1, TV Moldova Internațional | No broadcast | No broadcast | Sandu Leancă | |
| 2010 | Marcel Spatari | Moldova 1, TV Moldova Internațional | No broadcast | No broadcast | Tania Cerga | |
| 2011 | Marcel Spatari | Moldova 1, TV Moldova Internațional | Marcel Spatari | Radio Moldova | Geta Burlacu | |
| 2012 | Marcel Spatari | Moldova 1 | Marcel Spatari | Radio Moldova | Olivia Furtună | |
| 2013 | Lidia Scarlat | Moldova 1 | Lidia Scarlat | Radio Moldova | Olivia Furtună | |
| 2014 | Daniela Babici | Moldova 1 | Daniela Babici | Radio Moldova | Olivia Furtună | |
| 2015 | Daniela Babici | Moldova 1 | Daniela Babici | Radio Moldova, Radio Moldova Muzical, Radio Moldova Tineret | Olivia Furtună | |
| 2016 | Gloria Gorceag | Moldova 1 | Gloria Gorceag | Radio Moldova, Radio Moldova Muzical, Radio Moldova Tineret | Olivia Furtună | |
| 2017 | Galina Timuș | Moldova 1 | Cristina Galbici (Radio Moldova) Cătălin Ungureanu and Maria-Mihaela Frimu (Radio Moldova Tineret) | Radio Moldova, Radio Moldova Tineret | Gloria Gorceag | |
| 2018 | Djulieta Ardovan | Moldova 1 | Djulieta Ardovan | Radio Moldova | Djulieta Ardovan | |
| 2019 | Doina Stimpovschi and Daniela Crudu | Moldova 1 | Doina Stimpovschi and Daniela Crudu | Radio Moldova | Doina Stimpovschi | |
| 2021 | Doina Stimpovschi | Moldova 1 | Doina Stimpovschi | Radio Moldova | Sergey Stepanov | |
| 2022 | Ion Jalbă and Daniela Crudu | Moldova 1 | Ion Jalbă and Daniela Crudu | Radio Moldova | Elena Bancila | |
| 2023 | Ion Jalbă and Daniela Crudu | Moldova 1 | Ion Jalbă and Daniela Crudu | Radio Moldova, Radio Moldova Muzical | Doina Stimpovschi | |
| 2024 | Ion Jalbă and Elena Stegari | Moldova 1 | Angela Rudenco | Radio Moldova | Doina Stimpovschi | |
| 2025 | TBA | Moldova 1 | TBA | TBA | Did not participate | |

## Photo gallery

* Zdob și Zdub in Kyiv (2005)
* Natalia Gordienko and Arsenium performing "Loca" in Athens (2006)
* Natalia Barbu performing "Fight" in Helsinki (2007)
* Geta Burlacu performing "A Century of Love" in Belgrade (2008)
* Nelly Ciobanu in Moscow (2009)
* SunStroke Project and Olia Tira performing "Run Away" in Oslo (2010)
* Zdob și Zdub performing "So Lucky" in Düsseldorf (2011)
* Aliona Moon performing "O mie" in Malmö (2013)
* Cristina Scarlat performing "Wild Soul" in Copenhagen (2014)
* Eduard Romanyuta performing "I Want Your Love" in Vienna (2015)
* Lidia Isac performing "Falling Stars" in Stockholm (2016)
* SunStroke Project performing "Hey, Mamma!" in Kyiv (2017)
* DoReDoS performing "My Lucky Day" in Lisbon (2018)
* Anna Odobescu performing "Stay" in Tel Aviv (2019)
* Zdob și Zdub and Advahov Brothers performing "Trenulețul" in Turin (2022)
* Pasha Parfeni performing "Soarele și luna" in Liverpool (2023)
* Natalia Barbu performing "In the Middle" in Malmö (2024)