Country Moldova Selection date(s) 9 February 2008 Selected song "A Century of Love" | Selection process National Final Selected entrant Geta Burlacu | |
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Semi-final result Failed to qualify (12th, 36 points) | ||
Moldova participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia. The Moldovan entry was selected through a national final, organised by the Moldovan broadcaster TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM). Geta Burlacu represented Moldova with the song "A Century of Love", which failed to qualify from the first semi-final placing 12th and scoring 36 points.
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National final
Despite the financial hardships facing TRM and the possibility of withdrawal from the contest, TRM confirmed on 5 November 2007 that Moldova would enter the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.
TRM opened a submission period for artists and songwriters to submit their entries for the national final until 11 December 2007. Foreign songwriters were allowed to submit entries, however, participating artists had to be Moldovan citizens, with the exception of up to two backing vocalists and/or dancers allowed to be of foreign origin. On 12 December 2007, TRM released all 27 submitted songs online and on 14 December 2007, a selection panel voted and selected 12 finalists for the competition.
Final
The Moldovan national final took place on 9 February 2008 at the National Palace in Chişinău, hosted by Rusalina Rusu and Sergiu Raelanu. The results of the selection panel were used to determine the running order by inverting the ranking and having the top rated song perform last, while the twelfth ranked song opened the show. The results were decided by a public televote (1/3), a professional jury (1/3) and a TRM committee (1/3). After combining the results of all three votes, there was a tie between "A Century of Love" performed by Geta Burlacu and "Always Will Be" performed by Olia Tira. The 12 voting members from the professional jury and the TRM committee each cast a vote for their preferred song. Seven jury members voted for "A Century of Love", while five voted for "Always Will Be". Geta Burlacu was declared the winner with the song "A Century of Love".
The members of the professional jury were Ghenadie Ciobanu (Head of Composers Union of Moldova), Anatol Chiriac (Composer), Titus Zhukov (Head of "Likuric" theatre), Natalia Brasnuev (President of OGAE Moldova), Sergey Gavrilice (Editor of "VIP-Magazin"), Vasili Nastase (Editor of "Glasul Natiunii"), Diana Stratulat (Producer) and Victoria Buketaru (radio "Fresh-FM").
The members of the TRM committee were George Musta (conductor of TRM orchestra), Ion Kerpek (Producer), Vadim Styngachu (TRM representative) and Boris Foksa (member of coordinator unit of TRM).
Eurovision
Moldova competed in the first half of the first semi-final and performed 4th, on 20 May 2008, following Estonia and preceding San Marino. The Moldovan entry scored a total of 36 points and placed 12th, thus failing to qualify for the final on 24 May 2008.