by Ofek Jerassi Comment Closed




The Moldovan national broadcaster announces a last-minute withdrawal from the Eurovision contest, despite having already set a date for the local Eurovision pre-selection final, conducted auditions, and published a list of songs.

In a dramatic announcement during a press conference convened today by the Moldovan national broadcaster, TRM, Corneliu Durnescu, the director of the Moldovan national broadcaster, and Daniela Crudu, the head of the Moldovan delegation, declared that Moldova will not participate in Eurovision 2025. According to them, the decision was made “following a detailed analysis of the current situation, as well as economic, administrative, and artistic challenges.”

Despite withdrawing from the competition, the national broadcaster will air both semi-finals and the grand final to be held in Basel, allowing viewers to watch the contest under optimal conditions.




Durnescu elaborates and explains, “The decision was not easy, but necessary in the current context. This year’s pre-selection highlighted certain challenges, including a decline in public interest and the overall quality of artists and performances. This fact created a negative perception among judges and the public, emphasizing the need for substantial reform in the selection process.” He further stated that TRM aims to change the selection criteria and methodology to encourage broader participation of talented artists and provide a more consistent and competitive cultural representation on the international stage in the future. He added, “We respect the opinion of professionals and the general public, and understand that we need to make responsible decisions.”

According to Durnescu, the Eurovision contest involves considerable costs, including organizing the Moldovan Eurovision pre-selection, producing performances, promoting the chosen artist, travel and accommodation for the team, stage production, technical equipment, and additional related expenses. Durnescu emphasized that Moldova’s participation fee to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is 21,486 euros and not 176,000 euros as previously circulated.

As a reminder, the network held an audition day for the pre-selection in which 26 songs competed, and a date for the final had already been set for February 22, 2025.




List of songs and artists selected to compete in “Etapa națională 2025”:

  1. Zelorielle – “Miracle”
  2. Vadim Eleni – “Mamă, să fii!”
  3. Royals ST – “Zboară-n sus”
  4. PRIZA ft. Mc MIKE – “Kookoo”
  5. Katy Rain – “Timpul”
  6. Catalina Solomac – “Demons”
  7. Rina – “Dorințele”
  8. Bacho & CARNIVAL BRAIN – “Semafoare”
  9. LODOS – “Sentimental”
  10. Nadya Crajevschi – “Not a shodow”
  11. Chris Cross – “Eu vin”
  12. Sasha Bognibov – “All-Night Party”

Click on the song title to listen to it!




Returning Artists to the National Selection

Several artists in the current list have previously competed in Moldova’s Eurovision national selection, including:

  • Sasha Bognibov – Participated in the Moldovan national selection in 2022 with two songs – “I Just Had Sex With Your Ex” and “My Friend Is Gay“, returned in 2023 with “My Favourite Schoolgirl” and 2024 with “Married to twins“, finishing last in the audition stages.
  • Catalina Solomac – Participated last year with the song “Fever“.
  • Katy Rain – Participated in 2022 with “Lele“.
    MC Mike – Participated in 2012 with “The Mole Girl“.
    Sasha Letty – Participated in 2019, 2020, and 2024. Last year, she participated with the song “DNA“.




Moldova in Eurovision 2024

Natalia Barbu represented Moldova in the first semi-final of Eurovision 2024 with the song “In the Middle”, after winning first place in the local national final. The song reached 13th place in the first semi-final, with only 20 points, and did not qualify for the grand final. This is Moldova’s lowest result in Eurovision since 2016, when Moldova reached 17th place in the semi-final.

Source: moldova1

Eurovision 2025: This will be Moldova’s 20th participation in Eurovision. Moldova joined the competition in 2005 and achieved its best result in Eurovision 2017 when SunStroke Project finished in third place with the song “Hey Mamma”.