Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026
| Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 2026 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM) | |||
| Country |  Moldova | |||
| Selection process | Finala națională 2026 | |||
| Selection date | 17 January 2026 | |||
| Competing entry | ||||
| Song | "Viva, Moldova!" | |||
| Artist | Satoshi | |||
| Songwriter | Vlad Sabajuc | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
| ||||
Moldova is set to be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with the song "Viva, Moldova!", written and performed by Vlad Sabajuc under his stage name Satoshi. The Moldovan participating broadcaster, Teleradio-Moldova (TRM), organised Finala națională 2026 to select its entry for the contest.
Background
[edit]Prior to the 2026 contest, Teleradio-Moldova (TRM) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Moldova nineteen times since its first entry in 2005. Its best placing in the contest was third, achieved in 2017 with the song "Hey, Mamma!" performed by SunStroke Project. To this point, it had achieved a top ten placing at the contest four times: in 2005 when "Boonika bate toba" performed by Zdob și Zdub placed sixth, in 2007 when "Fight" performed by Natalia Barbu placed tenth, in 2018 when "My Lucky Day" performed by DoReDoS also placed tenth, and in 2022 when Zdob și Zdub returned to compete for a third time together with the Advahov Brothers and placed seventh with the song "Trenulețul".[1]
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, TRM organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster has selected its entry via a national selection show between 2008 and 2020 and since 2023, while it selected its entry in 2021 via an internal selection. TRM was to held a selection show in 2022, but it was ultimately cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions and it internally selected its entry during the audition round.[2] After withdrawing from the 2025 contest following a "detailed analysis of the current situation, as well as the economic, administrative and artistic challenges",[3] TRM confirmed its intentions to participate at the 2026 contest on 3 November 2025 and announced that it would hold a national selection show, featuring a new format to be implemented following consultations with artists, producers and music industry representatives, to select its entry.[4]
Before Eurovision
[edit]Finala națională 2026
[edit]Finala națională 2026 was the national final format developed by TRM in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The event was held at the Chișinău Arena in Chișinău on 17 January 2026, and was hosted by Daniela Crudu and Ion Jalbă, with Alisa Tanas and Bogdan Nigai serving as green room hosts.[5][6] The show was broadcast on Moldova 1, Radio Moldova Muzical as well as online via TRM's official website moldova1.md and the broadcaster's Facebook and YouTube pages.[7][8]
Competing entries
[edit]Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries between 7 November 2025 and 7 December 2025.[4] Artists could submit more than one song, and an international act was able to compete only if they were part of a duo or group where 50% of the lead vocalists bore Moldovan nationality.[9] At the conclusion of the submission deadline, 37 valid entries were received by the broadcaster, of which 34 were performed at the live audition round that took place on 16 December 2025 at TRM Studio 2 in Chișinău.[10] Competition producers Serghei Orlov and Roman Burlaca evaluated the songs during the live auditions and selected sixteen finalists to advance.[11][12][13]
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Adelisha | "Alegria" |
|
| Artiom Topal | "Money" | Artiom Topal |
| Bacho | "Tata" |
|
| Cătălina Solomac | "Pink Margarita" |
|
| Cristy Rouge | "Bliss" |
|
| Curly | "Respir liber" |
|
| Dayana | "Doina" |
|
| Emforia | "Tipare" | Ion Staver |
| Evgenii Avramov | "Foc la ghete" | Evgenii Avramov |
| Ilinca Siviroveanu | "Running Through the Rain" | Radu Zaplitnii |
| Katy Rain | "Dance and Cry" |
|
| Maxim Zavidia | "Allo" |
|
| Pavel Orlov | "Can't Say Goodbye" | Pavel Orlov |
| Sasha Flowers | "We Fight Till the End" | Alexandru Bublițchi |
| Satoshi | "Viva, Moldova!" | Vlad Sabajuc |
| Valleria | "Valerian Steel" | Valeria Condrea |
Final
[edit]The final took place on 17 January 2026. Sixteen songs competed and "Viva, Moldova!" performed by Satoshi was selected as the winner based on the combination of a public online vote, the votes of a national jury and the votes of an international jury. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, former Eurovision entrants performed as guests: Paula Seling (Romania 2010 and 2014), Efendi (Azerbaijan 2020 and 2021), and Jamala (winner for Ukraine in 2016). A number of past Moldovan Eurovision entrants also performed in order to celebrate the country's 20th appearance at the contest: Zdob și Zdub (2005, 2011 and 2022), Natalia Gordienko (2006, 2020 and 2021), Natalia Barbu (2007 and 2024), Nelly Ciobanu (2009), SunStroke Project (2010 and 2017), Aliona Moon (2013), Cristina Scarlat (2014), and DoReDos (2018).[6]
The national jury that voted in the final included Nelly Ciobanu, Igor Dînga (founder and vocalist of Cuibul, music producer), Andriano Marian (founder and conductor of the Moldovan National Youth Orchestra), Dorin Galben (journalist and influencer), SunStroke Project, Elena Stegari (producer, journalist at TRM), Gheorghe Mustea (flutist, naist, pedagogue, composer, conductor and academician), Rusalina Russu (television producer at Moldova 1), Natalia Gordienko, Elisoa Cynthia (content creator), Maria Petrova (content creator), Dmitrii Sergheev (music producer), Corina Caireac (music industry manager), Vlad Costandoi (founder of Sens Music, concert producer), and Lilu (journalist, content creator, TV presenter), while the international jury included Eric Lehmann (Head of the Luxembourgish Eurovision Delegation in 2024 and 2025, music journalist), Jamala, Deban Aderemi (British music journalist and blogger at Wiwibloggs), Efendi, and Paula Seling.[14]
| R/O | Artist | Song | Jury | Public vote | Total | Place | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National | Intl. | Votes | Points | |||||
| 1 | Artiom Topal | "Money" | 5 | 2 | 136 | 0 | 7 | 9 |
| 2 | Valleria | "Valerian Steel" | 0 | 1 | 126 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| 3 | Adelisha | "Alegria" | 0 | 0 | 177 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 4 | Maxim Zavidia | "Allo" | 7 | 3 | 165 | 0 | 10 | 6 |
| 5 | Evgenii Avramov | "Foc la ghete" | 0 | 0 | 593 | 6 | 6 | 10 |
| 6 | Cătălina Solomac | "Pink Margarita" | 8 | 7 | 861 | 10 | 25 | 3 |
| 7 | Dayana | "Doina" | 1 | 10 | 617 | 7 | 18 | 4 |
| 8 | Satoshi | "Viva, Moldova!" | 12 | 12 | 13,084 | 12 | 36 | 1 |
| 9 | Sasha Flowers | "We Fight Till the End" | 6 | 0 | 353 | 2 | 8 | 8 |
| 10 | Cristy Rouge | "Bliss" | 4 | 0 | 145 | 0 | 4 | 14 |
| 11 | Ilinca Siviroveanu | "Running Through the Rain" | 0 | 0 | 409 | 4 | 4 | 13 |
| 12 | Bacho | "Tata" | 3 | 4 | 373 | 3 | 10 | 5 |
| 13 | Curly | "Respir liber" | 2 | 6 | 218 | 1 | 9 | 7 |
| 14 | Emforia | "Tipare" | 0 | 0 | 535 | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| 15 | Katy Rain | "Dance and Cry" | 0 | 5 | 174 | 0 | 5 | 12 |
| 16 | Pavel Orlov | "Can't Say Goodbye" | 10 | 8 | 813 | 8 | 26 | 2 |
| R/O | Song | N. Ciobanu
|
I. Dînga
|
A. Marian
|
D. Galben
|
SunStroke Project
|
E. Stegari
|
G. Mustea
|
R. Russu
|
N. Gordienko
|
C. Elisoa
|
M. Petrova
|
D. Sergheev
|
C. Caireac
|
V. Costandoi
|
Lilu
|
Total | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Money" | 7 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 57 | 5 | |||
| 2 | "Valerian Steel" | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | "Alegria" | 1 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | "Allo" | 2 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 60 | 7 | ||||
| 5 | "Foc la ghete" | 3 | 3 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | "Pink Margarita" | 10 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 96 | 8 | |
| 7 | "Doina" | 4 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 42 | 1 | |||||
| 8 | "Viva, Moldova!" | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 176 | 12 |
| 9 | "We Fight Till the End" | 5 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 57 | 6 | ||||
| 10 | "Bliss" | 6 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 56 | 4 | ||
| 11 | "Running Through the Rain" | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 21 | 0 | ||||||||
| 12 | "Tata" | 10 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 55 | 3 | ||||
| 13 | "Respir liber" | 6 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 54 | 2 | ||||||
| 14 | "Tipare" | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 18 | 0 | |||||||||
| 15 | "Dance and Cry" | 8 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 33 | 0 | ||||||
| 16 | "Can't Say Goodbye" | 7 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 122 | 10 |
| R/O | Song | E. Lehmann
|
Jamala
|
D. Aderemi
|
Efendi
|
P. Seling
|
Total | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Money" | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | |||
| 2 | "Valerian Steel" | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 1 | |
| 3 | "Alegria" | 4 | 4 | 0 | ||||
| 4 | "Allo" | 4 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 3 | ||
| 5 | "Foc la ghete" | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 6 | "Pink Margarita" | 4 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 7 | 33 | 7 |
| 7 | "Doina" | 10 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 41 | 10 |
| 8 | "Viva, Moldova!" | 12 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 53 | 12 |
| 9 | "We Fight Till the End" | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| 10 | "Bliss" | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |||
| 11 | "Runnning Through the Rain" | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | |||
| 12 | "Tata" | 8 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 28 | 4 |
| 13 | "Respir liber" | 6 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 30 | 6 | |
| 14 | "Tipare" | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |||
| 15 | "Dance and Cry" | 5 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 28 | 5 | |
| 16 | "Can't Say Goodbye" | 7 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 36 | 8 |
References
[edit]- ^ "Moldova". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (28 January 2022). "Moldova: TRM to Select Eurovision 2022 Representative Tomorrow". Eurovoix. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
- ^ "Moldova withdraws from Eurovision 2025". Eurovisionworld. 22 January 2025. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
- ^ a b "Moldova will return to Eurovision 2026". Eurovisionworld. 3 November 2025. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
- ^ "16 finalists confirmed for Selecția Națională 2026". ESCXTRA.com. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
- ^ a b c "VIDEO | „Viva, Moldova!": Satoshi a câștigat Selecția Națională Eurovision 2026 și va reprezenta Republica Moldova la Viena" ["Viva, Moldova!": Satoshi won the Eurovision 2026 National Selection and will represent the Republic of Moldova in Vienna]. moldova1.md (in Romanian). TRM. 17 January 2026. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
- ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (Sergio) (17 January 2026). "Tonight: Finala Nationala 2026 in Moldova". ESCToday. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
- ^ Granger, Anthony (17 January 2026). "Today: 🇲🇹 Malta & 🇲🇩 Moldova Select for Eurovision 2026". Eurovoix. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
- ^ "Regulament Eurovision 2026". eurovision.md. 3 November 2025. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
- ^ "Piesele calificate în etapa audițiilor LIVE". eurovision.md. 11 December 2025. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
- ^ "Moldova: 16 finalists for Selecția Națională 2026 selected". Eurovisionworld. 17 December 2025. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
- ^ "Eurovision 2026 National Selection: list of 37 artists qualified for the live auditions". moldova1.md. 11 December 2025. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
- ^ "Șaisprezece concurenți, selectați pentru Finala Națională Eurovision 2026". eurovision.md. 17 December 2025. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
- ^ Botnaru, Nicoleta (17 January 2026). "Cum a votat juriul și publicul la etapa națională a concursului Eurovision Song Contest 2026". #diez (in Romanian). Retrieved 18 January 2026.