Bună seara! Chişinău calling! On Tuesday we found out the first 8 qualifiers  for the big final on Saturday of “O Melodie Pentru Europa” – Moldova’s event for selecting the act to go to Eurovision!

Tonight another 12 Semi Finalist finalists will compete for a chance to qualify in the final.

James and Bogdan, (newly named as #JamDan) invite you to  #JoinUs at 18:40 CET for the LIVE BLOG of  Moldova’s 2^nd Semi Final!. You know the drill – just refresh the page for full updates and our thoughts on the performances.

Don’t forget to follow and tweet us @EurovisionIrela and @JamDanESC

We’re hoping for a great show tonight, so let’s join in with the “Hora din Moldova”!

How To Watch

The Show starts at 18:40 CET

Watch the show using either this link or this one

Running Order

12 Semi Finalists are singing tonight in the following order:

#1.  Rodica and Ivan Aculov – “Stop Lying”
#2.  Lidia Isac – “Falling Stars”
#3. Cristina Pintilie – “Picture of Love”
#4. Diana Brescan – “Till the End”
#5. Max Fall feat Dan Vozniuc & Malloy – “Game L-OVER”
#6. Andrei Ionita & Onoffrei – “Lie”
#7. Felicia Dunaf – “You and Me”
#8. Nadia Mosneagu – “Memories”
#9. Big Flash Sound – “Când vrei”
#10. Anna Gulko – “Never Let Go”
#11. Beatrice – “Saved My Heart For You”
#12. Vitalie Todirascu – “Belladonna” 

How The Finalists Will Be Selected

Like in the First Semi Final, 7 songs will be selected from a mixture of Public Televote and an Expert Jury to progress to Saturday night’s Grand Final. An 8th qualifier will also be selected from the remaining non-qualifiers by another Public Televote, the result of which will be announced during a post semi-final discussion show.

LIVE BLOG – Starts 18:40 CET Here

You know the drill by now! You just refresh the page after each song for our comments. Don’t forget we will be awarding our #MagicMic Award for the most memorable moment of the show!

JAMES: Just a few minutes till show time people! Are you ready?!

BOGDAN: Good evening everyone, we’re all set to blog the 2nd Moldovan semi here 😀

JAMES: And we’re off, live in Chişinău!

BOGDAN: To start us off, we’ve got Dan Balan’s song Funny Love with a group of dancers

JAMES: Bit reminiscent of Every Way That I Can, no?

BOGDAN: Maybe just a bit 😛

JAMES: Our lovely hosts for the evening – nice to see lots of purple!

JAMES: The audience are excited!

BOGDAN: They’re announcing who is taking part tonight and how you can vote for them

JAMES: These are the numbers you need if you’re watching in Moldova tonight – and if you are, let us know! We love to find out where our fans are reading from 🙂

BOGDAN: That’s Liviu, who’ll be looking after the Green Room

JAMES: We’ve now been introduced to our Expert Panel for tonight – and told that the Televoting Lines are already open! Moldova, get voting!

BOGDAN: Didn’t Eurovision itself try that one year?

JAMES: Yes, but changed it back after only 1 or 2 years. Rodica is up now, who came last in the National Selection of Romania last year – will Moldova be able to change her luck?

BOGDAN: These guys look like warriors!

JAMES: I was thinking something a little more… adult… 0_O

JAMES: This is very much a traditional Eurovision ballad. I quite like it

BOGDAN: At most a 6 for me… they looked interesting, but the song itself was quite plain

JAMES: Lidia Isac up now – they’re going through quite quickly!

BOGDAN: A favourite tonight in Moldova, let’s see how she does

JAMES: I can hear why it is a favourite! This is really boppy and catchy.

BOGDAN: I like the rhythm

JAMES: I think this could do well at Eurovision! Good job Lidia!

BOGDAN: 8 points from me

JAMES: The same from me

JAMES: Cristina and ‘Picture of Love’ up next… they’re certainly making sure we have to type quickly to keep you all updated 0__O

BOGDAN: Interesting… sounds a little like Only Teardrops!

JAMES: I was thinking more Believe meets Senhora do Mar with the staging! Great sound to it though, hope it qualifies

BOGDAN: Nice podium! Another set of 8 points from me

JAMES: La fel si eu… yes, I speak Moldovan 😉

BOGDAN: You wish! 😛 Diana Brescan next, with Till The End

BOGDAN: Oh wow! She looks fabulous! This is a perfect Eurovision song! I love it! 😀

JAMES: Georgia is watching you… and they want their stage back! Not a bad little song, I enjoyed that! 7 points from me

BOGDAN: And a 7 from me too. Finally! A little bit of a break from lightening fast typing!

JAMES: Eye eye 😉

BOGDAN: The presenter has just said he believes Moldova has what it takes to make it into the Top 5! The other presenter said that’s only his hope

JAMES: That’s the spirit, Moldova!

BOGDAN: Max, Dan and Malloy are up next with Game L-Over

JAMES: Well the title made me laugh 😛

JAMES: Gosh, doesn’t he look like Zac Efron?

BOGDAN: Well, Zac can sing… maybe it really is him! 😛

JAMES: Stranger things have happened at this contest!

BOGDAN: I don’t really know what to say about this one

JAMES: It wasn’t bad, but wasn’t exactly memorable either…

BOGDAN: Points?

JAMES: A 5

BOGDAN: 7

JAMES: Andrei Ionita and Onoffrei are going to Lie to us next… charming!

BOGDAN: He’s rapping about justice in traditional Moldovan costume

JAMES: Only at Eurovision!

BOGDAN: “Moldova, don’t stay on your knees”… very unusual song for Eurovision! 6 points

JAMES: The staging was nice, Moldova looks beautiful and I liked the costume, but rap grates on me… sorry… 5

JAMES: Felicia up now with You and Me a lovely flute intro… as inspired by Lane Moje?

BOGDAN: A promising start, but her vocals need a little work

JAMES: She definitely has the building blocks to get Moldova that Top 5 spot they were talking about earlier. An 8 from me, I really liked it!

BOGDAN: 7 from me, I like it too. Hope she qualifies so we can see what she can really do with her voice.

JAMES: Nadia Mosneagu shares her Memories with us now

BOGDAN: The song is Memories and even the staging is like Barbara Streisand!

JAMES: I’m loving this one! Do love me a bit of operatic screeching!

BOGDAN: This could have done well a few decades ago… not so sure now

JAMES: She definitely has a big voice

BOGDAN: 8, for a captivating performance

JAMES: I disagree with what you said, I think this could still do well today. 10 points!

BOGDAN: We’d like to thank you guys out there for reading along with us, you guys are awesome 😀

JAMES: Definitely, it’s you guys that make the Eurovision Song Contest! ❤

JAMES: Liviu interviews contestants in the Green Room – where can I get a shirt like that?

BOGDAN: Big Flash Sound are asking us Când Vrei – or When You Want – next!

BOGDAN: Reminds me a bit of Serbia 2011 – Caroban!

JAMES: She even looks a little like another well known Serbian singer!

BOGDAN: It’s got quite a retro sound to it

JAMES: Disco, jazz, oldies… it’s got a lot in there!

BOGDAN: The song didn’t do much for me. 5

JAMES: Me neither, started promisingly, but didn’t quite pull it off. 4

JAMES: Anna Gulko begs us to Never Let Go now… I don’t even know you, madame!

JAMES: Impressive background!

BOGDAN: With a few adjustments and maybe different staging, this could do really well in Stockholm. 8 points from me

JAMES: And from me. I think it would do well for Moldova

JAMES: Stormy seas in Moldova… a country without a coastline, but never mind 😛

BOGDAN: Beatrice  says she’s Saved My Heart For You

JAMES: Save all your kisses for me… oh sorry, wrong song!

JAMES: Interesting staging… the light bulbs are an unusual touch

BOGDAN: Interesting shoulder accessory too! It’s all very 90s for me… I really can’t say I like it.

JAMES: It’s nice enough, but doesn’t have any real grab for me

JAMES: This, dear readers, is why you don’t leave so many light bulbs turned on all at the same time!

BOGDAN: Very true! Vitalie Todirascu serenades Belladonna next

BOGDAN: He has a very haunting voice

JAMES: Yes, a very sultry tango sound to it! I’m just waiting for something to really give it a wow factor

BOGDAN: A good effort but this tango gets only 3 points from me.

JAMES: I’m going to give it a 5 – I really wanted to like it, but it wasn’t as spectacular as it could have been

BOGDAN: Liviu is back in the Green Room getting contestants to make a last-minute plea for votes

JAMES: While we wait for a result from Chişinău as they have a recap of the songs, Bogdan and I will discuss our #MagicMic Awards from tonight

BOGDAN: For me tonight there can be only one #MagicMic Award and that goes to the staging of Beatrice’s ‘Saved My Heart For You’! Exploding light bulbs would make a very memorable Eurovision show!

JAMES: I agree, Beatrice definitely had a show stealing moment, but I’m going to choose someone else –  my #MagicMic Award goes to the dancers behind Felicica during You and Me… seriously… what was going on there?! 0_O Definitely memorable if incredibly creepy!

BOGDAN: Who do you think will qualify tonight James?

JAMES: Well, there have been some great songs tonight, but I’d most like to see Anna Gulko, Nadia Mosneagu and Felicia Dunaf. How about you, Bogdan?

BOGDAN: Greart choices, I’d like to add Lidia Isac, Cristina Pintilie  and Diana Brescan to the list.

JAMES: Moldova! Stop voting now!

BOGDAN: Now we’re being treated to an interval act while the votes are being counted, Gandul Matei – the name means Cat’s Thought…

JAMES: I wonder what cats are thinking of this…

JAMES: For anyone out there, we’re still here. Still listening to the interval act

BOGDAN: It’s been over 20 minutes now!

JAMES: Fear not, we’re still here Eurovision fans! We’ll let you know as soon as something happens!

BOGDAN: The interval act is over and we’ve gone straight to an ad break!

JAMES: And we’re back! The jury will now give us their points and make their observations

BOGDAN: Cristina Pintilie is taking an early lead… poor Beatrice has nothing yet!

JAMES: Big Flash Sound have taken the lead

BOGDAN: Beatrice only has 1 point for her exploding light bulbs…

JAMES: Here are the votes from the Expert Panel. After the commercial break, we’ll hear what the Moldovan public thought too!

BOGDAN: Will that change who is in the lead?

JAMES: The public votes are in

BOGDAN: So these are the final results! The 7 qualifiers

JAMES: Congratulations to all!

BOGDAN: Congratulations and good luck! Thank you all for watching! Just remember to check back later when we’ll find out the 8th finalist!

JAMES: The second “START TELEVOTING” is ON! Come back to see who’s got the final (8th) ticket!

UPDATE: After another round of televoting, the Moldovan public have decided that Felicia Dunaf (who originally came 8th anyway!) should join the other 7 finalists on Saturday night. Congratulations Felicia!

JAMES: So now we have all our contestants for Saturday night! Thank you for reading along with us tonight and don’t forget to join us, #JamDan then for our live blog of the Moldovan Final!

BOGDAN: Thank you all, so from us and from Chişinău, good night! 😀

JAMES: Noapte bună! 😉

Authors: James Scanlan, Bogdan Stefan

Source : Eurovision Ireland