#MOLDOVA: Live Blog of Etapa Națională 2023 from 18.00 CET

By John Stanton on March 4, 2023 • ( Leave a comment )

Tonight Moldova selects its song for the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool in May. Ten songs have made it to the the final, and will compete for the honour. You might recognise some of the names too. Broadcaster TRM will use a jury and public vote combination to select a winner. Could the victor from tonight mount a serious challenge to the big prize on 13 May.

We at Eurovision Ireland will blog the action as it happens. All you need to do is hit Refresh to see our latest thoughts. All times below are GMT (CET 01).

You can watch the action on Youtube HERE.

19.53 – Thanks for hanging in there. Is Pasha a good choice? Tell us what you think. And good night from this Eurovision Ireland blog!

19.52 – We have a winner! And it is…

19.51 – And here they are…

19.49 – After a quick ad break, the three hosts are on stage. It might be results time.

19.47 – Obviously the Advahov Brothers were fronting this part of the interval. The crowd loved it.

19.38 – Before the televotes are revealed, it’s more interval. A whole ensemble of mainly violins playing traditional music.

19.34 – How do things stand then? It’s looking good for Pasha

19.33 – The next maximum goes to Pasha Parfeny. This is followed by another maximum to him.

19.29 – The second maximum goes to Corina Ivanov. The third goes to Aliona Moon

19.28 – We have votes! Juror by juror. The first maximum goes to the Sunstroke Project

19.24 – And the televote is over.

19.17 – Another recap. Voting is obviously still open.

19.14 – Back – see, it wasn’t long.

19.11 – More adverts. These probably won’t last long.

19.07 – More interval fun. It’s Theodor Andrei, who’ll sing for Romania in Liverpool in May.

19.01 – Another recap. Don’t go away

19.00 – The Latvians are in the house, with their song Sudden lights

18.55 – With only a short amount of time left to vote, we get another song recap.

18.49 – if you like Moldovan rock, then this set by Zdob și Zdub is definitely for you

18.33 – Things are hotting up now, as Zdob și Zdub come back on stage. They’re earning their fee tonight.

18.28 – After a quick recap, it’s ad break time again.

18.24 – Of course Moldovans can vote, using the QR code TRM provides. Voting is open for 35 minutes!

18.17 – Now we have a quick chat with the last three acts to perform.

18.16 – We finish with a ballad that has a dark staging. Dark, except for stars behind Corina. The sound could come from a power ballad of the 1980s, with its electric piano accompaniment. It’s quite charming and very different to most other things we’ve heard here. And it’s quite classy too. And when you thought it couldn’t get better, there’s a key change. Corina even hits the challenging notes. Good on her.

18.13 – Song ten – already – comes from Corina Ivanov. It’s called When Love’s Real

18.12 – Drums and another song with an ethnic sound. It’s mean and moody, especially when singers join him wearing antlers. And there’s a person of restricted growth too. Very Moldovan. There’s much going on, and it seems – to my untrained eye – more Moldovan than all bar one of the other songs. I like this a lot, and there’s a hypnotic beat that gives it a slightly dark feel.

18.09 – Song nine comes from Pasha Parfeny. You may have heard of him. He’s singing Soarele şi luna

18.08 – A stage show always comes with these guys. They start on chairs with three dancers, also on chairs. It’s cool and funky and there’s an ‘epic’ sax break. They mean business and this really good performance could steal the show.

18.04 – Onto song eight. It’s Sunstroke Project with Yummy Mommy (sic)

18.01 – Back from the ads, and we have a chat with the last three acts to perform.

18.00 – A break before the next song, to tell about voting, and to have some ads.

17.58 – Aliona sings in Romanian and is looking well. She has two dancers in multi-coloured body paint. It’s a jaunty little song that is definitely one of the better things we’ve heard so far. The backdrop of many changing colours and patterns really sets it off.

17.54 – Song seven comes from a certain Aliona Moon. It’s called Du-mă

17.53 – This is more metal in nature. There’s heavy guitar riff kicking things off and the lead singer is in leather to go with her electric blue hair. One of the guitarists also gets in on the act harmonising with the lady singing. Is it heavy metal. Well, not quite. But it’s not light metal either.

17.50 – Onto song six, which is Damn and down by Nördika

17.49 – Cosnina has a ballad. And she’s alone on stage. The song’s about her being strong, and might strike a chord with the empowerment movement. It’s a very pleasant song that shows off her vocal range and she can carry a tune in a bucket. A nice song.

17.45 – Song five is from Cosmina. It’s called Indestructible.

17.42 – We’re in the Green Room, chatting to the first four acts.

17.39 – There are some time lag issues. which I’m sure TRM has in hand.

17.33 – Close harmony singing in the traditional Moldovan stylee. Think the R*s*an grannies but far far younger. It’s a decent ethnic song, and that make the most of the guy on pipes helping them along. I could see this in Liverpool in May, but has it got what it takes?

17.30 – Song four comes from Surorile Osoianu. It’s called Bade, bădişor, bădiţă

17.29 – This is more jaunty. Victor has dancers and singers wither him. There’s a simple chorus to it, and an extended break between chorus and second verse. He perhaps sings this a bit high – he could come down from the rafters a little and it might come over better. Nevertheless, it’s OK.

17.26 – Song three is Let’s Dance by Victor Gulick

17.25 – More dancing and something a bit 1970s-disco. There’s a lot of dancing, some of it even helping the song along. It’s not bad, and has a repetitive chorus. Not bad

17.21 – Song two comes from OL. It’s called Why You Play It Cool

17.20 – Donia has two masked drummers on stage with her. She’s strikingly dressed and this is a midtempo song that wants to have attitude. Will it? Well, her little turntable and warbly delivery is very noteworthy. But to prove she’s talented, she even plays a saxophone.

17.17 – And we’re off with song one. It’s Red zone from Donia.

17.15 – Ion is with tonight’s jury. The great and good of the Moldovan entertainment industry.

17.13 – That ad break was nicely brief. Daniela and Doina are taking us through the voting in an empty Green Room. Jury and public. Who knew? And they welcome viewers in many countries to a contest full of its own charm.

17.10 – It’s our first ad break of the broadcast. Don’t go away.

17.09 – We have three hosts for the show.