1) The Result
Thanks in part to an excellent position in the running order, the combination of Zdob și Zdub and Frații Advahov with their catchy, uplifting and uniting song “Trenulețul” finished 7th overall, boosted by 2nd place in the televote.
2) The Process
Moldova’s national selections have been fairly dodgy at times, but this year brought some structure, as an audition process narrowed down the options to a final of 10 songs. This was a who’s-who of former contestants, with Pasha Parfeny (2012), Aliona Moon (2013) and SunStroke Project (2010 & 2017) all attempting to return to Eurovision. In the end, Pasha Parfeny won over both the jury and the televote.
3) The Artist
Funnily enough, Pasha Parfeny was the singer for SunStroke Project in 2008-2009 before losing out to his former band in the selection for Moldova’s 2010 entry to Eurovision. He was selected for the 2012 contest and finished 11th in the final. The next year he was the pianist and composer for Moldovan entry Aliona Moon. He attempted a return in 2020, but finished runner-up to Natalia Gordienko.
4) The Song
EDM in the forest with a flute. Even if you didn’t have the striking visuals of the staging and video clip, the pagan themes of this song are very obvious. It has something witchy about it.
5) The Verdict
I’m okay with this, it’s fine. I’m not seeing the divisiveness that Moldova’s entries sometimes cause, meaning that they’re going to qualify, but will end up with a middling result. The part of the song I like the most is the short breaths you hear in at the end of each line of the flute solo, which speaks for itself about how this entry doesn’t do much for me.
My ranking: 25th
EUROVISION, SERIOUSLY 