Back in December, Moldovan broadcaster Teleradio-Moldova (TRM) opened the song submissions window for their selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. 33 out the 60 submitted songs progressed to the live auditions round, which took take place earlier today.
From the 31 competing songs, the following 10 songs received the highest scores and remain in contention to represent Moldova in Liverpool:
| Rank | Song | Song | Points |
| 1 | Sunstroke Project | “Yummy Mommy” | 55 |
| 2 | Pasha Parfeni | “Soarele şi luna” | 53 |
| 3 | Donia | “Red Zone” | 52 |
| 4 | Aliona Moon | “Du-mă” | 49 |
| 5 | OL | “Why You Play It Cool” | 48 |
| 6 | Surorile Osoianu | “Bade, bădişor, bădiţă” | 47 |
| 7 | NÖRDIKA | “Damn and Down” | 45 |
| 7 | Victor Gulick | “Let’s Dance” | 45 |
| 9 | COSMINA | “Indestructible” | 45 |
| 10 | Corina Ivanov | “When Love’s Real” | 44 |
The following 21 songs were eliminated:
- ADA DEEA – “Mystic Rose”
- Adelina Iordachi – “Deja Vu”
- Angel Kiss – “Now I Know”
- Crista – “Pădure verde pădure”
- Diana Elmas – “Miracle”
- Formaţia Vele – “Jocul neamului moldovenesc”
- Gesica Sîrbu – “I’m in Love”
- Harmony Scuffle – “Favourite One”
- Lisa Volk – “Scrisoare către ţară”
LOLA – “Temperatura”(Disqualified for not attending the auditions)- Nihilist & Lisa Nicky – “Final Destination”
- Nikko T. – “Destiny”
- Nino – “It Would Be Nice”
- NR 11 – “Adio”
- Ricky Ardezianu – “Una rosa rossa”
- Rise – “Don’t Trumble”
- Sasha Bognibov – “My Favourite Schoolgirl”
- Tania Pituşcan – “Mioriţa”
- Valeria Condrea – “We’re Now Different”
- VERA – “Vremea ta”
- Y-Limit – “Live in Harmony”
About Etapa Naţională
The Moldovan entry for Liverpool will be selected via three stages. In the first stage, all submitted entries were reviewed and filtered by the broadcaster.
The second stage was a live audition stage, which was held on January 28 and was broadcast on Moldova 2. The qualifiers were selected by 100% jury voting, and were revealed on Moldova 1. The ten participants that received the highest scores will go through to the final selection.
Ahead of the auditions, two shortlisted entries were disqualified. NÖRDIKA’s “Squeeze Paradise” violated the September 1 eligibility rule by submitting a song that was originally released in 2012. Meanwhile, Massimo Sinceri & DA-MUSE because their vocalist is an Italian citizen and therefore their entry violates rule 2.7, which states that only 50% of the vocal soloists may be from a nation that isn’t Moldova.
The third stage will be a televised national final, due to be held on a date between February 25 and March 5. The final will be broadcast live on TV Moldova 1 and online, with Moldova’s entry being selected by 50% jury voting and 50% public voting.
Moldova at the Eurovision Song Contest
Moldova made their Eurovision debut in 2005 with Zdob și Zdub’s “Boonika bate doba“. With a successful sixth place, this was the start of things to come. Overall Moldova has participated in the contest 17 times, reaching the final on 12 occasions. As well as reaching the top 10 with three more attempts. Their best ever result came in 2017 with SunStroke Project’s “Hey Mamma” achieving third place.
In Turin, Zdob și Zdub and Advahov Brothers brought Moldova yet another top 10 posting, finishing in 7th place with 253 points, notably placing second in the televote behind winners Ukraine.
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