Moldova’s national final took place tonight, in order to select the song to represent Moldova at Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The winner chosen by a combination of the public and a professional jury, was the song “Prison” by Natalia Gordienko.
The contestants of Moldova’s national final
The remaining 19 contestants that competed this evening were:
- Denis Midone – “Like a Champion”
- Natalia Gordienko – “Prison”
- Viorela Moraru – “Remedy”
- Valentin Uzun & Irina Kovalsky – “Moldovița”
- Lavinia Rusu – “Touch”
- Dima Jelezoglo – “Do It Slow”
- Diana Rotaru – “Dale dale”
- Pasha Parfeny – “My Wine”
- Live Beat – “Love Me Now”
- Valeria Pașa – “It’s Time”
- Maria Ciolac – “Our Home”
- Sasha Letty – “Summer of Love”
- Irina Kit – “Chain Reaction”
- Petronela Donciu & Andreea Portărescu – “We Will Be Legends”
- Lanjeron – “Hi Five”
- Julia Ilienko feat. Mishel Dar – “Tears”
- Catarina Sandu – “Die for You”
- Alexandru Cibotaru – “Cine te-a facut să plîngi”
- Maxim Zavidia – “Take Control”
The winner, “Prison” by Natalia Gordienko, was chosen by a combination of public vote and a proffessional jury. The composer of “Prison” is Dimitris Kontopoulos and Philip Kirkorov, with lyrics penned by Sharon Vaughn.
In Rotterdam, Natalia has the so called Dream Team supporting her, consisting of Dimitris Kontopoulos, Sharon Vaughn, Ilias Kokotos and creative director Fokas Evangelinos, having been involved in numerous entries over the past years with successful results.
This is the second time that the Dream Team is behind Moldova’s entry, with the former being that of 2018 with DoReDoS “My Lucky Day” finnishing in 10th place.
Natalia Gordienko in Eurovison
Natalia Gordienko is a Moldovan singer and dancer. She was born in Chișinău on 11 December 1987. She is of Ukrainian descent.
In 2010, Gordienko released her first album Time and in 2011 the album Cununa de flori.
However, Natalia is not unknown to Eurovision community.
Alongside Arsenium and Connect-R, she represented Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens with the song “Loca” and placed 20th in the field of 24 and scored 22 points.
Natalia makes a strong comeback after 14 years and tries her luck for a second time on her own this year. The song “Prison” is a midtempo ballad with some ethnic influences.
Moldova will compete on the second semi final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, in Rotterdam.
You can listen to the Moldovan entry below:
The video clip of the song was shot in Athens, Greece and shows Natalia trying to escape the “prison” of her lover.
The concept of the national selection
All of the submitted entries were performed live in front of a jury, which consisted of Anatol Chiriac, Gabriela Tocari, Andriano Marian, Paul Gămurari and Mihai Agafiță. This was broadcast live on Moldova 2, as well as online via Teleradio-Moldova’s Facebook and YouTube pages. Due to the quality of the acts presented at the live audition round, the jury recommended to the broadcaster to organise a national selection, consisting of 20 acts.
A panel of experts evaluated the 36 entries that were performed on live auditions at Studio 2 of Moldovan TV on February 1st, based on the songs composition, its originality, the vocal performance of the performer, as well as the interpretation.
The top 20 acts proceeded further to the next stage competing on the Moldovan national final, with Geta Burlacu withdrawing last moment.
What do you think of the Moldovan entry? Are you happy to see Natalia Gordienko in Eurovision for the second time? Let us know in the comments and on social media @ESCXTRA. Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates.