The eastern European country is the third country to announce its comeback in the last few days, after Romania and Bulgaria. A new selection process has also been announced, with additional support for the future Moldovan act.
A comeback as promised
Moldova withdrew from the Contest earlier this year, during the 2025 selection season, stressing “the need for a substantial reform in the selection process” and “economic, administrative and artistic challenges” regarding a 2025 participation. The goal was to come back to the Contest, and as planned, Moldova will return in 2026.
This is the third announcement of a returning country in the past few days, after Bulgaria and Romania made similar announcements, confirmed by the EBU. The exact numbers of participants for 2026 remains unclear since the debate over Israel’s participation (and the potential boycotts of broadcasters from Spain, Slovenia, The Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland, and possibly others, should Israel remain) is not yet resolved.
A new selection process
TRM, Moldova’s broadcaster, also announced that a consultation with the music and production industries convinced them to create a new national selection process, which will be overseen by two producers: Serghei Orlov and Roman Burlaca.
Both have worked with Moldovan Eurovision artists in the past, Orlov having been (among other things) the agent of Lidia Isaac (2016), while Roman Burlaca directed the videoclip of “Wild Souls” (2014), having also directed many videoclips from Moldovan and Romanian artists.
Both will be available to help the eventual winner on their Eurovision journey, with TMR also offering them a “prize” (admittedly, prize money) to help cover some of the costs of participation. Moldovan artists have indeed often been asked pay many expenses out of their pockets, when wealthier broadcasters are usually able and willing to cover them as part of their delegation’s budget.
A submission window will open on 7 November, for a period of 30 days: entries must be submitted directly to [email protected]. The jury that will be used for the selection will be composed of fifteen Moldovan members, and five international members.
The success of a small country
With their return, Moldova will also hope for a return to the Grand Final, which they missed out on during their last participation in Malmö, in 2024. This was a rare occurence, since Moldova has qualified for the final 2 times out of 3 (12 out of 18 participations, not counting their automatic qualification in 2006).
Recently, Moldova has been a strong televote pleaser, with a third place in 2017 with “Hey Mama” (in the televote and overall) and a second place in the televote in 2022 with “Trenulețul” (which gave them a 7th place overall).
Did you expect Moldova’s return? Who do you think should represent the country in Vienna next year? Tell us more in the comments below or on social media!
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