Live: Moldova decides for Baku

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This evening, Moldova’s participant for Eurovision 2012 will be chosen. The lucky performer will come from a field of twenty-one entries, which will all be presented across a three and a half hour show. The winner will be chosen by a professional jury and the Moldovan public, each having an equal say into the result. Guests of the show include Eurovision participants from Switzerland and Ukraine, the group “Sinplus” and singer Gaitana.

Line Up:
01. Ruslan Taranu – Blanche
02. Irina Tarasiuc & MC Gootsa – Save a little sunshine
03. Pasha Parfeny – Lăutar
04. Alexandru Manciu – If you leave
05. Paralela 47 – Arde
06. Ksenya Nikora – You better rush
07. Leria – A ray of sun
08. Cristina Croitoru – Flight for love
09. Mariana Mihăilă – Live on forever
10. MC Mike &Human Place – Moll girl
11. Nicoleta Gavrilita – Crazy little thing
12. Geta Burlacu – Never ever stop
13. Adrian Ursu – Be yourself
14. Doiniţa Gherman – Welcome to Moldova
15. M Studio – Open your eyes
16. Anna Gulko – Ballad of love
17. Transbalcanica – Balkan Riders
18. Dara – Open your eyes
19. Univox – Moody Numbers
20. Akord – Live the show
21. INAYA – Lights

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19.35 on the clock, and the Moldovan broadcaster plays a television commercial which recommends the Moldovan people to be in time for the national selection- which was supposed to start already five minutes ago. Right after is a commercial for body lotion! Great but slightly typical start to this evening…

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The show finally starts, with a nice and authentic pan flute orchestra. This opening act, combined with the stage and presentation makes the viewers feel like the Eurovision Song Contest already started! Now I am wondering how a country like Moldova gets the money to organize a show like that. And with not less than 21 participants!

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After a long explanation of the voting procedure, the first song is about to start.

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01. Ruslan Taranu – Blanche

The Moldovan attempt to copy the Lordi success with a heavy rock song. But unfortunately that attempt is bound to fail, since the members of the band Ruslan Taranu are all way over fourty years old and pronounce the English lyrics of their song terrible. Two female backing vocals in gothic dresses sing the higher notes, to give a little touch of Within Temptation to this weird start of the show.

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02. Irina Tarasiuc & MC Gootsa – Save a little sunshine

Eurovision fans who immediatly thought about Katrina and the Waves when seeing the title of this song, will be deceived when they hear the actual song. Save a little sunshine is an upbeat pop song, which probably would have been modern if it was sended in the 1970’s, a period in which Moldova sadly enough did not exist independently yet. Girls in pink dresses and a big rapper in a bright yellow suit. I can not see this qualify for Baku.

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03. Pasha Parfeny – Lăutar

Another excentric combination of clothes: Pasha Parfeny is wearing a tartan coloured suit with short pants, while his backing vocals are dressed in ballet tutu’s. His song is cheerful, yet not original, and the trumpet and violin sounds can not help the fact that he lacks control of his vocals.

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04. Alexandru Manciu – If you leave

Supported by the woman he does not want to leave, Alexandru Manciu performs his disco pop song. Musically spoken, the performance can be compared to the first attempt of Dima Bilan or the Belarussian singer Koldun, but the performance is quite different. Instead of macho pop or multo dramatico, this stage presentation is more similar to a boyband performance.

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Commercial break! Wow, this show must be heavily sponsored by… well, a telephone company which I will not say by name. But it is a colour, and it is not Blue 😉 That explains where the money came from!

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05. Paralela 47 – Arde

It clearly is time for another rock song to get us started again. Paralela 47 is a much younger band than their fellow rockers who performed the first song. The stage presentation is traditional for this type of music. Think Andorra 2007 or Switzerland 2009 and you will get a clear picture. This is not as powerful as those entries though.

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06. Ksenya Nikora – You better rush

A song like Caroban (Serbia 2011), performed with the boxes on stage like the Estonian entry of last year. Ksenya stands on one of the boxes to sing her song, which she does well, but the strange dancers around her take away much of the attention.

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07. Leria – A ray of sun

For the first time tonight, this is a song for which Moldova should not have to be ashamed if it would represent them in Baku. A ray of sun is a power ballad with a lot of high notes, but Leria sings her way through them quite allright. Still something needs to be done about the excentric clothing and stage presentation, but so far that is the case with almost every participant…

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08. Cristina Croitoru – Flight for love

Another ballad, and the quality of the entries is slowly getting a little better. Cristina Croitoru watched very carefully the Georgian entrance of 2010 (Shine), because this performance has the same long draped red dresses and the same inexplicable ballet show.

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09. Mariana Mihăilă – Live on forever

Interrupted by another commercial break, the list of ballads continues now with Live on forever. However, this one is not sung half as well as the other two, and probably the professional jury in Moldova will notice that fact and ignore Mariana in the votes.

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10. MC Mike & Human Place – Moll girl

Interesting to see another song which western European countries were sending to Eurovision twenty or thirty years ago. I can not explain how this style of music can be so popular in a country that was not even participating in those days! “My wardrobe was empty”, sings MC Mike, and we can all see that he is not lying. Funky retropop, but this song is not modern, nor original.

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11. Nicoleta Gavrilita – Crazy little thing

What a respite: finally someone who understands the concept of being on stage alone, without a group of dancers who do not attribute anything to the song. But, yeah, the song… Crazy little thing is a really flat disco pop song in the Swedish style of Carola. Still we have not seen anything that might lead Moldova to the final in Baku.

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12. Geta Burlacu – Never ever stop

Caro Emerald after a couple of extra hamburgers. The latino salsa pop song Never ever stop could just as well have been called Stay, which is the only English word which comes out understandable. Despite the nice effort to put down an atmosphere, this song lacks a catchy chorus.

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The artists are being interviewed in the Green Room again, but I can not understand even a single word. Then again, a friend of mine from Moldova says on Twitter: “Trust me: it feels even creepier when you DO understand what they are saying…”. Allright, I will not complain and just wait until the next song starts.

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13. Adrian Ursu – Be yourself

Sadly enough, another participant is trying to cover up a boring song with a spectacular but copied stage act. Adrian Ursu’s song is an easy listening pop song, in the style of Hotel FM, but why should that be accompanied by the ferris of Svetlana Loboda? And the cyclists from Zdob si Zdub is also back on stage… Ironically, Adrian would have done a lot better if he had just been himself.

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14. Doiniţa Gherman – Welcome to Moldova

Cheerful folk pop in this fourteenth entry of the night. The nice thing about this performance is the fact that finally clothes and dance fit to the theme of the song. It is both traditional and sunny at the same time. Still you have to be a little more patriotic, or live in a dictature to reach Eurovision with an entry titled like this 😉

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15. M Studio – Open your eyes

A performance without props, dance and strange clothes, which is a big relief on an evening like tonight. And even though Open your eyes is still not a smashing song, it is at least a nice and calm song for those summer moments when you are sitting on a terrace, enjoying your holidays and the local folk band starts to play. Therefore I would say: do not open, but close your eyes instead, and enjoy the soft sound of M Studio, one of the better options so far.

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16. Anna Gulko – Ballad of love

Right before another commercial break, we are faced with another quiet ballad. Not surprisingly of course when you take a look at the title of this song. This probably would have been a lot better of the writer would have lifted the song to a higher key which suits Anna better. In this version she has a lot of problems with the lower notes.

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17. Transbalcanica – Balkan Riders

After a long break we are finally back on track with some music. Transbalcanica is bringing us another folk song, which reminds the experiences Eurovision fan of Romania 2009, not only because of the title. Then again, the vocals are not too bad, the song is ethnic and powerful, and so far we have not seen much of that.

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18. Dara – Open your eyes

The second song that is titled Open your eyes, and again my advice would be to do the exact opposite. Dara is a girl with a nice voice, holding a guitar and bringing a small and quiet song. Why does that need to be circled by a group of nuns? It does not have anything to do with the song, which is definitely not the worst one we have heard tonight.

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19. Univox – Moody Numbers

Moldova tonight proves to be extremely good in screwing up the stage presentation with misplaced spectacles. Not only with disco songs, but also with the ballads and guitar songs! Univox is no exception. Yes, of course, the song is about bad weather, but the childish drawings of suns and clouds are not legitimized by that.

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20. Akord – Live the show

The notorious Sertab ribbons are back on stage! They are another attempt to cover up for a song that was not supposed to be in the final in the first place. Why the Moldovan broadcaster decided to take it back in, remains unclear to me. The two guys of Akord both sing off key almost the entire time.

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21. INAYA – Lights

A Mika Newton lookalike is the last stage performance in this abominable Moldovan final. The song is a similar ballad, and in the field of participants we have seen so far it is not even that bad. Just not catching the ear as much as a Eurovision hit should do.

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Difficult to say which song would maybe transfer better to a bigger stage. I can not really tell the favourites in this national final, but for who is still interested in hearing the winner: stay tuned, this website will bring you the news as soon as possible!