TRM confirmed their intentions to participate at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 on 5 November 2007 despite financial hardships which led to the possibility of withdrawal from the contest. O melodie pentru Europa 2008 was the national final format developed by TRM in order to select Moldova’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.
Format
The selection of the competing entries for the national final and ultimately the Moldovan Eurovision entry took place in two rounds. The first round involved a jury panel selecting twelve finalists from the received submissions to proceed to the second round, the televised national final. 12 finalists competed in the final on 9 February 2008 where the winner was selected based on the combined votes from an expert jury vote, a TRM committee vote and a public televote.
Competing entries
Interested artists and composers had until 11 December 2007 to submit their entries to the Moldovan broadcaster. Artists were required to have Moldovan citizenship, with the exception of up to two foreign backing vocalists and/or dancers. Songwriters could hold any nationality. At the conclusion of the submission deadline, 27 valid entries were received by the broadcaster. A non-binding online vote ran from 12 December 2007, enabling users to listen to the 27 entries and vote for their favorites. A jury panel evaluated the songs and selected 12 finalists for the competition.
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexa | „We Are One“ | Elena Buga, Alexandru Brașoveanu | 82 | 2 |
| Alexandru Bognibov | „I Love the Girls“ | Alexandru Bognibov | — | — |
| Orion | „Chokolina“ | Orion | — | — |
| Tanita | „Exciting“ | Andrei Sava, Tatiana Surdu | — | — |
| Dana Marchitan | „Your Name“ | Ruslan Țăranu | 35 | 8 |
| Alex Hioara | „Love In Spain“ | Ruslan Țăranu | — | — |
| Liusia Znamensky | „Don’t Deceive My Heart“ | Ruslan Țăranu | 18 | 12 |
| Galina Scoda | „Your Own Vision“ | Radmila Popovici-Paraschiv, Marian Stîrcea | 27 | 9 |
| Scroom | „Jane“ | Radu Zariciuc, Iulian Munteanu | 24 | 10 |
| Sergiu Ilasciuc | „Just Be Mine“ | Alexandru Brașoveanu, Radmila Popovici-Paraschiv | — | — |
| Olia Tira | „Always Will Be“ | Ruslan Țăranu | 86 | 1 |
| Cristi Ruj | „You Make Me Feel Crazy“ | Cristina Rujitcaia | 52 | 4 |
| Elena Condorachi | „Tinar zbor“ | Radmila Popovici-Paraschiv, Marian Stîrcea | — | — |
| Geta Burlacu | „A Century of Love“ | Victoria Demici, Oleg Baraliuc | 52 | 4 |
| Eugen Silta | „In 2“ | Eugen Silta | — | — |
| Catrina Pislaru | „Dance With Me“ | Hans-Christian Rahn, Valentin Dînga | 49 | 6 |
| Catrina Pislaru | „Feelings“ | Hans-Christian Rahn, Valentin Dînga | — | — |
| Santa Maffy | „World Goes Wild“ | Santa Maffy, Andrei Samardac | — | — |
| Edict | „I Believe“ | Alina Dabija, Valeriu Cataragă | 63 | 3 |
| Metrolive | „Ogon“ | Elena Sleazina, Uvarov | — | — |
| El Radu | „Let Me Love You“ | Ivan Lincovschi, Sinchebru | — | — |
| Elena Demirdjean | „Living Creatures“ | Elena Reznic, Marian Stîrcea | 22 | 11 |
| Ne Predel | „Moldova“ | Macarov, Cobilteanu | — | — |
| Jay Mon | „Point of View“ | Ruslan Țăranu | 39 | 7 |
| Slavici | „O alta istorie“ | Slavici Moroz | — | — |
| Ruxanda | „I’m Out of Your Game“ | Nadina Calistru | — | — |
| Tatiana Ignat | „The Game Is On Again“ | Kara | — | — |
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Alexa | „We Are One“ | Elena Buga, Alexandru Brașoveanu |
| Geta Burlacu | „A Century of Love“ | Viorica Demici, Oleg Baraliuc |
| Elena Demirdjean | „Living Creatures“ | Elena Reznic, Marian Stircea |
| Edict | „I Believe“ | Alina Dabija, Valeriu Cataragă |
| Dana Marchitan | „Your Name“ | Ruslan Țăranu |
| Jay Mon | „Point of View“ | Ruslan Țăranu |
| Catrina Pislaru | „Dance With Me“ | Hans-Christian Rahn, Valentin Dînga |
| Cristi Ruj | „You Make Me Feel Crazy“ | Cristina Rujitcaia |
| Galina Scoda | „Your Own Vision“ | Radmila Popovici-Paraschiv, Marian Stîrcea |
| Scroom | „Jane“ | Radu Zariciuc, Iulian Munteanu |
| Olia Tira | „Always Will Be“ | Ruslan Țăranu |
| Liusia Znamensky | „Don’t Deceive My Heart“ | Liusia Znamensky |
Final
The final took place on 9 February 2008 at the National Palace in Chișinău, hosted by Rusalina Rusu and Sergiu Raelanu.The winner was selected based on the combination of votes from a public televote (1/3), an expert jury (1/3) and a TRM committee (1/3). The expert jury included Ghenadie Ciobanu (head of the Composers Union of Moldova), Anatol Chiriac (composer), Titus Zhukov (head of the „Likuric“ theatre), Natalia Brasnuev (president of OGAE Moldova), Sergey Gavrilice (editor of VIP Magazin), Vasile Năstase (editor of Glasul Naţiunii), Diana Stratulat (producer) and Victoria Buketaru (Fresh FM Moldova). The TRM committee included George Musta (conductor of TRM orchestra), Ion Kerpek (producer), Vadim Styngachu (TRM representative) and Boris Foksa (member of coordinator unit of TRM).
At the conclusion of the voting, there was a tie for the first place between „A Century of Love“ performed by Geta Burlacu and „Always Will Be“ performed by Olia Tira. The tie was resolved after each member of the expert jury and the TRM committee cast one vote for one of the two songs. After a 7 to 5 vote, „A Century of Love“ performed by Geta Burlacu was selected as the winner.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | TRM Committee | Televote | Total | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liusia Znamensky | „Don’t Deceive My Heart“ | 3 | 2 | 410 | 0 | 5 | 11 |
| 2 | Elena Demirdjean | „Living Creatures“ | 5 | 10 | 1,350 | 7 | 22 | 5 |
| 3 | Scroom | „Jane“ | 1 | 4 | 458 | 0 | 5 | 12 |
| 4 | Galina Scoda | „Your Own Vision“ | 6 | 12 | 1,329 | 6 | 24 | 4 |
| 5 | Dana Marchitan | „Your Name“ | 4 | 3 | 1,223 | 5 | 12 | 8 |
| 6 | Jay Mon | „Point of View“ | 2 | 6 | 773 | 2 | 10 | 9 |
| 7 | Catrina Pislaru | „Dance With Me“ | 7 | 5 | 644 | 1 | 13 | 7 |
| 8 | Cristi Ruj | „You Make Me Feel Crazy“ | 3 | 2 | 829 | 3 | 8 | 10 |
| 9 | Geta Burlacu | „A Century of Love“ | 12 | 8 | 4,293 | 10 | 30 | 1 |
| 10 | Edict | „I Believe“ | 6 | 7 | 1,124 | 4 | 17 | 6 |
| 11 | Alexa | „We Are One“ | 8 | 7 | 7,665 | 12 | 27 | 3 |
| 12 | Olia Tira | „Always Will Be“ | 10 | 12 | 2,603 | 8 | 30 | 2 |