Moldova participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 and selected their entry through a national final, O Melodie pentru Europa (A song for Europe), organized by Moldovan broadcaster TRM (TeleRadio-Moldova).

O melodie pentru Europa 2010

O Melodie Pentru Europa 2010 was the national final format developed by TRM to select Moldova’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. The event took place at the TRM Studio 2 in Chișinău, hosted by Dianna Rotaru and Iurie Gologan with Lucian Dumitrescu reporting from the green room, and included two semi-finals and a final to be held on 27, 28 February and 6 March 2010, respectively. All shows in the competition were broadcast on Moldova 1, TV Moldova Internațional and Radio Moldova as well as online via the broadcaster’s official website trm.md.

Format

The selection of the competing entries for the national final and ultimately the Moldovan Eurovision entry took place over two rounds. The first round occurred on 16 January 2010 where a jury panel selected 25 semi-finalists from the received submissions to proceed to the second round, the televised national final, based on criteria including the quality of the melody and composition and the vocals and manner of the performance. An additional five semi-finalists were selected via an online wildcard vote that took place between 29 January and 14 February 2010. 15 semi-finalists competed in each semi-final on 27 and 28 February 2010. Seven songs qualified to the final from each semi-final based on the combined votes from an expert jury and public televoting results. The fourteen qualifying entries competed in the final on 6 March 2010 where the winner was selected by the 50/50 combination of an expert jury vote and a public televote. In the event of a tie, the entry that receives the highest score from the expert jury vote was declared the winner.

Competing entries

Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries between 15 December 2009 and 8 January 2010. New rules from the 2010 edition allowed for international artists to apply only if they were part of a duo or group where one of the lead vocalists were of Moldovan nationality and there were no more than two international acts. Songwriters could hold any nationality and international songwriters could either select the performers themselves or submit a demo recording with TRM assisting in selecting the performers. Artists without a song also had the opportunity to submit their applications from 17 December 2009, which would then be matched with songs submitted by international songwriters. After the submission deadline, 83 valid entries were received by the broadcaster. A jury consisting of Ion Suruceanu (performer), Lidia Panfil (lecturer at the Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts), Nelly Ciobanu (singer, 2009 Moldovan Eurovision entrant), Vitalia Rotaru (producer, composer), Sergiu Gavriliţă (VIP Magazin editor-in-chief), Vlad Costandoi (producer), Liviu Știrbu (composer), Anatol Chiriac (composer), Marcel Ștefăneț (conductor and instrumentalist) and Anatol Caciuc (programme director of Radio Moldova) selected 25 semi-finalists out of the 82 received entries to advance. An online SMS vote among 50 songs that were not selected as the semi-finalists ran between 29 January and 14 February 2010 and the top five entries proceeded to the national final. The 30 semi-finalists were allocated to one of the two semi-finals, each containing 15 entries, in a draw that was held on 15 February 2010.

On 23 February 2010, „Towards the Sky“ was performed by Alex White, „Wait!“ performed by Ionel Istrati, „Goodbye“ performed by Olia Tira, „Believe“ performed by SunStroke Project and „Padure, verde padure“ performed by Victoria Mahu were withdrawn from the competition and replaced with the songs „The Robbery“ performed by Constantinova & Fusu, „Day and Night“ performed by Dana Marchitan, „So Many Questions“ performed by JJ Jazz, „Poza ta“ performed by Veronica Lupu and „Ţi-aduci aminte“ performed by Vitalie Toderascu.

Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)
Alex White	„Towards the Sky“	Unknown
Alexandru Manciu	„Rămîi lîngă mine“	Alexandru Manciu
Boris Covali	„No Name“	Zaza Hubuscalasvili, Anastasia Larionova
Brand	„S.O.S.“	Andrey Rajecki
Carolina Gorun	„Addicted“	Anna Gulko, Mircea Gutu
Constantinova and Fusu	„The Robbery“	Leonard Fusu, Anna Constantinova
Corina Cuniuc and Denis Latâşev	„Forever“	Elena Buga, Ilie G. Jr.
Cristina Croitoru	„My Heart“	Valentin Dînga, Elena Buga
Cristy Rouge	„Don’t Break My Heart“	Cristy Rouge, Sandu Gorgos
Dana Marchitan	„Day and Night“	Andrej Hadjiu, Veaceslav Daniliuc
Doinița Gherman	„Meloterapia“	Eugeniu Condiu, Populara
Dyma	„Manipulate“	Alex Brașoveanu, Aris Kalimeris
Eugen Doibani	„Love Sweet Love“	Eugen Doibani
Gicu Cimbir	„Cine sunt eu“	Gicu Cimbir
Gloria	„I’m Not Alone“	Gloria Gorceag, Alex Brașoveanu
Ionel Istrati	„Wait!“	Alex Brașoveanu, Alina Dabija
Irina Tarasiuc	„Lucky Star“	Mirela Bazelyuk, Mariana Styrchi
JJ Jazz	„So Many Questions“	Pavel Barabanshchikov, Inga Milosavljevic
MBeyline	„Never Step Back“	MBeyline
Marcel Roșca	„If Love Is the Thing“	Patrycja Kawecka, Pawel Jurczak
Mariana Mihăilă	„Say I’m Sorry“	Marc Paelinck, Michael Garvin
Mihai Teodor	„Ai-Ai-Ai“	Mihai Teodor
Millennium	„Before You Go“	Olga Gorcinschi, Vica Demici
Monkey Mind and Daniela	„Smile“	Mitelea Daniela, Igor Mura
Nicoleta Gavrilita	„De tristețe“	Marian Stîrcea, Radmila Popovici-Paraschiv
Olia Tira	„Goodbye“	Eugen Doibani
Pasha	„You Should Like“	Pavel Parfeni
Pavel Turcu	„Imn Eurovision“	Pavel Turcu
SunStroke Project	„Believe“	Anton Ragoza, Sergey Stepanov, Alina Galetskaya
SunStroke Project and Olia Tira	„Run Away“	Anton Ragoza, Sergey Stepanov, Alina Galetskaya
Todo	„Dance 4 Life“	Radu Lepadatu
Valeria Tarasova	„See You Soon“	Mia, Marian Stîrcea
Veronica Lupu	„Poza ta“	Viorel Burlacu
Victoria Mahu	„Padure, verde padure“	Unknown
Vitalie Toderascu	„Ţi-aduci aminte“	Vitalie Toderascu

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final took place on 27 February 2010. Seven songs qualified to the final based on the combination of votes from a public televote and the votes of an expert jury. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2006 Moldovan Eurovision entrants Arsenium and Natalia Gordienko, 2008 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Arsenium, singers Serj Kuzencoff and Elena Demirdjean, and the ballet company Teodor performed as guests.

Semi-final 1 – 27 February 2010

Draw	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Mihai Teodor	„Ai-Ai-Ai“	0	13
2	Corina Cuniuc and Denis Latâşev	„Forever“	2	11
3	Doinița Gherman	„Meloterapia“	8	7
4	SunStroke Project and Olia Tira	„Run Away“	22	1
5	Millennium	„Before You Go“	20	2
6	Marcel Roșca	„If Love Is the Thing“	5	10
7	Nicoleta Gavrilita	„De tristețe“	7	8
8	Dyma	„Manipulate“	12	3
9	JJ Jazz	„So Many Questions“	0	13
10	Todo	„Dance 4 Life“	1	12
11	Eugen Doibani	„Love Sweet Love“	10	6
12	Monkey Mind and Daniela	„Smile“	11	4
13	Dana Marchitan	„Day and Night“	7	8
14	Constantinova and Fusu	„The Robbery“	0	13
15	Carolina Gorun	„Addicted“	11	4

Semi-final 2

The second semi-final took place on 28 February 2010. Seven songs qualified to the final based on the combination of votes from a public televote and the votes of an expert jury. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2009 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Nelly Ciobanu, rock band Cezara and the ballet company Teodor performed as guests.

Semi-final 2 – 28 February 2010

Draw	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Boris Covali	„No Name“	11	5
2	Pavel Turcu	„Imn Eurovision“	10	6
3	Gloria	„I’m Not Alone“	7	9
4	Pasha	„You Should Like“	17	2
5	Alexandru Manciu	„Rămîi lîngă mine“	13	3
6	Mariana Mihăilă	„Say I’m Sorry“	9	8
7	Vitalie Toderascu	„Ţi-aduci aminte“	0	12
8	Gicu Cimbir	„Cine sunt eu“	9	7
9	Irina Tarasiuc	„Lucky Star“	0	12
10	Cristy Rouge	„Don’t Break My Heart“	2	10
11	Veronica Lupu	„Poza ta“	0	12
12	Valeria Tarasova	„See You Soon“	12	4
13	MBeyline	„Never Step Back“	0	12
14	Brand	„S.O.S.“	2	10
15	Cristina Croitor	„My Heart“	24	1

Final

The final took place on 6 March 2010. The fourteen songs that qualified from the preceding two semi-finals competed and the winner was selected based on the combination of a public televote and the votes of an expert jury. The jury that voted in the final included Jerome Poulain (Orange Moldova representative), Angela Sârbu (director of Moldova 1), Ana Diubeli (programme director of Radio Moldova), Marcel Ștefăneț (conductor and instrumentalist), Svetlana Bivol (director of the National Philharmonic Concert Hall), Liviu Știrbu (composer) and Vlad Costandoi (producer). In addition to the performances of the competing entries, singer InGrid and the ballet company Teodor performed as guests. „Run Away“ performed by SunStroke Project & Olia Tira was selected as the winner.

Draw	Artist	Song	Jury	Points	Televote	Televote Points	Total	Place
1	Doinița Gherman	„Meloterapia“	27	0	6.23%	5	5	10
2	Valeria Tarasova	„See You Soon“	46	5	3.43%	1	6	9
3	SunStroke Project and Olia Tira	„Run Away“	78	12	17.85%	12	24	1
4	Pasha	„You Should Like“	71	10	10.57%	7	17	3
5	Dyma	„Manipulate“	31	2	5.82%	4	6	7
6	Pavel Turcu	„Imn Eurovision“	1	0	9.30%	6	6	6
7	Eugen Doibani	„Love Sweet Love“	29	1	4.34%	3	4	11
8	Boris Covali	„No Name“	60	8	3.31%	0	8	5
9	Carolina Gorun	„Addicted“	8	0	1.82%	0	0	13
10	Gicu Cimbir	„Cine sunt eu“	38	3	1.94%	0	3	12
11	Millennium	„Before You Go“	55	7	17.39%	10	17	2
12	Cristina Croitoru	„My Heart“	53	6	10.91%	8	14	4
13	Monkey Mind and Daniela	„Smile“	5	0	3.06%	0	0	13
14	Alexandru Manciu	„Rămîi lîngă mine“	44	4	4.03%	2	6	8

Detailed Jury Votes

Draw	Song	J. Poulain	A. Sârbu	A. Diubeli	M. Ștefăneț	S. Bivol	L. Știrbu	V. Costandoi	Total
1	„Meloterapia“	6	2	2	5	4	7	1	27
2	„See You Soon“	5	10		4	12	12	3	46
3	„Run Away“	11	12	11	10	11	11	12	78
4	„You Should Like“	12	9	12	11	7	10	10	71
5	„Manipulate“	9	4	6	3	3	2	4	31
6	„Imn Eurovision“			1					1
7	„Love Sweet Love“	3	5	5	2	2	4	8	29
8	„No Name“	10	8	8	9	6	8	11	60
9	„Addicted“	2	1		1	1	1	2	8
10	„Cine sunt eu“	7	3	3	8	5	5	7	38
11	„Before You Go“	8	11	9	7	9	6	5	55
12	„My Heart“		6	10	12	10	9	6	53
13	„Smile“	1			4				5
14	„Rămîi lîngă mine“	4	7	7	6	8	3	9	44

Sun Stroke Project previously came 3rd in the 2009 Moldovan Final. The lead singer of the group also came 9th in the 2008 Moldovan Final (as ‚Jay Mon‘). Olia Tira took part in the 2006 Moldovan Final, came 2nd in 2008 & 4th in 2009. At the ESC they came equal 21st. Gicu Cimbir was a backing singer for Moldova in ESC 2009.