Moldova is one of the Eurovision nations which seem to have the ability to concoct wacky, unforgettable creations – from competition hits Zdob și Zdub and their pointy hats to 2013’s entry from Aliona Moon with her dress that had a mind of its own.
As a result, they were rarely seen outside the Grand Final – though they failed to qualify for three consecutive years between 2014 and 2016. Sunstroke Project saved the day in 2017 by giving Moldova its highest placing of third. However, it now rests on DoReDos' shoulders to maintain the momentum in 2018 with My Lucky Day.
Unfortunately, I don’t have the highest expectation for the trio. My Lucky Day certainly brings the party atmosphere, but it reminds me of one of those cheesy parties from the 1980s that you'd rather forget. It's a tune you'd expect to hear blasting from a Mediterranean hotel resort, late in the evening, just as the drunken festivities are coming to a close - think Benidorm circa 1985.
Luckily for Moldova, though, Romania, Russia and the Ukraine are in their semi, so at least they are not without their most dependable voting allies.
I'm pretty sure their points aren't going to help, though. Based purely on the fact that it’s probably their weakest song since 2014 and that semi-final 2 could well be a bloodbath, it's not much of a risk to put this one down as a non-qualifier. Sadly, not their lucky day.
At the end of February, Moldova was among five nations to pick its entry on a Super Saturday of national finals across Europe with Falling Stars by Lidia Isac becoming the choice of Moldovan televoters, but not their expert jury.
It's not surprising that there was a lack of unanimity over Falling Stars as it's a tediously generic dance tune with a total absence of originality. Add to that Lidia Isac's less-than-perfect vocals and stagecraft - unless you like wooden singers with nasal overtones - and Moldova is looking at missing out on the Final for a third successive year.
On the plus side, Lidia is rather easy on the eye, but that alone hasn't helped many prospective finalists in the past.
Clearly, between now and Lidia's appearance in the first half of the first semi-final urgent tweaks need to be made to the overall package. But it's unlikely that any changes to this forgettable piece of Euro pulp will be enough to secure a place in the running order of the big Saturday showdown.
Amid accusations of corruption and plagiarism, Ukrainian singer and three-time finalist in Ukraine's national Eurovision selection, Eduard Romanyuta, won the right to represent Moldova last weekend with the song I Want Your Love.
Eduard and his team were preparing for another national final in his home country until political and financial crises forced Ukraine to withdraw. Fortunately for him, Moldova opened its doors to international singers and writers allowing him to enter I Want Your Love, a song written with Eurovision in mind. It was composed with the assistance of a group of international songwriters. Among them are Erik Lewander from Sweden, Hayley Aitken from Australia and Tom Andrews from England who had previously worked with global superstars and producers such as Britney Spears, Sarah Connor and RedOne.
The problem is that you are left in no doubt of the influence of Britney Spears' trademark sound on this catchy dance song. The backing track and the creative package reeks of any one of her album tracks from around fifteen years ago. Strangely though, the allegations of plagiarism do not involve her songs.
Listen to It's Like That by Mariah Carey and Liberty X's Just A Little and these give a big clue as to why so many are charging Romanyuta and his crew with copying elements of those tracks. Perhaps equally, or even more concerning, are the accusations of vote rigging, not only with the jurors but also with the televote. As it stands though, until any charges are found to be proved true, this is the song that will represent Moldova in Vienna. It's going to need some major reworking before it gets there, though.
I've read that Eduard has won many national and international song festivals already. All I can say is that his competition could not have been up to much, as his live vocals in Chișinău last Saturday night sounded grim.
The same could be said for the rest of the presentation. Sloppy and lumbering choreography, the sense that all of the participants had dressed in the dark and the cringeworthy attempt at a comedic ending only added to the perception of amateur night at your local club.
In the hands of someone else this song might work. As it stands, Moldova's Eurovision ambitions are doomed.
Ever since Moldova chose its Eurovision song last month, it has been one of those countries that has been largely ignored. No compelling arguments about its chances either way have been put forth and consequently it has fallen under, or virtually off, the radar.
Cristina Scarlat was chosen to sing Wild Soul, a song with text by her niece Lidia Scarlat. Cristina is an accomplished singer and it shows during this fraught power ballad.
It very much has the feel of a James Bond theme: dramatic, dark and with lyrics to match.
Unfortunately, despite the excellent singing skills, Cristina does not quite pull it all together. There are some dreadful diction problems with her English, which begs the question: Why not perform it in her native language?
Perhaps an English version was thought to have more of a chance with voters, but to be honest, her pronunciation is doing the song no favours at all.
And then there is the question of the staging. A song like this really needs no added distraction. Please dispose of the male dancers - one of which looks very precarious as he comes on stage. The tin foil needs to go as well when it's performed in Copenhagen. It just looks way too cheesy and adds nothing to the performance of the song. Change the dress too, Cristina.
Will Wild Soul make it to the final, though? The simple answer is: unlikely. It's included in the much more competitive semi-final one and is up against some of the powerhouse entries this year. Despite Moldova's great showing at Eurovisions past, this year the country could easily fall at the first hurdle.
Moldova has decided to send a backing singer who was part of last year's Moldovan entry to represent the nation's hopes at this year's Eurovision. Aliona Moon will sing O Mie (A Million), a song composed by the 2012 representative, Pasha Parfeny.
Since first competing in 2005, Moldova's results have been reasonably good. It's 2007 entry scraped into the Top 10 and the past two years have seen it finish fairly high on the left hand side of the scoreboard. So what will 2013 hold?
O Mie is yet another dramatic ballad in a year when ballads dominate. Having listened to her rehearsal footage, Aliona handles the vocals better than I would have anticipated. I'm just not a fan of her voice. And the song itself does not have the wow factor. Its slow pace at the beginning left me disinterested, while there was not enough of what made the track eventually pop. A case of too little, too late.
So, will this qualify for the final? For me, this is tough to call. There are several entries that I have already earmarked for missing the cut, but this was not among them. The spectacle of the volcanic dress may help, but shouldn't we be past the use of such gimmicks? We should be. Based on the song alone, I can see this finishing 11th or 12th in its semi-final. But there's also the onstage Pasha Parfeny factor to consider.
Aliona Moon will sing in position twelve of the first semi-final on May 14.
.jpg)
