Lăutar (song)
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Moldova was represented at the
Eurovision Song Contest 2012 The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song "Running Scared (Ell & Nikki song), Running Scared" by Ell & Nikki, El ...
with the song "Lăutar" written by Pasha Parfeny and Alexandru Brașoveanu. The song was performed by Pasha Parfeny. The Moldovan broadcaster
TeleRadio-Moldova TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM) is the Moldovan state-owned national radio and television broadcaster. It owns two television channels and three radio stations. TRM was admitted as a full active member of the European Broadcasting Union on 1 January 199 ...
(TRM) organised the national final ''O melodie pentru Europa 2012'' in order to select the Moldovan entry for the 2012 contest in
Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...
, Azerbaijan. 85 entries competed to represent Moldova in Baku, with 21 being shortlisted to participate in the televised national final which took place on 11 March 2012 after auditioning in front of a jury panel. "Lăutar" performed by Pasha Parfeny emerged as the winner after gaining the most points following the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public televote. Moldova was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 22 May 2012. Performing during the show in position 17, "Lăutar" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 26 May. It was later revealed that Moldova placed fifth out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 100 points. In the final, Moldova was the closing performance of the show in position 26, placing eleventh out of the 26 participating countries with 81 points.


Background

Prior to the 2012 Contest, Moldova had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest seven times since its first entry in 2005. The nation's best placing in the contest was sixth, which it achieved in
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
with the song "Boonika bate doba" performed by Zdob și Zdub. Other than their debut entry, to this point, Moldova's only other top ten placing at the contest was achieved in
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
where "Fight" performed by
Natalia Barbu Natalia Barbu (; born 22 August 1979) is a Moldovan singer and songwriter. She is best known for Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, representing Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song "Fight (Natalia Barbu song), Fig ...
placed tenth. In the 2011 contest, "So Lucky" performed by Zdob și Zdub qualified Moldova to compete in the final and placed twelfth. The Moldovan national broadcaster,
TeleRadio-Moldova TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM) is the Moldovan state-owned national radio and television broadcaster. It owns two television channels and three radio stations. TRM was admitted as a full active member of the European Broadcasting Union on 1 January 199 ...
(TRM), broadcast the event within Moldova and organised the selection process for the nation's entry. TRM confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest on 28 December 2011. Moldova has selected their entry via a national selection show since 2008, a procedure that was continued for their 2013 participation.


Before Eurovision


O melodie pentru Europa 2012

''O melodie pentru Europa 2012'' was the national final format developed by TRM in order to select Moldova's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. The event took place at the TRM Studio 2 in
Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...
, hosted by Marcel Spataru, Evelina Vârlan and Dorina Gherganov, and included a final to be held on 11 March 2012. The show was broadcast on
Moldova 1 Moldova 1 is the national Moldovan television channel, operated by the national public broadcaster, Teleradio-Moldova. History Moldova 1 was launched on 30 April 1958, at 7:00 pm, with a welcome speech from the society and party structures. ...
, TV Moldova Internațional and Radio Moldova as well as online via the broadcaster's official website ''trm.md'' and at the official Eurovision Song Contest website ''eurovision.tv''. The national final was watched by 800,000 viewers in Moldova.


Competing entries

Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries between 28 December 2011 and 16 January 2012. Artists were required to be of Moldovan nationality and could submit more than one song, while an international act was able to compete only if they were part of a duo or group with a maximum of two international members. Songwriters could hold any nationality. At the conclusion of the submission deadline, 85 valid entries were received by the broadcaster. A jury consisting of Olga Ciolacu (singer), Igor Dînga (producer and composer), Vali Boghean (singer-songwriter), Tatiana Cerga (singer), Andrei Sava (composer), Victoria Tcacenco (professor at the Music, Theatre and Fine Arts Academy) and Dana Argint (Orange Moldova representative) selected 60 out of the 85 received entries to proceed to the audition round. The live audition round took place on 29 January 2012 at TRM Studio 2 in
Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...
where the jury panel 20 finalists were selected to advance. Entries were assessed on criteria such as vocals and manner of the performance and the originality of the song. "De departe" performed by Alexei Leahu and Georgeta Voinovan was withdrawn from the competition and therefore did not attend the auditions. Alisa Gangan also did not attend the auditions and therefore her song "Fly With Me" was disqualified. An online wildcard vote on ''trm.md'' among 33 entries not selected from the audition round ran between 1 and 12 February 2012 to select an additional finalist, and the winner, "Live On Forever" performed by Mariana Mihăilă, was announced on 20 February 2012. Among the finalists was 2008 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Geta Burlacu. On 20 February 2012, "Turn On the Light" performed by 2009 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Nelly Ciobanu was withdrawn from the competition and replaced with the song "Live the Show" performed by Akord, which came second in the wildcard vote.


Final

The final took place on 11 March 2012. Twenty-one songs 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
Nicu Țărnă Nicu Țărnă (born 25 July 1977) is a singer, actor, showman and TV presenter from Moldova. He is the lead vocalist for the alternative rock band Gândul Mâței. Biography Țărnă was born on 25 July 1977 in Chișinău, Moldova. He graduated ...
(singer), Olga Ciolacu (singer), Vali Boghean (singer-songwriter), Tatiana Cerga (singer), Igor Dînga (producer and composer), Victoria Tcacenco (professor at the Music, Theatre and Fine Arts Academy), Andrei Sava (composer), Angela Brașoveanu (journalist), Igor Cobileanschi (director), Ludmila Climoc (Orange Moldova representative) and Anatol Chiriac (composer). In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2012 Swiss Eurovision entrant Sinplus and 2012 Ukrainian Eurovision entrant Gaitana performed as a guest. "Lăutar" performed by Pasha Parfeny was selected as the winner.


Promotion

Pasha Parfeny made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Lăutar" as the Moldovan Eurovision entry. On 21 April, Pasha Parfeny performed during the ''Eurovision in Concert'' event which was held at the
Melkweg Melkweg (Dutch for "Milky Way") is a music venue and cultural center on Lijnbaansgracht, near Leidseplein in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is housed in a former dairy and includes four music halls as well as a cinema, a restaurant and an exhibitio ...
venue in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, Netherlands and hosted by
Ruth Jacott Ruth Jacott (born 2 September 1960) is a Surinamese-Dutch singer. Jacott transitioned from musical theatre to popular music in 1993, when she represented the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest 1993. Her song, " Vrede" (Peace), was one o ...
and
Cornald Maas Cornald Maas (born 22 July 1962) is a Dutch people, Dutch television presenter who has been known for presenting talk shows in the Netherlands. He is the brother of Frans Maas. Early career He was an editor involved in ''The Scream of the Lion'' ...
. On 29 April, Parfeny performed during the ''Primavara Romaneasca'' event which was held at the ARTHIS venue in
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, Belgium.


At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the " Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The
European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...
(EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 25 January 2012, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Moldova was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 22 May 2012, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. The running order for the semi-finals was decided through another draw on 20 March 2012 and Moldova was set to perform in position 17, following the entry from
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
and before the entry from
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. The two semi-finals and the final were televised in Moldova on
Moldova 1 Moldova 1 is the national Moldovan television channel, operated by the national public broadcaster, Teleradio-Moldova. History Moldova 1 was launched on 30 April 1958, at 7:00 pm, with a welcome speech from the society and party structures. ...
as well as broadcast via radio on Radio Moldova. All broadcasts featured commentary by Marcel Spătari. The Moldovan spokesperson, who announced the Moldovan votes during the final, was Olivia Furtună.


Semi-final

Pasha Parfeny took part in technical rehearsals on 14 and 18 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 21 and 22 May. This included the jury show on 21 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries. The Moldovan performance featured Pasha Parfeny performing a choreographed routine on stage with five dancers, dressed in short colourful dresses and with two of them also performing backing vocals. The stage featured predominantly red lighting and LED screen projections of red lips and hearts as well as chequerboard patterns and a white silhouette of a dancer. The dancers that joined Parfeny on stage are Aliona Moon, Tatiana Heghea, Julia Gakhova, Ksyusha Vertelnikova and Lera Kirichenko. The latter three are members of the Ukrainian ballet group "Lyubovniki", while Aliona Moon would go on to represent Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. At the end of the show, Moldova was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Moldova placed fifth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 100 points.


Final

Shortly after the first semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine the running order for the final. This draw was done in the order the countries were announced during the semi-final. Moldova was drawn to perform last in position 26, following the entry from
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
. Pasha Parfeny once again took part in dress rehearsals on 25 and 26 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Parfeny performed a repeat of his semi-final performance during the final on 26 May. Moldova placed eleventh in the final, scoring 81 points.


Voting

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Moldova had placed thirteenth with the public televote and ninth with the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Moldova scored 75 points, while with the jury vote, Moldova scored 104 points. In the first semi-final, Moldova placed seventh with the public televote with 85 points and second with the jury vote, scoring 107 points. Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Moldova and awarded by Moldova in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Romania in the semi-final and the final of the contest.


Points awarded to Moldova


Points awarded by Moldova


References


External links

*
Official website
'' TRM'' {{Eurovision Song Contest 2012
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012
Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an origina ...