Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011

O melodie pentru Europa 2011 was the national final format developed by TRM in order to select Moldova's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. The event took place at the TRM Studio 2 in Chișinău, hosted by Dianna Rotaru and Gabriel Coveseanu, and included a final to be held on 26 February 2011. The show was broadcast on Moldova 1, TV Moldova Internațional and Radio Moldova as well as online via the broadcaster's official website trm.md.[4] The national final was watched by 380,000 viewers in Moldova.[5]

Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries between 27 December 2010 and 16 January 2011. Artists were required to be of Moldovan nationality and could submit more than one song, while songwriters could hold any nationality.[3][6][7] At the conclusion of the submission deadline, 98 valid entries were received by the broadcaster.[8][9] A jury consisting of Geta Burlacu (singer, 2008 Moldovan Eurovision entrant), Aura (singer), Anatol Chiriac (composer), Victoria Melnic (professor at the Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts), Andrei Sava (composer), Liviu Stirbu (composer), Sorina Ștefârță (journalist), Vladimir Beleaev (composer) and Silvia Cărăuş (music critic) selected 60 out of the 98 received entries to proceed to the audition round.[10] The live audition round took place on 29 January 2011 where 25 finalists were selected by the jury panel to advance. Entries were assessed on criteria such as vocals and manner of the performance and the originality of the song.[11] "The Cave of Life" performed by Ianna Novac, "What You Say" performed by Janet Erhan and "Summer Is Following" performed by Veaceslav Daniliuc and Andrei Hadjiu were withdrawn from the competition and therefore did not attend the auditions.[12]

Among the finalists were 2005 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Zdob şi Zdub and 2007 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Natalia Barbu. On 6 February 2011, "Solo por tu amor" performed by Katrina was disqualified from the competition due to the song being published before 1 September 2010 and replaced with the song "Ma pierd când o văd" performed by Dumitru Socican.[13]

The final took place on 26 February 2011. Twenty-five 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 Vladimir Beleaev (composer), Anatol Chiriac (composer), Liviu Știrbu (composer), Andrei Sava (composer), Aura (singer), Geta Burlacu (singer, 2008 Moldovan Eurovision entrant), Victoria Melnic (professor at the Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts), Sorina Ștefârță (journalist), Victoria Demici (songwriter), Ana Dubeli (Locals.md editor-in-chief), Viorel Ţigănaş (composer), Alex Calancea (instrumentalist and producer) and Ludmila Climoc (Orange Moldova representative).[14] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, 2011 Romanian Eurovision entrants Hotel FM performed as a guest. "So Lucky" performed by Zdob şi Zdub was selected as the winner.[15]

Zdob şi Zdub made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "So Lucky" as the Moldovan Eurovision entry. On 9 April, Zdob şi Zdub performed during the special concert Düsseldorf, venim! which was held at the Liceul Teoretic "Nichita Stănescu" in Bucharest, Romania.[16] On 24 April, Zdob şi Zdub performed during the farewell concert of Ukrainian Eurovision entrant Mika Newton, which was held at the Independence Square of Kyiv, Ukraine.[17]

Zdob şi Zdub during a rehearsal before the second semi-final

Zdob şi Zdub took part in technical rehearsals on 2 and 6 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 9 and 10 May. This included the jury show on 9 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.

The Moldovan performance featured the members of Zdob şi Zdub in a band set-up, wearing tall black cone shaped hats and performing on stage with one dancer, who was dressed in a short white dress as a fairy. In regards to the cone hats, lead singer the band Roman Iagupov stated: "The hats are a Moldovan tradition, they are called Kushma's. They are like a kind of antennae, which bring cosmic power. All good people wear these type of hats in Moldova. It's a symbol from our sunny small country of Moldova." The dancer played a small trumpet and rode a unicycle around the stage, as well as being embraced at the end of the performance by Iagupov who subsequently put a monocle on his eye. The stage featured LED screen projections of red and black dolls dressed in folk costumes with tall pointed black hats.[19][20] The dancer that joined Zdob şi Zdub on stage is Tatiana Iliescu.[21]

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 tenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 54 points.[22]

Shortly after the second 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 in position 15, following the entry from the United Kingdom and before the entry from Germany.[23]

Zdob şi Zdub once again took part in dress rehearsals on 13 and 14 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. The band performed a repeat of their semi-final performance during the final on 14 May. Moldova placed twelfth in the final, scoring 97 points.[24]

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 twelfth with the public televote and fifteenth with the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Moldova scored 98 points, while with the jury vote, Moldova scored 82 points. In the second semi-final, Moldova placed eighth with the public televote with 62 points and thirteenth with the jury vote, scoring 53 points.[25]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Moldova and awarded by Moldova in the second 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.