Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022

Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries between 20 December 2021 and 24 January 2022.[4] Artists could submit more than one song, and an international act was allowed to compete only if they were part of a duo or group where 50% of the lead vocalists were of Moldovan nationality. Songwriters could hold any nationality.[5] At the conclusion of the submission deadline, 29 valid entries were received by the broadcaster and among the artists that submitted a song were 2005 and 2011 Moldovan Eurovision entrant Zdob și Zdub and 2012 Moldovan Junior Eurovision entrant Denis Midone.[6][7] On 25 January 2022, "Intro" performed by Misscatylove was withdrawn from the selection.[8] A selection show named Selecția națională 2022 was to be held on 5 March 2022 to select Moldova's entry, with an audition round to be held on 29 January 2022 to select the entries to compete in the final. However, on 28 January 2022, it was revealed that the entry will be selected during the auditions following the cancellation of the planned national selection due to COVID-19 restrictions.[3]

The live audition round took place on 29 January 2022 at the TRM Studio 2 in Chișinău and an expert jury selected "Trenulețul" performed by Zdob și Zdub and Frații Advahov as the Moldovan entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. The auditions were broadcast on Moldova 1, Moldova 2 and Radio Moldova as well as online via trm.md and via TRM's Facebook and YouTube pages.[3][9] Entries were assessed on criteria such as voice quality and strength of the composition.[10] The jury panel that evaluated the songs consisted of Geta Burlacu (singer, 2008 Moldovan Eurovision entrant), Vali Boghean (singer-songwriter), Cristina Scarlat (singer, 2014 Moldovan Eurovision entrant), Victoria Cușnir (journalist) and Aliona Moon (singer, 2013 Moldovan Eurovision entrant).[11]

Following the selection of the Moldovan entry, Vasile Advahov of the Advahov Brothers revealed that changes would be made to "Trenulețul" including added English lyrics.[12] On 27 March, Zdob și Zdub and the Advahov Brothers was a guest during the Moldova 1 programme Cine vine la noi where they performed the final version of the song.[13]

Zdob și Zdub and the Advahov Brothers made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Trenulețul" as the Moldovan Eurovision entry. On 5 March, the artists performed the Moldovan entry as a guest during the final of the Romanian Eurovision national final.[14] On 7 April, the artists performed during the Israel Calling event held at the Menora Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv, Israel.[15] On 9 April, the artists performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the AFAS Live venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Edsilia Rombley.[16] On 16 April, the artists performed during the PrePartyES 2022 event which was held at the Sala La Riviera venue in Madrid, Spain and hosted by Ruth Lorenzo.[17]

Zdob și Zdub and Advahov Brothers performing during the first semi-final

Zdob și Zdub and Advahov Brothers took part in technical rehearsals on 30 April and 4 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 și Zdub dressed in colourful outfits and the Advahov Brothers dressed in white suits with black patterns and lines. The LED screen projected ethnic patterns that resemble a train map with the stage waterfall lit in yellow and green colours and the secondary stage featuring light and strobe effects throughout.[21][22]

At the end of the show, Moldova was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Moldova placed eighth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 154 points: 135 points from the televoting and 19 points from the juries.

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 which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Moldova was drawn to compete in the second half. Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Moldova was subsequently placed to perform in position 19, following the entry from Iceland and before the entry from Sweden.

Zdob și Zdub and the Advahov Brothers 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. They performed a repeat of their semi-final performance during the final on 14 May. Moldova placed seventh in the final, scoring 253 points: 239 points from the televoting and 14 points from the juries.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Moldova during the first semi-final and final. Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1–8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting.[23] The exact composition of the professional jury, and the results of each country's jury and televoting were released after the final; the individual results from each jury member were also released in an anonymised form.[24][25] The Moldovan jury consisted of Adriano Marian, Cristina Scarlat, who represented Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, Ilona Stepanov, Natan, and Radmila Popovici.[24][25] In the first semi-final, Moldova finished in eighth place out of seventeen entries, marking Moldova's second consecutive qualification to the grand final. The final of the contest saw Moldova receive twelve points from Romania and Serbia in public televoting. Over the course of the contest, Moldova awarded its 12 points to Ukraine in both the jury and televote in the first semi-final and the final.[26][27]

The following members comprised the Moldovan jury:[24][25]

• Adriano Marian – Conductor
• Cristina Scarlat – Singer, represented Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014
• Ilona Stepanov – Conductor
• Natan – Singer
• Radmila Popovici – Lyricist

Detailed voting results from Moldova (Semi-final 1)

Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		Juror 1	Juror 2	Juror 3	Juror 4	Juror 5	Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Albania	16	16	16	9	15	15		16
02	Latvia	6	10	4	10	3	7	4	14
03	Lithuania	10	15	12	13	8	11		5	6
04	Switzerland	2	2	2	5	1	2	10	15
05	Slovenia	11	11	9	11	13	10	1	13
06	Ukraine	1	1	1	1	2	1	12	1	12
07	Bulgaria	14	9	15	12	14	13		6	5
08	Netherlands	12	8	10	7	6	9	2	3	8
09	Moldova
10	Portugal	5	6	3	8	5	6	5	7	4
11	Croatia	15	12	13	14	10	14		11
12	Denmark	8	13	11	15	12	12		8	3
13	Austria	13	14	14	16	16	16		9	2
14	Iceland	9	7	8	6	11	8	3	12
15	Greece	3	3	6	2	9	3	8	10	1
16	Norway	4	5	7	4	4	4	7	2	10
17	Armenia	7	4	5	3	7	5	6	4	7

Detailed voting results from Moldova (Final)

Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		Juror 1	Juror 2	Juror 3	Juror 4	Juror 5	Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Czech Republic	20	20	20	21	20	21		21
02	Romania	12	10	10	17	10	12		2	10
03	Portugal	10	8	12	9	9	9	2	11
04	Finland	9	23	13	23	17	15		15
05	Switzerland	6	4	5	8	3	4	7	20
06	France	19	24	24	24	24	24		9	2
07	Norway	8	6	16	14	15	11		5	6
08	Armenia	15	13	14	15	14	14		13
09	Italy	18	19	18	10	18	18		18
10	Spain	7	7	15	7	7	8	3	3	8
11	Netherlands	13	14	9	11	12	13		14
12	Ukraine	1	1	1	2	1	1	12	1	12
13	Germany	11	21	17	20	19	19		16
14	Lithuania	23	12	21	19	16	20		7	4
15	Azerbaijan	14	11	8	13	6	10	1	19
16	Belgium	4	9	4	6	11	7	4	10	1
17	Greece	17	15	11	16	21	16		17
18	Iceland	21	22	22	18	22	22		24
19	Moldova
20	Sweden	2	5	3	4	5	3	8	6	5
21	Australia	16	2	7	3	8	5	6	23
22	United Kingdom	3	3	2	1	2	2	10	8	3
23	Poland	22	16	19	12	13	17		22
24	Serbia	24	17	23	22	23	23		12
25	Estonia	5	18	6	5	4	6	5	4	7