TRM, the Moldovan national broadcaster, has opened submissions for the country’s national selection for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.

Following Moldova’s most successful result at the Eurovision Song Contest this year in the host city of Kyiv, the country’s national broadcaster – TRM – has decided to once again opt for the traditional national selection in order to select the nation’s next representative.

Three stages to find Moldovan entrant

Confirming the news of a national selection return via their official website, TRM has confirmed that Moldova’s representative will be determined in 3 stages.

• Stage 1: Bidding artists are invited to submit their entries to the national broadcaster in audio and video format. The jury will determine and select up to a total of 35 pieces to enter the next stage of the selection.
• Stage 2: The shortlisted acts will be invited to perform at a live hearing in front of a specially comprised jury, similar to previous years. The live hearing will available to view publicly. A maximum of 16 entries will be chosen to compete in the final stage.
• Stage 3: The final stage of the Moldovan national selection consists of the live shows, set to be broadcast on Moldova 1 and Radio Moldova. Sixteen artists will compete in the semi-final on the 22 February 2018, whilst 10 will process to the final on the 24 February 2018.

Whilst the artists in the first 2 stages of the selection will be determined 100% via the jury, the third stage with the live shows will see both the semi-final qualifiers and the eventual Moldovan representative determined via a 50/50 combined public and jury vote.

Applicants have until the 15 January 2018 at 16:00 CET (17:00 local time) in order to submit their entries to the national broadcaster.

A full set of rules and regulations can be found via the official TRM website, including the online application form which is available to download.

Moldova at Eurovision 2017

Sticking with usual tradition, TRM and Moldova opted to select their 2017 Eurovision representative via a national selection.

Winning the selection and returning to the Eurovision stage was the much-loved electro-house trio, Sunstroke Project, earning the right of representing their nation in the host city of Kyiv at Eurovision 2017.

With their entry Hey mamma!, Sunstroke Project qualified from their semi-final in second place, before going on to bring the country their best result to date in the Grand Final: the trio received 374 points in total, placing in 3rd position.

Who would you like to see following in the footsteps of Sunstroke Project?