With only two weeks left before the deadline for submissions for the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, it is looking increasingly likely that Moldova will not be competing in Helsinki. There have been rumours about the new country's withdrawal after two years in the competition. esctoday.com has been in contact with Moldovan broadcaster, TRM, and can reveal the thinking behind the likely non-participation.
esctoday.com has learnt that Moldovan broadcaster, TRM decided after their poor result in Athens that
they would rather not participate than risk a bad result two years running. esctoday.com has been told:
"After Athens failure TRM decided that better not to participate, than to have another bad result. It's true that Moldova didn't decide to participate or not in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, at this moment, I can not say for sure whether Moldova will participate. One of the problems is that TRM didn't buget this event".
It remains to be seen whether TRM will reconsider their position and find the budget to participate in Helsiki. The broadcaster is suffering from financial problems, and finding additional budget within the next two weeks may well prove to much to manage before the EBU submission deadline. It is therefore likely that Moldova will be absent in 2007, although efforts are being made to change the situation.
Moldova's debut in the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest was successful and a top ten finish, qualifying them directly for the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest final. Moldova suffered some bad publicity in 2006, when the result of their national final ended in a three-way tie. There were no rules to deal with this situation in place, and a second national final was called. The three joint winners, Burlacu Geta, Serj Kuzencoff and Moldstar all withdrew from the selection process and Arsenium with Natalia Gordienko joined the competition and won the Moldovan ticket to Athens.
