Moldova participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens, Greece. The Moldovan entry was selected through the second of two national finals, organised by the Moldovan broadcaster TeleRadio-Moldova. The initial multi-phase national selection process resulted in a deadlock tie between three songs, which ultimately led to the organisation of a second national final. Arsenium and Natalia Gordienko featuring Connect-R represented Moldova with the song "Loca", which was a direct finalist and placed 20th in the final, scoring 22 points.
Before Eurovision
O melodie pentru Europa 2006 - First final
O melodie pentru Europa 2006 was the national final format developed by TRM in order to select Moldova's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006.
Format
The selection of the competing entries for the national final and ultimately the Moldovan Eurovision entry took place in two rounds. The first round involved a jury panel selecting 25 semi-finalists from the received submissions to proceed to the second round, the televised national final. 25 semi-finalists competed in a pre-recorded semi-final which was aired on 4 February 2006. Thirteen songs qualified to the final based on the votes from an expert jury. The thirteen qualifying entries competed in the final on 25 February 2006 where the winner was selected by the 50/50 combination of an expert jury vote and a public televote. In the event of a tie, the youngest member of the jury was required to cast the deciding vote and select the winner.
Competing entries
Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries between 6 January 2006 and 27 January 2006. At the conclusion of the submission deadline, 42 entries were received by the broadcaster. A jury panel evaluated the submitted songs and selected 25 semi-finalists for the competition. The list of competing artists and songs were released on 31 January 2006.
Semi-final
The semi-final aired on 5 February 2006 at TRM studios in Chișinău and broadcast on 8 February 2006. Thirteen songs qualified to the final based on the combination of votes from an expert jury.
Final
The final took place on 25 February 2006 at the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Chișinău. The thirteen songs that qualified from the preceding semi-final competed and the winner was selected based on the combination of a public televote and the votes of an expert jury. At the conclusion of the voting, there was a tie for the first place between "Made in Moldova" performed by Serj Cuzencoff, "Sing Your Song" performed by Moldstar and Alexa and "Zii lauta" performed by Geta Burlacu. The tie was to be resolved after the youngest member of the jury cast the deciding vote, however the juror abstained from voting. As a result of this, the final ended without selecting a winner.
O melodie pentru Europa 2006 - Second final
On 8 March 2006, the TRM organizing committee announced that a second national final would take place on 15 March 2006. The rules of the first national final stated that if TRM was not satisfied with the quality of the songs, it possessed the right to nullify the result of the selection and choose an alternative entry.
Format
The selection of the competing entries for the national final and ultimately the Moldovan Eurovision entry again took place in two rounds. The first round involved a jury panel selecting 5 finalists from the received submissions to proceed to the second round, the televised national final. 5 entries competed in the final on 15 March 2006 where the winner was selected by the 50/50 combination of an expert jury vote and a public televote. In the event of a tie, the youngest member of the jury was still required to cast the deciding vote and select the winner. Failing that, the entry that receives the highest score from the public televote was declared the winner.
Competing entries
Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries until 14 March 2006. The three songs that tied in the first national final were invited to participate, but only Serj Cuzencoff accepted the invitation while Moldstar & Alexa and Geta Burlacu declined.
Final
The final took place on 15 March 2006 at the TRM studios in Chișinău, hosted by Rusalina Rusu and Bogdan Dascal. The winner was selected based on the combination of a public televote and the votes of an expert jury. "Loca" performed by Arsenium & Natalia Gordienko featuring Connect-R were selected as the new winners.
At Eurovision
Moldova qualified to compete directly in the final after placing 6th in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005. In the final, Moldova was drawn to perform 2nd, following Switzerland and preceding Israel. The Moldovan entry scored a total of 22 points and placed 20th in the final. As Moldova failed to reach the top 10 in the final, the country was forced to compete in the semi-final of the 2007 Contest.
