Moldova participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia. The Moldovan entry was selected through a national final, organised by the Moldovan broadcaster TeleRadio-Moldova. Geta Burlacu represented Moldova with the song "A Century of Love", which failed to qualify from the first semi-final placing 12th and scoring 36 points.
Before Eurovision
O melodie pentru Europa 2008
TRM confirmed their intentions to participate at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 on 5 November 2007 despite financial hardships which led to the possibility of withdrawal from the contest. O melodie pentru Europa 2008 was be the national final format developed by TRM in order to select Moldova's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.
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 twelve finalists from the received submissions to proceed to the second round, the televised national final. 12 finalists competed in the final on 9 February 2008 where the winner was selected based on the combined votes from an expert jury vote, a TRM committee vote and a public televote.
Competing entries
Interested artists and composers had until 11 December 2007 to submit their entries to the Moldovan broadcaster. Artists were required to have Moldovan citizenship, with the exception of up to two foreign backing vocalists and/or dancers. Songwriters could hold any nationality. At the conclusion of the submission deadline, 27 valid entries were received by the broadcaster. A non-binding online vote ran from 12 December 2007, enabling users to listen to the 27 entries and vote for their favorites. A jury panel evaluated the songs and selected 12 finalists for the competition.
Final
The final took place on 9 February 2008 at the National Palace in Chișinău, hosted by Rusalina Rusu and Sergiu Raelanu. The winner was selected based on the combination of votes from a public televote, an expert jury and a TRM committee. The expert jury included Ghenadie Ciobanu, Anatol Chiriac, Titus Zhukov, Natalia Brasnuev, Sergey Gavrilice, Vasile Năstase, Diana Stratulat and Victoria Buketaru. The TRM committee included George Musta, Ion Kerpek, Vadim Styngachu and Boris Foksa. At the conclusion of the voting, there was a tie for the first place between "A Century of Love" performed by Geta Burlacu and "Always Will Be" performed by Olia Tira. The tie was resolved after each member of the expert jury and the TRM committee casted one vote for one of the two songs. After a 7 to 5 vote, "A Century of Love" performed by Geta Burlacu was selected as the winner.
At Eurovision
In previous years, if a country placed in the top 10 countries in the final they automatically qualified to the final of the next contest. Had this rule remained for the 2008 contest, Moldova would have directly qualified for the final. However, a change in rules due to the large intake of countries participating in the contest meant that only five countries, the host country and the Big 4 countries, would automatically qualify to the final. As such, Moldova were forced to compete in one of the two semi-finals of the 2008 contest in Serbia. Moldova competed in the first half of the first semi-final and performed 4th, on 20 May 2008, following Estonia and preceding San Marino. The Moldovan entry scored a total of 36 points and placed 12th, thus failing to qualify for the final on 24 May 2008.
