Nelly Ciobanu will represent Moldova at Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Nelly Ciobanu will represent Moldova at the 54th edition of the European song contest Eurovision, which will be held this year in Moscow. On February 14, she won the national final with the song “Hora din Moldova” (“Moldovan Round Dance”) scoring 36 points out of 36 possible, Info-Prim Neo reports. Nelly Ciobanu performed the last of the 20 finalists. Her song impressed both the jury and the public. Music was composed by Veaceslav Daniliuc, while the verses were written by Nelly Ciobanu and Andrei Gagiu. Alexa ranked second with the song “A Flight to the Light”. She scored 27 points. Sun Stroke Projekt with “No Crime” finished third with 26 points. Several incidents happened during the national Eurovision 2009 contest. Several days before the final, composer Alex Brasoveanu, whose songs were to be sang by several singers, threatened he would withdraw two of them. He said the jury knew beforehand that Nelly Ciobanu would go to Moscow and therefore the participation was useless. Later, singer Natalia Gordienco and Edict band, who were to sing songs by Alex Brasoveanu, withdrew from the competition, invoking personal reasons. Only two days before the final, the jury banned one of the songs that were to be sung by Olia Tira, also composed by Alex Brasoveanu. The finalist was decided by adding up the points offered by the jury, a commission composed of representatives of Teleradio-Moldova Company and of the general sponsor, and ordinary people who sent their votes through mobile phones. Initially, Moldova will participate in the second Eurovision semifinal scheduled for May 14. If Nelly Ciobanu goes through with this stage, she will perform in the final on May 16. Eurovision Song Contest 2009 will be held in Moscow as Russia’s representative Dima Bilan won the 2008 edition. This year, Moldova will take part in the contest for the fifth time. In 2005, Zdob si Zdub band took the sixth position. In 2006, the duo Natalia Gordienco and Arsenium ranked 22nd, while in 2007, Natalia Barbu finished tenth with the song “Fight”. Last year, Geta Burlacu did not qualify for the final.