No less than 21 acts were fighting for the ticket to Baku tonight, with all kinds of musical styles being represented, from ethno-pop to ballads, from rock to euro-dance.
The show was broadcast live from Studio 2 of the national public broadcaster, TRM. This was the line-up of the national final (in order of appearance, winner in bold):
Ruslan Taranu - Blanche (0 points)
Irina Tarasiuc & MC Gootsa - Save A Little Sunshine (8 points - 6th)
Pasha Parfeny - Lăutar (22 points - 1st)
Alexandru Manciu - If You Leave (5 points - 10th)
Paralela 47 - Arde (0 points)
Ksenya Nikora - You Better Rush (0 points)
Leria - A Ray Of Sun (0 points)
Cristina Croitoru - Fight For Love (16 points - 2nd)
Mariana Mihăilă - Live On Forever (2 points -12th)
MC Mike & Human Place - Moll Girl (0 points)
Nicoleta Gavrilita - Crazy Little Thing (6 points - 8th)
Geta Burlacu - Never Ever Stop (7 points - 7th)
Adrian Ursu - Be Yourself (9 points - 5th)
Doiniţa Gherman - Welcome To Moldova (1 point - 13th)
M-Studio - Open Your Eyes (0 points)
Anna Gulko - Ballad Of Love (0 points)
Transbalkanica - Balkan Riders (14 points - 4th)
Dara - Open Your Eyes (15 points - 3rd)
Univox - Moody Numbers (5 points - 10th)
Akord - Live The Show (6 points - 8th)
INAYA - Lights (0 points)
Initially, 20 candidates were chosen by a jury out of all entries received during the open submission period. Nelly Ciobanu later withdrew, so that the runner-up, Akord, took her place with their song Live The Show. Mariana Mihăilă was the winner of a web-voting involving all non-qualifying entries, thus joining the line-up as the 21st entrant.
In the end, Pasha Parfeny was the joint winner of the voting, which consisted of a 50/50 combination of televoting and the verdict of an expert jury. He will sing Lăutar in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest.
