Moldova: It's Pasha Parfeni going from Chișinău to Liverpool

It was off to Chișinău on Saturday, as Moldovan broadcaster TRM hosted the main event of Etapa Naţională - the national final to find the country's Eurovision Song Contest entry.

Triumphant on the night was the song Soarele şi Luna, performed by Pasha Parfeni. Pasha won the contest from a starting lineup of 10 competing entries.

The winner of Etapa Naţională 2023 was decided by both a public vote and a jury vote, with each side contributing 50% of the total scores. With Soarele şi Luna, Pasha emerged the most popular choice on both sides, resulting in a unanimous victory. 

Pasha Parfeni has represented Moldova at the Eurovision Song Contest before, in 2012, with the song Lăutar. 81 points scored on the Saturday night in Baku meant that Moldova finished in 11th place at the Grand Final - a result that Pasha will no doubt be hoping to improve upon even further in Liverpool!

You can listen to all 10 songs that competed in Saturday night's Etapa Naţională right here.

Pasha Parfeni is now the successor to Zdob și Zdub & Advahov Brothers, who gave Moldova an impressive 7th-place finish at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, with their feel-good anthem Trenulețul.

Moldova will perform in the First Semi-Final of the 67th Eurovision Song Contest in May.

Moldova at the Eurovision Song Contest

Moldova made its debut at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, placing 6th with its first ever entry, Bunica Bate Toba performed by Zdob și Zdub.

In total, Moldova has appeared in the Grand Final on 12 out of 17 Contests and, in 2017, SunStroke Project took the country to the Top 3 in the Grand Final for the first time ever.

In 2010, Sergey Stepanov, also from the band SunStroke Project, became an internet phenomenon when his solo saxophone performance went viral. He became known as the 'Epic Sax Guy'.