Eurovision 2022 Moldova profile: 'Trenuleţul' by Zdob și Zdub & Fraţii Advahov

Moldova in Eurovision

Moldova first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 and has been a mainstay in the Contest every year since. The country has achieved four Top 10 finishes in their 18 participations, including a third-place finish in 2017 with Sunstroke Project's 'Hey Mamma', featuring the viral internet sensation 'Epic Sax Guy'.

Last year, Natalia Gordienko and her Dream Team-penned entry 'Sugar' achieved 13th place in the Final, with 115 points.

2022 entry: Zdob și Zdub & Fraţii Advahov – 'Trenuleţul'

• Semi-final: Zdob și Zdub & Fraţii Advahov will compete in 9th position in Semi-Final 1

• My Eurovision Scoreboard ranking: 33rd

• Odds to win ranking: 30th

About the artists

Zdob și Zdub is a Moldovan folk punk band whose name is derived from the onomatopoeic sounds of drum beats. The band has been active for 28 years, and have participated in Eurovision twice before. They were Moldova's debut Eurovision artist in 2005 with 'Boonika Bate Toba', which came 6th in the final with 148 points. The band returned to the contest in 2011 with 'So Lucky', which finished in 12th place in the Final with 97 points. 'So Lucky' was the band's only entry to feature on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #153 on downloads alone.

Fraţii Advahov (the Advahov brothers) are a Moldovan folk group founded by brothers Vasile and Vitalie Advahov in 2005. The Advahov Brothers Orchestra was originally meant to be a small group, but it grew in popularity as many Moldovan and Romanian musicians joined it. As of 2020, it contains 45 instrumentalists.

About the song

'Trenuleţul' ('The little train') is a folk punk song with lyrics in Romanian and English, featuring violin, accordion, electric guitar, bass and drums. The song is about a jaunty, energetic, happy train ride between the Moldovan and Romanian capital cities of Chișinău and Bucharest respectively. According to the artists, the music video's release coincided with the reopening of a train route between the two cities.

How were Zdob și Zdub & Fraţii Advahov chosen for Eurovision?

Moldova has used a national selection show to choose their Eurovision artist between 2008 and 2020, and internally selected their artist in 2021. Although the nation originally planned to hold a national final, and 28 competing entries were revealed, the Moldovan broadcaster TRM had to call off their national final after the live audition round due to rising COVID-19 case numbers in Moldova. TRM and the votes of an expert jury selected Zdob și Zdub & Fraţii Advahov to represent Moldova at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest with 'Trenuleţul'.

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Moldova will compete in semi-final 1 on May 10 (European time) in Turin.