The lineup for Moldova's national final has been announced

Much like Moldova at the Eurovision Song Contest, Selecția Națională is BACK!

The country's pre-selection format will be deciding the song that will represent Moldova at Vienna 2026. And the latest edition of the long-running showcase of Moldovan musical merit will take place on Saturday 17 January at Chișinău Arena in the country's capital.

After a period of song submissions and a round of live auditions, broadcaster TRM has revealed the list of 16 acts that will be taking part in Selecția Națională 2026, as well as the titles of the songs they'll be participating with:

Sasha Flowers – We Fight Till The End

Evghenii Avramov & Alenin Ivan – Foc La Ghete

Adelisha – Alegria

Artiom Topal – Money

Pavel Orlov – Can’t Say Goodbye

Ilinca Siviroveanu – Running Through The Rain

Bacho – Tata

Satoshi – Viva, Moldova

Curly – Respir Liber

DAYANA – Doina

Emforia – Tipare

Katy Rain – Dance & Cry

Cristy Rouge – Bliss

Maxim Zavidia – Alo

Valleria – Valerian Steel (Rai Di Ri Di Dam)

Cătălina Solomac – Pink Margarita

At the 70th Contest in Vienna we'll be seeing Moldova's 20th performance on the Eurovision stage.

Moldova debuted at the 50th Eurovision Song Contest at Kyiv 2005. The group Zdob si Zdub saw to it that their country made a great first impression on audiences at home, with their song Boonika Bate Toba scoring 148 points for a sixth-place finish. 

The band's popularity had them invited back twice more to represent Moldova at the Contest, with So Lucky finishing in 12th place at Düsseldorf 2011 and Trenulețul (with the Advahov Brothers) landing Moldova in seventh place.

Zdob si Zdub wasn't the only Moldovan act that had such a great experience first time around, they decided to come back again.

In fact, every participant Moldova has sent in the 2020s so far has been a returnee: 2024's Natalia Barbu previously competed in 2007; 2023's Pasha Parfeni had also taken part in 2012; and 2021's Natalia Gordienko had taken her country to the Grand Final at Athens 2006 (as well as being the planned participant for 2020's cancelled edition). 

Another two-time appearance came courtesy of Sunstroke Project. The band's 2010 entry Run Away ended up being a hit across Europe after its participation, and they ended up with an even better result at the Contest with 2017's viral sensation Hey Mamma.

That song's bronze-medal finish remains Moldova's best result at the Eurovision Song Contest. To date!...