Viva, Moldova!
Selecția Națională 2026 has a winner and Vienna 2026 has one more artist added to its lineup! Satoshi will represent his country at the 70th Eurovision Song Contest with his song Viva, Moldova!.
It was a sold out Chișinău Arena on Saturday 17 January as a hall full of music fans got to witness the 2026 edition of Selecția Națională live. Broadcaster TRM had picked 16 songs to take part in the national final, with the winner getting to represent Moldova at the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in May.
That winning entry is Viva, Moldova! performed by Satoshi. And it will have the extra honour of being Moldova’s comeback entry to the Contest, after TRM took a one-year Eurovision break for 2025.
Eurovision fans watching Selecția Națională might have noticed that Satoshi had a Contest connection already in his corner during the performance. Aliona Moon, who represented Moldova at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with her song O Mie, provided guest vocals for Viva, Moldova!.
Scoring on the night came from three sources; a public vote, a 15-member national jury and an international jury made up of five established artists, former Eurovision participants and winners. An equal weighting was given to the points from all three when determining the scores.
Satoshi won the vote across the board, scoring the maximum 12 points from all three sources.
Satoshi
The singer, songwriter and rapper, real name Vlad Sabajuc, hails from the city of Cahul in southwest Moldova, near the border with Romania.
Initially delving into his passion for music by teaching himself how to play the drums, Vlad launched his Satoshi artist project in 2019 and since then has released three albums and hit singles aplenty.
The popularity of his music has meant that he’s been able to tour Moldova, Romania and beyond, and he played his first show in London in 2024.
In 2025 Satoshi released an EP in collaboration with Feoctist and Magnat, which he’s also been able to tour. He’s also released music with fellow Moldovan artists Carla’s Dreams and Irina Rimes.
Moldova at the Eurovision Song Contest
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!…