Moldova is set to be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with the song "Viva, Moldova!", written and performed by Vlad Sabajuc under his stage name Satoshi. The Moldovan participating broadcaster, Teleradio-Moldova (TRM), organised 2026 to select its entry for the contest.
Prior to the 2026 contest, Teleradio-Moldova (TRM) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Moldova nineteen times since its first entry in 2005. Its best placing in the contest was third, achieved in with the song "Hey, Mamma!" performed by SunStroke Project. To this point, it had achieved a top ten placing at the contest four times: in when "Boonika bate toba" performed by Zdob ÃÂi Zdub placed sixth, in when "Fight" performed by Natalia Barbu placed tenth, in when "My Lucky Day" performed by DoReDoS also placed tenth, and in when Zdob ÃÂi Zdub returned to compete for a third time together with the Advahov Brothers and placed seventh with the song "".
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, TRM organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster has selected its entry via a national selection show between 2008 and 2020 and since 2023, while it selected its entry in 2021 via an internal selection. TRM was to held a selection show in 2022, but it was ultimately cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions and it internally selected its entry during the audition round. After withdrawing from the 2025 contest following a "detailed analysis of the current situation, as well as the economic, administrative and artistic challenges", TRM confirmed its intentions to participate at the 2026 contest on 3 November 2025 and announced that it would hold a national selection show, featuring a new format to be implemented following consultations with artists, producers and music industry representatives, to select its entry.
2026 was the national final format developed by TRM in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The event was held at the ChiÃÂinÃÂu Arena in ChiÃÂinÃÂu on 17 January 2026, and was hosted by Daniela Crudu and Ion JalbÃÂ, with Alisa Tanas and Bogdan Nigai serving as green room hosts. The show was broadcast on Moldova 1, as well as online via TRM's official website moldova1.md and the broadcaster's Facebook and YouTube pages.
Artists and composers had the opportunity to submit their entries between 7 November 2025 and 7 December 2025. Artists could submit more than one song, and an international act was able to compete only if they were part of a duo or group where 50% of the lead vocalists bore Moldovan nationality. At the conclusion of the submission deadline, 37 valid entries were received by the broadcaster, of which 34 were performed at the live audition round that took place on 16 December 2025 at TRM Studio 2 in ChiÃÂinÃÂu. Competition producers Serghei Orlov and evaluated the songs during the live auditions and selected sixteen finalists to advance.
The final took place on 17 January 2026. Sixteen songs competed and "" performed by Satoshi was selected as the winner based on the combination of a public online vote, the votes of a national jury and the votes of an international jury. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, former Eurovision entrants performed as guests: Paula Seling ( and ), Efendi ( and ), and Jamala (winner for ). A number of past Moldovan Eurovision entrants also performed in order to celebrate the country's 20th appearance at the contest: Zdob ÃÂi Zdub (, and ), Natalia Gordienko (, and ), Natalia Barbu ( and ), Nelly Ciobanu (), SunStroke Project ( and ), Aliona Moon (), Cristina Scarlat (), and DoReDos ().
The national jury that voted in the final included Nelly Ciobanu, Igor Dînga (founder and vocalist of Cuibul, music producer), Andriano Marian (founder and conductor of the Moldovan National Youth Orchestra), Dorin Galben (journalist and influencer), SunStroke Project, Elena Stegari (producer, journalist at TRM), (flutist, naist, pedagogue, composer, conductor and academician), Rusalina Russu (television producer at Moldova 1), Natalia Gordienko, Elisoa Cynthia (content creator), Maria Petrova (content creator), Dmitrii Sergheev (music producer), Corina Caireac (music industry manager), Vlad Costandoi (founder of Sens Music, concert producer), and Lilu (journalist, content creator, TV presenter), while the international jury included Eric Lehmann (Head of the Luxembourgish Eurovision Delegation in 2024 and 2025, music journalist), Jamala, Deban Aderemi (British music journalist and blogger at Wiwibloggs), Efendi, and Paula Seling.
As part of the promotion of his participation in the contest, Satoshi will attend the Nordic Eurovision Party in Oslo on 21 March 2026 and the Eurovision in Concert event in Amsterdam on 11 April 2026. On 7 February 2026, he performed a revamped version of "" at the Ukrainian national final in Kyiv. On 14 March 2026, he was a guest on TVP World in Poland and held a promotional event in Warsaw attended by the Romanian and Moldovan ambassadors to the country.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 will take place at the in Vienna, Austria, and consist of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 12 and 14 May and the final on 16 May 2026. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final will progress to the final. On 12 January 2026, an allocation draw was held to determine which of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show, each country will perform in; the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. Moldova was scheduled for the first half of the first semi-final.