Controversy regarding the points awarded by Moldova to Romania at Eurovision 2026. The presenter: “Are you kidding me? Is this what I have to read?”
Bulgaria is the big winner at Eurovision 2026, while Romania managed to equal the best performance, ranking third for the third time in history, and our neighbors from the Republic of Moldova claimed eighth place.
- HotNews asked the director of the Teleradio-Moldova company, Vlad Țurcanu, for a point of view related to the method of selection of the jury members, who awarded Romania 3 points.
The decisions of the national jury from the Republic of Moldova at this edition of Eurovision have caused a wave of dissatisfaction in the online environment.
Netizens harshly criticized the fact that Romania's song, “Choke me”, sung by Alexandra Căpitănescu, received only 3 points, while Ukraine was completely ignored, receiving zero points.
The highest score of 12 points was awarded to Poland, followed by Israel with 10 points and Greece with 8 points. The ranking of the Chisinau jury continued with Bulgaria (7 points), Norway (6 points), the Czech Republic (5 points) and Australia (4 points). The last points in the Moldovan top went to Romania (3 points), France (2 points) and Italy (1 point), according to Jurnal.
Who was part of the jury
The jury from the Republic of Moldova had the following composition:
- Andrei Zapsa
- Pavel Orlov
- Stanislav Goncear
- Catalina Solomac
- Corina Caireac
- Ilona Stepan
- Victoria Cusnir
None of the members of the jury is a public figure and it is not clear how they were selected by the public television from Chisinau.
“We were waiting for explanations and the notes given by each. You have soiled the 'honey barrel.' Come out and explain,” said Moldovan journalist Vitalie Călugăreanu.
Investigative journalist Cornelia Cozonac also appreciated the need for the notes to be published by each member of the jury.
“It's not the first time that the Moldovan jury gives a bad mark to Romania at Eurovision, it's been years, but it's the first time that a mark is given in jest. Romania's song was a very good one, the general ranking shows it, as well as Ukraine's song. The Moldovan public voted excellently as always. Likewise, our diaspora was at the same level”, wrote Cozonac, in a message on Facebook.
How is the Eurovision judging done?
According to the rules, the judging is done the day before the grand final, when they evaluate each song individually during a dress rehearsal, taking into account: vocal ability, stage performance, composition of the song and its originality.
Each judge then makes their own ranking, these are combined and form the final jury ranking according to which marks from 1 to 12 are awarded to the top 10 songs.
The jury from our country awarded 12 points for the Republic of Moldova, and the public another 10 points.
The presenter from Moldova, shocked by the results
Even the fans across the Prut were unhappy with the low number of points awarded to our country.
The television presenter from the Republic of Moldova told on social networks what she felt when she had to announce the score on the station.
“I, when I received the result, that sheet I'm reading, I saw those points, Romania – 3 points, Ukraine was not there, I had a shocked reaction, I said: “Are you kidding me? This is what I have to read?”. I withdrew for a few minutes, I didn't know how to recover, I knew I was going on the air in about half an hour in Live. I think I had such star behavior, I called Mr. director of Teleradio from Moldova and I said: “Mr. Andrei, call me, but I refuse to present this! I have an audience of 1,600,000 people from Romania, I can't look in front of the camera and say: Romania has, there, three points, especially in a year when Romania has such a beautiful song, from my point of view!”, said Margarita Druță, the presenter of the Republic of Moldova at Eurovision, in a video clip published on Facebook.
In a subsequent message, Druță wrote that “it is not right that people's anger towards a vote should be directed at the person who only presented the results live” and clarified that the Republic of Moldova offered Romania 12 points from the public.
“The points that I presented live were those offered by the JURY of the Republic of Moldova, which represents the other component of the vote, the other 50%,” added the presenter.
The situation was also commented by Daniel Vodă, associate expert for foreign policy and strategic communication of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms and former spokesperson of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, who said that “the biggest scandal of Eurovision for the Republic of Moldova” was the judging.
“The jury from the Republic of Moldova did not seem to understand that the Eurovision is also a geopolitical contest, not just a musical one, even if Romania's representative was excellent in this regard as well. Other countries voted for their neighbors, friends, cultural or political alliances. And we gave Romania only 3 points from the jury. The public from the Republic of Moldova, however, did exactly what it was supposed to do: it gave 12 points to Romania. Cumulatively, Romania received 15 points from the Republic of Moldova,” he said Voda.
He criticized the broadcaster for failing to explain that the three points were from the jury and 12 points came from the public across the Prut.
What the director of Teleradio-Moldova says
The general director of Teleradio-Moldova, Vlad Țurcanu, said in a short message published on social networks during the night that the jury's score “surprised” him.
“Satoshi was the favorite of the evening in the arena in Vienna, and Alexandra was downright magnificent. We thank the Moldovan public who voted for her. The public is always right. The jury surprised us,” wrote Țurcanu.
HotNews asked the director of the Teleradio-Moldova company, Vlad Țurcanu, for a point of view related to the method of selection of the jury members, who awarded Romania 3 points.
He did not want to comment more, saying: “The institution will send a press release in this regard.”
