🇲🇩 Moldova: Director General of TRM Resigns After Eurovision Points Controversy

The Director General of TRM has announced his resignation, following criticism of the Moldovan jury not awarding 12 points to Romania.

Vlad Turcanu has announced his resignation as the Director General of Teleradio-Moldova, after the Moldovan jury at Eurovision 2026 failed to award 12 points to Romania. The Moldovan jury, which was formed of seven members, awarded 3 points to Romania, with its 12 points going to Poland. Mr Turcanu stated:

“Let me inform you of my decision to resign from the position of director general of the Teleradio-Moldova Company (TRM). I will submit a resignation application to the Supervisory Council of TRM, as required by law. Even though we distanced ourselves from the decisions of the jury appointed to score the artistic performances at the Eurovision final in Vienna, the vote that was cast is our responsibility and primarily mine, as head of the institution,”

It is important to note that the juries at the Eurovision Song Contest are voting on a set of criteria outlined by the European Broadcasting Union, with each participating broadcaster not allowed to give guidance on how its jury should vote. As a result, the resignation of the Director General is noteworthy for Mr Turcanu resigning over the Moldovan jury’s compliance with the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest. In a statement on Sunday afternoon, TRM explained:

“TRM did not in any way influence the jury’s decision, which was made independently. Moreover, TRM tried to ensure that the process would be transparent, by appointing a notary who monitored the voting. We emphasize that the final result does not in any way represent the institution’s position,”

In the voting breakdown released by the EBU, “Choke Me” from Romania was ranked:

• Juror 1 – 4th
• Juror 2 – 9th
• Jurror 3 – 12th
• Juror 4 – 16th
• Juror 5 – 15th
• Juror 6 – 3rd
• Juror 7 – 7th
• Juror 8 – 8th

Poland received the 12 points from the Moldovan juror, after four of jurors ranked Poland as their favourite, one had it second, two had it third and one 7th. The Moldovan jury was formed of:

• Andrei Zapșa, conductor, deputy general director responsible for television at TRM;
• Corina Caireac, expert in audiovisual production, artist management and communication. She was part of the artistic management and communication team of the Moldovan delegation at Eurovision 2005 and Eurovision 2022, together with the band Zdob și Zdub;
• Catalina Solomac – music performer. She participated in three editions of Eurovision Moldova. Her song, “Pink Margarita” ranked 3rd in the national final of ESC Moldova in 2026;
• Pavel Orlov – performer, soloist of a band, composer and music producer. She ranked 2nd in the national final of Eurovision Moldova 2026;
• Stanislav Goncear – artist. She mainly works in the pop-jazz and soul/R&B genres, with jazz influences and a contemporary pop sound, collaborating with young artists who share similar musical tastes;
• Victoria Cușnir – journalist at Radio Chișinău. Graduate of the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts, majoring in screenwriting, film and television directing. Producer of shows about music and culture, director of outdoor performances and documentary filmmaker. Member of the jury for the national selection for Eurovision in 2018, 2022 and 2024;
• Ilona Stepan – artistic director and first conductor of the Academic Choral Chapel “Doina”.

Moldova were represented by Satoshi at Eurovision 2026 with “Viva, Moldova!” who placed 8th in the final. Moldova received 12 points from the televote in Italy, Romania and Ukraine.

Source: Moldpress