Now several months on from Eurovision 2024 we’ve all had a chance to mull over the results of the contest. The Eurovision 2024 final saw some very dramatic results, but 11 acts did not get a chance to see that. We thought we’d have a deep dive into these acts and give you our opinion on What Went Wrong. Today we’re going to discuss Moldova’s Natalia Barbu.
The penultimate look in our series sees Kittens, Angus, and Euan discuss why they think things went wrong for Moldova.
Who is Natalia?
Natalia Barbu is a 44-year-old singer-songwriter born in the Moldovan city of Bălți. A prominent member of the Moldovan jazz scene, Natalia often collaborates with up-and-coming artists to help expand her own musical experimentations. Natalia is musically trained and received her training first at the Stefan Neaga Music School, then at State Conservatory. Natalia has also received a major as a violinist. She first came to public knowledge in 1998, through competing in various music competitions.
In 2007, Natalia represented her nation at Eurovision in Helsinki with her song “Fight”. At the close of voting, she finished in 10th place. She then shifted her style to summer pop and was well-received in her native country. After Eurovision 2007 Natalia has released four albums and twenty singles. Her most well known single outside of competing at Eurovision is “lubeste-Ma Azi”, which is a track off her latest album “La Capatul Cerului”.
Her Eurovision song for 2024, “In the Middle”, is written by Natalia herself and Khris Richards.
What are the issues with the selection?
Kittens – A Moldovan selection is always a little chaotic, but this year felt like a much poorer selection than recent years. There just seemed to be much less with any serious hook, and it felt like what had been chosen was perfectly nice, but just…nothing standing out. While “In The Middle” was definitely one of the better tracks in the selection, I still wouldn’t call it outstanding.
Angus – Moldova’s selection process has been a delightful chaos every year. Due to a variety of factors, song quality can vary wildly year on year. And as Kittens says: this year felt like it had a fairly weak line-up.
Euan – This warrants an entire article in itself. There’s definitely issues with who they’re allowing in their selection each year. I feel like there needs to be a lot more culling in some of the songs getting to the audition stage because it’s definitely impacting the quality.
Was the song and act good enough to be in Eurovision?
Kittens – Performance-wise? Yes. The performances were always flawless, clearly an experienced performer and I loved the violin moments. The song though? Just fine. It lacks a memorable moment. The irony of this song being called “In the middle” and being very middle of the road is not lost on me.
Angus – Natalia Barbu is a proven Eurovision performer and I think performed well at the Contest. As much as I love the song I have to agree with Kittens, it lacks a big moment. I loved the melody but it was always clear not everyone would, while the lyrics are pretty… well, bad.
Euan – I think overall the song wasn’t bad, and Natalia does have great talent, but it just didn’t click with enough people watching. I definitely believe she should have been at Eurovision again, but with a song that was much more striking and didn’t get lost in the show.
Did the staging compliment the song and stand out?
Kittens – I am absolutely baffled as to why the staging from the national final did not turn up on the Eurovision stage. The stage was so big, and her on her own was simply not enough even with the background graphics. A song that was just so middle of the road needed a big staging or some kind of hook in for the audience but it feels like they just gave up a little.
Angus – The national final staging was so good, and the staging we got in Malmö was so incredibly not that. That moment with the wings was pretty cool but it came so late and felt unconnected to anything we had seen before that, making it lose the little impact it could’ve had.
Euan – The staging was honestly some of the best this year. No other country utilised the back screens as well and even though the performance was large, it didn’t feel like Natalia was swallowed up by the staging. They definitely made the best of what they had and the staging worked; just not well enough to get them to the final.
Could this song have qualified if changes were made?
Kittens – I have to say no unfortunately. I think this was just very forgettable, and just needed so much more work to make it a viable qualifier. The song just needed to be so much more, so much bigger, and the staging needed to be so much more distinctive. A real shame considering Moldova have in the past done so much better and have definitely known what they were doing.
Angus – This song never stood a chance, and scoring 20 points when 10th scored 47 is a pretty indicator of that. It isn’t an apocalyptic result and I feel that TRM Moldova saw this result coming, because if they had some semblance of hope we would have seen more staging or perhaps a revamp. That still wouldn’t have saved this entry though, I fear.
Euan – I believe that ultimately no changes could have been made to make this qualify. It just didn’t stand out enough and Moldova should have chosen another entry.
What are our outlooks for future contests?
Kittens – I do love Moldova being chaotic but I do think they need to focus on the songs. A great performer is good but unless the song has that level of interestingness or catchiness or something different it is definitely going to struggle, especially in a televote-only situation. Moldova have been great at Eurovision and I want to believe they’ll be great again – but not if they send this kind of unimaginative pop.
Angus – Moldova will be fine by and all and bounce back immediately I think. It does worry me however that every entry since 2020 has been a returning artist (and everyone is seemingly asking for Aliona Moon to get her second bite at the contest as well). But using returning artists isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and in general TRM seem to know what they are doing, so I am optimistic about Moldova’s chances.
Euan – Look, the selection is a mess. It always has been and I fully expect for the foreseeable future that it will be. However, I firmly do believe in that chaos that Moldova is still capable of finding some absolute gems for future contest, and that this wobble shouldn’t make them dramatically rethink what they’re doing.
Moldova’s Eurovision Journey
Moldova is relatively new to the Eurovision Song Contest, joining in 2005. Their debut entry, Zdob și Zdub, finished in 6th place, which had remained their highest scoring entry up until 2017. They were dethroned by returners Sunstroke Project and the song ‘Hey Mamma’, which finished in 3rd place. At the close of voting, Moldova received 374 points.
After representing Moldova in 2007, Natalia Barbu returned to Eurovision in 2024 with the song “In the Middle”. She received 20 points in the first semifinal, ultimately placing thirteenth and missing out on the grand final.
What do think about our thoughts? Do you think Moldova could have qualified? Let us know in the comments or on social media! Be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky as we prepare for Eurovision 2024!
Source: That Eurovision Site
Image Credit: Corinne Cumming / EBU
Tim J