I n s t i t u ţ i a P u b l i c ă N a ţ i o n a l ă a A u d i o v i z u a l u l u i

RULES

ON CARRYING ON NATIONAL SELECTION AND NOMINATION OF THE RM REPRESENTATIVE AT THE EUROVISION

INTERNATIONAL CONTEST 2015,Vienna, Austria

National final – the 28th of February, 2015

International final – the 23rd of May, 2015

TRM Contact details:64 Hancesti Road, Chisinau, MD-2028Telephone: +373 22 739470; Fax: /+373/ 22 72 35 37E-mail: eurovision@trm.mdwww.trm.md

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Eurovision Song Contest 2015NATIONAL SELECTION FOR

– ‘A melody for Europe’

1. GENERAL NOTIONS

The Eurovision Song Contest (hereinafter referred to as Eurovision, ESC) is an annual event taking place in the month of May under the auspices of the European Broadcasting Union (hereinafter referred to as EBU). Being an active EBU member, the National Public Broadcaster ‘Teleradio Moldova’ (hereinafter referred as TRM) accepted the offer of participation of the Republic of Moldova (hereinafter referred to as the RM) at the ESC 2015.

For the purpose of establishing the procedures of carrying on the National Selection of the ESC 2015, there has been established the Steering Committee composed of representatives of the autochthonous Organiser (NPB ‘Teleradio Moldova’) that may invite the representatives of specialised creative unions, representatives of the civil society and partners’ representatives. The Steering Committee functions include approval of the selection procedure, as well as performance monitoring and regulation thereof, appointment of the jury team, monitoring of voting procedures validity and general contest supervision.

Relying on the EBU General Rules, TRM and Steering Committee for National Selection have developed the present Rules for nomination of a performer/band (hereinafter referred to as a participant) that will represent the RM at the Eurovision 2015. The applicants may submit a registration application and audio materials on CD (the list of materials shall strictly comply herewith) till the 15th of December, 2014, 05:00 p.m., at the Eurovision 2015 Collection Centre in 64 Hancesti Street, TV Moldova 1 (TV reception office), in order to get enrolled into the contest. The files shall be received from Monday to Friday, from 09:00a.m. to 05:00 p.m. The file may be also sent by e-mail to eurovision@trm.md with the audio material attached in MP3 format (of 256 kb/sec bit rate) or in any other popular format. The applicant shall get a ‘File received’ confirming email message. In the event if the file sent by email is not complete, the applicant shall get a message with the list of objections.

2. CONDITIONS OF FILING AN APPLICATION The musical composition (lyrics and/or music) must have not been commercially released

and/or publicly interpreted before the 1st of September, 2014. The participants shall sign a declaration, thus guaranteeing that the composition submitted to the contest does not violate this clause. In the event of presenting the pertinent proofs of composition non-conformance, it shall be disqualified;

Responsibility for originality of the compositions submitted to the contest shall be placed exclusively on the authors and participant. Plagiarism proved shall lead to elimination of the composition from the contest;

Maximum duration of each composition shall be up to 3 (three) minutes. Any composition which is longer may be disqualified;

Stage performance shall be deemed participation of a maximum number of 6 persons on the stage, inclusive of the scenic ballet group and back vocal group. Animals shall not be allowed to the stage performance;

TRM Contact details:64 Hancesti Road, Chisinau, MD-2028Telephone: +373 22 739470; Fax: /+373/ 22 72 35 37E-mail: eurovision@trm.mdwww.trm.md

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No pyrotechnic or any other effects shall be allowed that may perturb good running of the contest, from the technical point of view;

Each participant carrying on the stage performance shall have marked at least 16 years by the day of the first International Semi-final on the 19th of May, 2015;

The participants may be citizens of any country. The participant may submit one or more compositions. The contestants cannot present the

compositions submitted to the contest at the selections realised in other countries; After jury’s audition of musical compositions, the participants selected for the next round, shall

perform the composition live, with a basic backing track but without backing vocals; In the event if a performer is qualified for the final with two compositions, after live audition,

he shall decide immediately after results announcement, which composition he will participate with further;

Texts, stage speeches, gestures and/or composition presentation shall not contain swearing, political or commercial implications, shall not incite hatred or discrimination of any kind, shall not contain advertising messages and shall not discredit Eurovision Song Contest and organisers thereof;

Acting as an Event Producer, the autochthonous Organiser (Teleradio Moldova) shall reserve the right to get in contact directly with performers or authors with regard to participation in the national contest;

The participants shall confirm through their registration in the contest that they agree with all provisions of the contest rules. Contestants selected shall observe the preparation schedule (rehearsals, concerts, photo sessions, shootings, press conferences, etc.), in order to participate in the National Selection and International Round. In the event if the representative breaks these provisions on a repeated basis, TRM shall reserve the right to substitute the Representative with the person ranking the second;

Contestants selected shall give their written consent to conclude, in the event if they become the winners of the Eurovision 2015 National Selection, an agreement with the PNB ‘Teleradio Moldova’ and Contest Official Partners, which shall detail the editorial, artistic, organising and behaviour issues in relations with the third parties in the course of the period to come;

All expenses for performance at the national rounds shall be incurred by the participants. The Company shall bear travelling and lodging expenses for six persons, who will represent the

Republic of Moldova at the Eurovision 2015 International Round.

3. MATERIALS NECESSARY FOR SUBMITTING A APPLICATION REQUESTEach participant shall fill in an application comprising: Form, wherein the surname, name, date of birth, residence, address and contact details shall be

indicated. Such forms shall be filled in for each participant of the dancing group; Guarantee of copyrights to composition melody and lyrics shall be made as a notice confirming

that the composition is original one, it has not been published for commercial purposes, it is a creation of the author (-s) and may be performed by the participant. The notice shall include the surname, name, residence, contact details and date of drafting. The notice shall be signed by the music maker and lyricist;

Printed version of the composition lyrics and translation thereof in case if the language of performance differs from Romanian;

TRM Contact details:64 Hancesti Road, Chisinau, MD-2028Telephone: +373 22 739470; Fax: /+373/ 22 72 35 37E-mail: eurovision@trm.mdwww.trm.md

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Audio compositions (basic backing track version, basic backing track with backing vocals version and original version) recorded on the CD DATA (WAV or MP3) carrier, or digital version thereof in case of submitting by e-mail;

Photographs of the participant and dancing group (in close up, medium shot, master shot) on a CD carrier or by email, as *jpeg or *bmp files;

Video recording of the performance (working version) on a DVD carrier shall be deemed an advantage.

4. PROCEDURE OF ESC 2015 RM REPRESENTATIVE SELECTION The ESC 2015 RM representative shall be selected in the course of 3 consecutive rounds:

Round 1: Internal audition of the materials submitted (on audio carriers), by the appointed jury, in conformity with suggestions of the expert in this field and of the representatives of the specialised creative unions (of performers, music makers, lyricists, producers, etc.). The jury shall select a maximum number of 60 compositions that will be allowed to the following round. The jury may reduce the number of compositions for the 2nd round, with mutual consent of the Organisers, in the event of absence of respective materials. Audition shall be organised on the 17 th of December, 2014. Selection criteria shall be: melodic line and arrangement, voice and performance style, composition originality.

Round 2: not more than 60 compositions selected within the 1st round shall be performed before the jury and auditioned live. Each of them shall have 3 minutes at his disposal, in order to demonstrate voice capacities, as well as the melody proposed for the National Selection. Audition shall take place on the 19th of December, 2014 in live format, with the basic backing track filed. During this round, backing vocals may be recorded ones and there is no need in onstage dresses or choreographic show, but the main selection criterion shall be performance. The jury shall determine 24 finalists. Audition shall be made public and broadcasted live on www.trm.md and video materials shall be later placed on www.trm.md portal. 24 performers or bands shall be qualified for the National Final. A performer/band cannot take part in the 3rd round with two or more compositions. The participants, who will not presented themselves for the auditions live, shall be tacitly excluded from the contest.

Round 3: The Eurovision 2015 National Final shall be organised on the 28 th of February, 2015, preceded by two semi-finals on the 24th and 26th of February, 2015, and shall be broadcasted live on the posts: ‘TV Moldova1’, ‘Radio Moldova actualități’, ‘Radio Moldova tineret’ and ‘Radio Moldova muzical’. The contest shall be realised according to the formula of ‘voice and basic backing track’ that must not contain backing vocals and computerised sound effects. Actions must contain the elements defining the onstage performance. Jury’s decision and televoting results shall be considered in equal proportions, during this round. 8 contestants shall be qualified for the final from each of semi-finals: 7 contestants shall be shortlisted basing on the scores gathered from the public and jury’s voting and the 8th one shall be saved by the public through televoting during the after-show. Jury’s scores shall be made public at the end of each round.

The Steering Committee may reduce the National Final to the only television show with a lower number of participants, upon jury’s proposal.

The contestants shall sign an agreement with the Organiser on free-of-charge assignment of the rights to broadcast on all PNB ‘Teleradio Moldova’ broadcast channels, at the moment of submission of the application for participation.

TRM Contact details:64 Hancesti Road, Chisinau, MD-2028Telephone: +373 22 739470; Fax: /+373/ 22 72 35 37E-mail: eurovision@trm.mdwww.trm.md

I n s t i t u ţ i a P u b l i c ă N a ţ i o n a l ă a A u d i o v i z u a l u l u i

5. VOTINGThe Steering Committee shall appeal to the services of the jury composed of performers, music

makers, lyricists from the RM, as well as of public-image persons of various specialisations, for the purpose of ESC 2015 RM representative selection.

The jury members shall confirm in writing, within their personal responsibility that they do not cooperate or are not related to the participants (performers or authors) registered for the contest. Jury composition shall be made public only on the day of Semi-finals and National Final. The Jury shall include an odd number of persons and may be different at each semi-final and final. The pre-selection round jury members may be included in the composition of the semi-final and final jury. The jury shall include at least 5 persons but not more than 11 members at the semi-finals and national final. Voting results shall be authenticated by a notary public, who will be monitoring procedure validity and will sign a report on final results of the contest.

6. VOTING SYSTEM

1st round of the National Pre-selection – jury’s auditionThe voting procedure for the first round of the National Pre-selection shall be: 100% jury.The jury shall vote through voting lists that contain the names of the compositions and participants, are personalised (for each jury member apart) and signed by the respective jury member. Assessment criteria shall include: melody, performance and composition originality. The jury shall grant the points from 0 to 12 for each composition registered for the contest.Voting shall be realised without jury members knowing the partial preliminary results. The jury member shall have a possibility to audition each composition twice: once as a whole, having the possibility to make notices with regard to the composition and the second time – only 45 seconds of the composition – scoring round, in order to refresh the composition in the memory. Duration of the repeated composition fragments may be reduced, upon jury’s request.Voting lists shall be completed immediately after the last repeated composition, following which the nonvoting jury secretary shall collect all voting lists, completed, personalised and signed by each jury member.The jury secretary shall calculate all scores gained as a result of jury’s voting. The jury secretary shall fill in a final list of ‘Jury’s Vote’ containing all scores granted to the participants, after the procedure of summarisation. Such list shall be made public to the jury members. All jury members shall sign the list of ‘Jury’s Vote’ and the report drafted following the jury session. In the event of the level on scores, the composition obtained the majority of highest scores shall be qualified. If the level on scores still persists even after such procedure, the final sequence shall be decided by the vote of the youngest jury member. The maximum number of 60 compositions shall be qualified for round II of the National Selection.

Remarks:- TRM shall reserve the right to announce the jury’s decision only to the participants allowed to the 2 nd pre-selection round and to announce it publicly on TV/Radio posts managed by TRM, on TRM official site – www.trm.md and in mass-media;- In the event if a participant from the number of those ones qualified for the 2 nd round of the National Selection withdraws his candidature from the contest due to objective reasons, he may be substituted by the person ranked next, through organisers’ (TRM) decision;- Personalised voting lists shall be made public after the National Final.

TRM Contact details:64 Hancesti Road, Chisinau, MD-2028Telephone: +373 22 739470; Fax: /+373/ 22 72 35 37E-mail: eurovision@trm.mdwww.trm.md

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2nd round of the National Pre-selection – live audition

The voting procedure for the 2nd round of the National Pre-selection shall be: 100% jury.During this round, the contestants shall perform the composition live, being accompanied by the basic backing track of the composition (recorded backing vocals shall be accepted). The performers shall be auditioned in alphabetic order.The jury members shall vote in a personalised manner, for each contestant separately. Each participant shall be assessed according to the following main criteria: performance, onstage presentation, melody and lyrics of the composition. The jury shall grant the points from 0 to 12, with half points, for each composition registered for the contest. Each jury member may score only one composition.The nonvoting jury secretary shall collect all voting lists, completed, personalised and signed by each jury member, immediately after the voting procedure ends.The jury secretary shall calculate all scores gained by each participant, in the presence of a notary, who shall authenticate all actions of the secretary. The jury secretary shall fill in a final list of ‘Jury’s Vote’ containing all scores granted to the participants, after summarisation procedure. Such list shall be made public to the jury members in the notary’s presence. All jury members shall sign the list of ‘Jury’s Vote’ and the report drafted following the jury session. Participant’s final score shall be considered relying on the totality of the scores gathered. The compositions taking the first 24 places shall participate in the National Final. In the event of the level on scores, the composition obtained the majority of highest scores (12 points) shall be qualified. If the level on scores still persists, then decision shall be taken through open voting. If the level on scores still persists even after such procedure, the final sequence shall be decided by the vote of the youngest jury member.

Remarks:- Total number of finalists shall be 24;- Names of the finalists shall be made public on TV/Radio posts managed by TRM, on TRM official site – www.trm.md and in mass-media;- In the event if a participant from the number of those ones qualified for the National Final withdraws his candidature from the contest due to objective reasons or is disqualified through organisers’ (TRM) decision, he may be substituted by the person ranked next. Withdrawal decision shall have been taken till the 1st of February, 2015;- LIVE audition voting lists shall be made public after the National Final.

National Final – 3 television shows (2 semi-finals and Final)

The semi-finals shall be organised on the 24th and 26th of February, 2015. 24 qualified performers shall take part in this round (12 contestants in each semi-final). The participants shall perform according to pot allocations. The compositions performed shall be auditioned live, with live backing vocals and defined onstage performance. Each stage act shall comprise the maximum number of 6 persons, inclusive of instrumentalists or choreographic show. Performance shall be accompanied only by the background music (basic backing track of the composition), without any voice imitations. The finalists shall be provided conditions for master tuning and rehearsals, inclusive of conditions for sound check, light check and choreography arrangement.Voting procedure for the semi-finals* and National Final shall be:

50% – Jury,50% – Televoting;

TRM Contact details:64 Hancesti Road, Chisinau, MD-2028Telephone: +373 22 739470; Fax: /+373/ 22 72 35 37E-mail: eurovision@trm.mdwww.trm.md

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*- in the semi-finals, 7 contestants shall be shortlisted for the final basing on jury’s voting and televoting and the 8th contestant shall be elected 100% by the public through televoting;- In case if there is the level on scores as a result of summarising the public’s votes and televoting in the semi-finals, then the performer, who has obtained the majority of highest scores given by the jury, shall be qualified for the final. If the level on scores still persists, then open voting shall be carried on. If the level on scores still persists even after such open voting, the youngest jury member shall decide. The same procedure shall apply to the 8th place in each semi-final.

I – VOTING /Semi-finals and National Final/

The jury members shall be proposed to vote through voting lists that contain the names of the compositions and performers/bands, are personalised (for each jury member apart) and signed by the respective jury member. Each participant shall be assessed according to 3 main criteria: melody, melody and lyrics originality; voice and performance style; show concept. The jury shall grant the points from 0 to 12, in order to assess the participants, without repeating the scores. Voting shall be realised without jury members knowing the partial or final televoting results. The nonvoting jury secretary shall collect all completed and signed voting lists, after performance of all compositions. As a consequence of summarising the jury’s results, an intermediate rating shall be made in the notary’s presence: the melody ranked first shall gain 12 points; the melody ranked second shall gain 10 points; the melody ranked third shall gain 8 points; the melody ranked fourth shall gain 7 points; the melody ranked fifth shall gain 6 points; the melody ranked sixth shall gain 5 points; the melody ranked seventh shall gain 4 points; the melody ranked eighth shall gain 3 points; the melody ranked ninth shall gain 2 points; and the melody ranked tenth shall gain 1 point.Jury’s voting results shall not be disclosed to the TV audience either until the time allotted for televoting ends, or until final voting takes place. Voting results shall be authenticated by a notary.

II – TELEVOTING /Semi-finals and National Final/

TRM shall implement a televoting-based selection procedure, in order to assure public’s participation in ESC 2015 RM representative selection. Televoting shall be provided by the most significant fix and mobile operators from the RM.Each contesting melody shall be given a personalised voting number that will be displayed in the course of performance (the same displaying duration for each contestant). Televoting shall start directly with the first contesting composition and shall end in 15 minutes after performance of the last composition. The retrospective of all contesting compositions, with respective telephone numbers displaying, shall be realised after the last composition in the contest. When the televoting window is closed, a rating shall be made and the melody ranked first shall gain 12 points; the melody ranked second shall gain 10 points; the melody ranked third shall gain 8 points; the melody ranked fourth shall gain 7 points; the melody ranked fifth shall gain 6 points; the melody ranked sixth shall gain 5 points; the melody ranked seventh shall gain 4 points; the melody ranked eighth shall gain 3 points; the melody ranked ninth shall gain 2 points; and the melody ranked tenth shall gain 1 point.

TALLY OF VOTES:

TRM Contact details:64 Hancesti Road, Chisinau, MD-2028Telephone: +373 22 739470; Fax: /+373/ 22 72 35 37E-mail: eurovision@trm.mdwww.trm.md

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The National Final winner shall be nominated the performer or band that will accumulate the highest score as a result of addition of the scores gained as a consequence of intermediate ratings of jury’s voting and televoting.In case if there is the level on scores, then the musical composition obtained the majority of highest scores as a result of jury’s voting shall win. In case if the level on scores still persists, then the open voting procedure shall be carried on. If the level on scores still persists even after such procedure, the youngest jury member’s vote shall decide the final sequence.

Remark:- PNB ‘Teleradio Moldova’ Company shall appeal for notary public’s services, in order to assure voting procedures validity;- Acts of protest shall be received at the Eurovision Data Collection Centre within 24 hours after announcement of each round results. Consideration of the acts of protest shall be realised by the voting commission. Terms of consideration of the acts of protest shall be 72 hours;- The name of ESC 2015 RM representative shall be made public on TV/Radio posts managed by TRM, on TRM official site – www.trm.md and in mass-media.

Final provisions All rights to sponsorship agreements signing, to TV and radio broadcast, to National Selection

compilations and their further use, as well as other rights related to contest organisation, shall belong exclusively to the autochthonous Organiser;

The ESC 2015 RM representative and authors of the composition shall assume the duties on free-of-charge assignment to the European Broadcasting Union of the following rights:

a) ‘Broadcasting right’ is a global exclusive time-unlimited right to broadcast the Eurovision Contest 2015 Final, inclusive of live broadcast and tape delay, as well as in Internet, either integrally, or fragmentarily, for public or private reception, as many times as it is seen fit;

b) ‘Preview right’ is a global exclusive right to present fragments of audio and/or video performance of the composition through TV or radio posts, in Internet and through wireless communications before the ESC 2015 Final and up to 2 month after such Final;

c) ‘Right to audio and video compilation creation’ is global nonexclusive right to produce audio and video compilations and to include the composition of the ESC 2015 RM representative therein, as well as to reproduce such composition alongside with other contesting compositions on a CD or DVD means;

d) ‘Right to fragmentary use’ – is a global exclusive time-unlimited right to include audio and/or video broadcast of the composition that is a component part of the ESC 2015 Final, either integrally, or in a fragmentary form, into any other media services.

The participants may obtain necessary information in the course each round of National Selection realisation on the Organiser’s official web-page www.trm.md.

All aspects not stipulated herein shall be considered and solved by the Organiser of the ESC 2015 National Selection.

The Organiser shall reserve the right to introduce modifications hereto, notifying the participants within the due time.

    

Steering Committee for ESC 2015 National Selection:      Mircea Surdu – TV Moldova 1 director   

TRM Contact details:64 Hancesti Road, Chisinau, MD-2028Telephone: +373 22 739470; Fax: /+373/ 22 72 35 37E-mail: eurovision@trm.mdwww.trm.md

I n s t i t u ţ i a P u b l i c ă N a ţ i o n a l ă a A u d i o v i z u a l u l u i

 Leonid Melnic – ‘TV Moldova 1’ Production Department head      Diana Donică ‘TV Moldova 1’ chief stage director    Ion Chiorpec, ‘Radio Moldova Muzical’ Service head    Blanaru Galina, financial director  

Alexandru Guțu, technical deputy director _____________________________

Aleco Vicol, Law Service _____________________________

Vitalie Rotaru, ON AIR PROMO ___________________________

Subsemnata, Balaban Natalia, traducător autorizat în limba engleză, certific exactitatea traducerii cu textul înscrisului în original, care a fost vizat de mine la 24.10.2014.

I, the undersigner Balaban Natalia, the authorized translator of the English language, certify the fidelity of translation of the original text, which has been signed by me on 24.10.2014.

TRM Contact details:64 Hancesti Road, Chisinau, MD-2028Telephone: +373 22 739470; Fax: /+373/ 22 72 35 37E-mail: eurovision@trm.mdwww.trm.md