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Nowadays, singers from the Republic of Moldova who perform solo or in bands went beyond the country’s borders and became popular in other countries such as Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Canada and others. This article presents a part of the most popular and successful of them.

Carla’s Dreams is a musical project from the Republic of Moldova that was launched in January 2012. The band’s name comes from Karla, a male character from the novel written by the author John le Carré. The band became known not only for their songs, but also for their style. Since the very beginning, the members of the band appeared on the stage with their faces painted, wearing hooded sweatshirts and sunglasses.

They became memorable very quickly and created an unusually pleasing addiction. Carla’s Dreams are unique in what they do: songs, lyrics, messages. They use a personalised slang, and their songs evoke realities from everyday life. Their singles hit the music charts and gathered hundreds of millions of views on YouTube.

Irina Rimes is a singer and songwriter from the Republic of Moldova who currently lives in Bucharest. The singer became popular after participating and reaching the final of a national music context in 2012.

In 2016, she re-launched her career with the song “Visele” (tr. as the dreams), which ranked 1st in the Romanian radio charts. This song was followed by other hits, which made Irina Rimes one of the most successful singers in Romania, with over 200 million views on YouTube. Irina also wrote numerous songs lyrics for other famous Romanian artists, including Inna, Alina Eremia or Antonia. In 2019, Forbes Romania included her among the most successful people under the age of 30.

The Motans is a musical band from the Republic of Moldova that was launched in 2015. The band combines several musical styles, among which the most recognised is pop. The songs written and sung by them became top hits in Romania, among which the best known is “Versus”.

Mark Stam is a singer and songwriter who became known in the Republic of Moldova after participating in a national talent show in 2013. March 2017 marked the launch of his first single, “A murit iubirea” (tr. as love died). 

In 2018, he re-launched his career in Romania with the song “Doar noi” (tr. as only us) in collaboration with Alina Eremia that ranked 1st in the Romanian radio charts. This was followed by other hits, which made Mark Stam one of the most successful singers in Romania, with over 27 million views on YouTube. In 2019, he released his song “Nesimțit” (tr. as thick-skinned), which got 3 million views on YouTube in less than 1 month.

Vanotek (Ion Chirinciuc) is a Romanian producer and DJ from the Republic of Moldova. He stepped into the music industry at the age of 17, and in a very short time began to collaborate with many famous artists. Vanotek’s songs include “My Heart is Gone”, “Take the Highway”, “În dormitor” (tr. as in the bedroom) and “Tell Me Who”. Vanotek also produced the song “Fetele din Balcani” (tr. as the girls from the Balkans), which became a hit, its video clip being today one of the most viewed Romanian videos on YouTube.

His song “My Heart is Gone” was nominated by the MTV Europe Music Awards for the category Best Romanian Act.

Olga Verbițchi, a young woman from Chisinau, became known both in Moldova and Romania, in 2016, when she won the X Factor contest in Romania. Although she didn’t think she’d be able to pass auditions before, the teenager managed to melt the hearts of millions of people who voted for Carla’s Dreams’ protégé.

After the resounding success and the “X Factor” Romania trophy, Olga Verbițchi has launched her first career single “Prietena ta” (tr. as your girlfriend), the video that has gathered over 100 thousand views in less than 24 hours.

Dan Bălan is an interpreter, composer, producer, instrumentalist, songwriter from the Republic of Moldova. He was one of the members of the well-known band O-zone, which, at the beginning of 2000, conquered the whole world with the song “Dragostea din tei”.

After the band broke up, Dan Bălan started his own solo project. In April 2010, the new single “Chica Bomb” was officially unveiled, which soon became a hit and ranks in the top 10 on charts in several European countries, including the UK, Germany, Denmark, Austria and Romania. In Russia and Greece the song reached the first position.

After such a success, Dan decided to move to the Eastern European music market. His songs reached the Russian and Ukrainian charts, and subsequently he became a judge at Voice of Ukraine.

Sasha Lopez (Sergiu Istrate) is a Romanian musician, composer, DJ and music producer originally from the Republic of Moldova.  He started learning music since childhood, and at the age of 17 he became a professional DJ.

In 2006, he started the Studio One project, together with DJ Nash. Studio One managed to be very successful in a short time, crossing the Romanian borders. The single “Everytime” quickly entered the international music charts and was included on the famous compilation Ministry of Sound in 2008. Sergiu’s second single – “All My People”, became the most popular Romanian song at the end of 2011, according to Mediaforest Romania. Afterwards, it reached number 1 in over 20 countries in Europe, Canada, Latin America and Asia.

By the end of 2013, Sasha Lopez managed to gather over 200 million views on YouTube, two golden records: in Canada and Japan; and over half a million copies of digital singles sold with the song “All My People”. In 2012, the Rio Carnival was opened on this song.

SunStroke Project is a musical band from the Republic of Moldova that participated at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2017. The band managed to rank third, after Portugal and Bulgaria. They made themselves memorable with the performance of the band’s saxophonist (Sergei Stepanov) who produced a phenomenon on the internet, called “Epic Sax Guy“.

Videos remixed with the band’s performance accumulated millions of views on YouTube.

This text is a translation. The original article here.

Photo: Pixabay

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12 May 2018- The Moldovan band DoReDos got on the 10th place in the Eurovision Song Contest, held in 2018 in Lisbon. The song ‘My Lucky Day’ got 209 points in the voting session.

DoReDoS is a Moldovan folk-pop trio formed in 2011, they got their name from the first two notes of the musical scale. The trio is made up of Marina Djundiet, Eugeniu Andrianov, and Sergiu Mîța. They met in their hometown and decided to form a band together.

In 2017, DoReDoS won the contest New Wave in Sochi, Russia and there they caught the attention of Russian singer, songwriter, and 1995 Russian participant Philipp Kirkorov, who composed the song My Lucky Day for DoReDoS’ entry for the Moldovan national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, O melodie pentru Europa 2018. The band is controversially viewed in Moldova because of its origin in the separatist Transnistrian region. In several instances, the three singers were seen waving the separatist flag of the “Pridnestrovian Moldovan Republic”.

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Moldovan President Dodon decided to celebrate a so-called “liberation of Moldova from fascism” event on August 24, 2017. He invited Russian estrade singers to entertain the Moldovan public in the Great National Square itself.

But what had the Bessarabian people really gone through, under the authorities of the year 1944 and beyond? Here’s a historic summary of what happened:

THE FIRST “LIBERATION”

In the spring of 1944, the Soviets have entered Romania with their military forces, bringing the “government” with them – a puppet of the so-called MSSR (The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic), mobilized the world into forced labor without thinking of money or material rewards, sent men, women and children to death – people who defused the mines placed by the Romanian-German troops at the retreat.

THE SECOND “LIBERATION”

Under the pretext of protecting people’s lives in the area of military confrontation, the Soviets forced the world to go to lifeless places, requiring them to survive through hunger, not providing them with everyday life products, fact that led to the death of several thousand people. Because of the so-called “war necessities”, the abandoned households were devastated by the Soviet soldiers. Churches and monasteries have been vandalized.

THE THIRD “LIBERATION”

What followed the act of 24 August 1944 meant a disaster for the Bassarabians. Thousands of both young and older men have never returned home from the fronts, young people were sent to work under harsh conditions, out of which many of them have not ever returned, having to establish families in there. On the MSSR territory – the proud Russian administration settled their families in apartments confiscated from the rightful owners.

The story is much longer than this. The Bessarabians have, by no means, resisted the Soviet occupation: there were cases of armed resistance; many men have hidden themselves from total mobilization promoted by the Bolshevik occupation.

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What is it that Igor Dodon wishes to celebrate through the on August 24 by bringing Russian show-biz artists in the Great National Square?

A great tragedy of the Bessarabians – August 24, 1944. The second Soviet occupation, called Dodon “liberation”.