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

President Igor Dodon and his declarations about the “Moldovan” language have caught again the international media’s attention. Euronews has published an article stating that Moldova has been warned to stop calling the Romanian language “Moldovan”.

The Romanian Academy, a government-backed cultural institute, has made an official declaration saying that the “Moldovan language” invoked by certain politicians from Moldova is, in fact, a dialect of the Romanian language. “To promote the idea of a “Moldovan” language, distinct from the Romanian one, is not only a distortion of a cultural reality and identity documented in all linguistic, historical and literary syntheses, but also an ideological manipulation, which the international community will never accept,” is mentioned in the statement.

The statement was issued after President Igor Dodon, spoke in favour of the “Moldovan” language during a speech at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, while the relations between the Governments of Romania and Moldova have been strained, as it is mentioned in the Euronews article.

In his speech on 29 January, Dodon said Moldova was committed to establishing a united Europe “from Lisbon to Vladivostok,” (a city in the far east of Russia).

The political scientist and researcher Dionis Cenușă explained the root cause of the existing problem for the international media outlet: “The linguistic issue has its roots from the Soviet times, when the Soviets created an artificial Moldovan identity different from the Romanian one,” he said.

“The use of the Romanian versus Moldovan language rhetoric has been damaging to the public discourse in both Bucharest and Chișinău, triggering and fuelling political conflicts on a matter will eventually prove to be detrimental to the people’s interests,” declared Radu Magdin, a political analyst.

“Although Moldova is a separate state, there is no question that the language spoken by the majority of Moldovans is Romanian.”

In 2013, the Constitutional Court of Moldova delivered a decision according to which, the Romanian and “Moldovan” languages were declared identical. However, the Article 13 of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova still states that the official language in Moldova is “Moldovan”, that being a usual matter of political and social disputes in the country.

According to the data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics, 53% of the total population of the Republic of Moldova declared “Moldovan” as their first language, whereas only 23,3% said Romanian was their native language at the 2014 national census. When it comes to the ethnical structure of the population, 75,1% declared themselves Moldovans and 7% Romanians.

“The Romanian Academy expressly requests the authorities of the Republic of Moldova to keep in the official use the correct and consecrated notions  of “Romanian language” and “Romanian history”, as the only ones valid for naming the present realities.” (The Romanian Academy)

More details about the historical context of the “Moldovan” language term here.

Photo: Radio Iasi

On January 20, the first edition of the Filmmakers’ Gala was organised in Moldova. The best works of movie directors, writers and actors were awarded there.

The event was organised in partnership with the Moldovan Film Union (MFU), in partnership with the National Center of Cinematography in Moldova and with the support of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research.

Below are presented the winners of several film categories, as being announced in a press release issued by the MFU:

The best animation movie – “OF” (tr. as “Sigh”) directed by Vlad Bolgarin

“Of” is the story of a bored man who sighs all the time. “The character lives an urban routine and always sighs. The protagonist represents the contemporary man who goes through life without being aware of his existence. This sigh comes as a last sign from the depths of his soul,” said Vlad Bolgarin.

The official trailer here:

Vlad Bolgarin is a director, producer, screenwriter and image editor from Chișinău. He was born in 1993, in a family of musicians. He graduated from the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts of Chișinău, having a bachelor’s degree in directing-editing (2016) and a master’s degree in animation directing (2018).

The best short film – “Salix Caprea” directed by Valeriu Andriuță

The movie tells the story of a village mayor who, together with the local policeman, interrogate a supposed thief. But a phone call from chief-town radically changes the situation. For the next day, he is told, an unexpected visit from the leading party bosses is scheduled, together with a delegation from America.

“Salix Caprea” also won the Best Director Award and Best Screenplay Award at La Cabina International Medium-Length Film Festival in Valencia, Spain.

The official trailer here:

Valeriu Andriuță is an actor, director and a film writer, born in 1967. He got a degree in acting at the Shota Rustaveli Theater and Film University in Tbilisi, Georgia, and a degree in theatre directing at the Bucharest Academy of Theater and Film.

The best documentary movie – “Siberia in the bones” directed by Leontina Vatamanu

It is a film dedicated to people from Bessarabia who were deported to Siberia during the years 1941-1949. Based on the confessions of four protagonists, who were forcedly sent to Siberia, each episode has a separate story. As a whole, they point to the horrors and dramas through which tens of thousands of Bessarabians passed during the Stalinist period.

The official trailer here:

It is an OWH Studio production, directed by Leontina Vatamanu, a documentary movies director from Moldova, who graduated from the Faculty of Screenwriting and Film Criticism of the Academy of Theater and Film in Bucharest.

The best feature film – “The Soviet Garden” directed by Dragoș Turea

The documentary movie is about a filmmaker from Moldova who tried to discover the truth about Soviet experiments in atomic gardening. While investigating his grandmother’s mysterious death, Dragoş discovered a secret scientific experiment, namely the secret plan of Nikita Khruschev to transform Moldova into the Soviet Garden by the application of atomic energy in local agriculture.

The official trailer here:

Dragoș Turea, born in 1980, is a director, screenwriter and a film producer. He studied at the Faculty of Audiovisual Communication of the National University of Theater and Cinematographic Art “Ion Luca Caragiale” in Bucharest, Romania and also obtained a degree in film making and TV at the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts from Chișinău.

More awards can be found here.

Photo: Facebook| Moldovan Film Union