Andorra in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007

Eurovision Song Contest 2007
Country	Andorra
National selection
Selection process	Projecte Eurovisió
Selection date(s)	Artist: 15 January 2007 Song: 1 March 2007
Selected entrant	Anonymous
Selected song	"Salvem el món"
Selected songwriter(s)	Guillem Gallego Niki Francesca Alejandro Martínez
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Failed to qualify (12th)
Andorra in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2006 • 2007 • 2008►

Andorra participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song "Salvem el món" written and performed by young Andorran punk-rock band Anonymous, consisting of band members: Guillem Gallego, Niki Francesca and Alejandro Martínez. The band was internally selected by Andorran broadcaster Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra (RTVA) in a process called Projecte Eurovisió for the 2007 contest in Helsinki, Finland. The internal selection ended with a total of 82 songs having been submitted to RTVA. These entries were whittled down by the broadcaster to determine the fourth Andorran representatives. Anonymous were announced as the Andorran representatives on 15th January 2007, while the song was presented in a special gala show on 1 March 2007.

As Andorra failed to qualify for the 2006 final, the country was forced to compete in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 10 May 2007. Performing during the show in position 21, "Salvem el món" was not announced among the 10 qualifying entries of the semi-final, despite being predicted to qualify with the bookmakers and being a consistent fan favourite. They therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Andorra placed twelfth out of the 28 participating countries in the semi-final with 80 points, just 11 points away from qualifying. This remains Andorra's best result to date.

Background[]

Prior to the 2007 Contest, Andorra had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest three times after making its debut in 2004.^[1] Throughout their first three years of participation, RTVA had used several national selection processes. Andorra's first entry was selected via a large national final organised by RTVA and Catalan broadcaster TV3, while the country's 2005 entry was determined by two smaller national selections: Eurocàsting 2005 and Desitja'm sort. After two years of missing out on the grand final, the Andorran national broadcaster decided to internally selected their entrant for the first time. Jenny Serrano was chosen to represent Andorra with the song "Sense tu". However, the attempt was once again unsuccessful in the semi-final achieving just 8 points from Spain.^[2]

The Andorran broadcaster (RTVA) confirmed their participation in the 2007 contest in July 2006, also revealing that a new submission process would be opened for the country's entry.^[3]

Before Eurovision[]

Projecte Eurovisió[]

A submission period was open for artists and composers to submit demo versions of their entries between 15 September 2006 and 15 December 2006. The minimum age for artists and composers was 18 and each artist could submit more than song, with at least one being performed in Catalan. Artists of any nationality were also able to submit entries, but composers were required to hold Andorran citizenship. Artists that have musical experience and fluency in Catalan and English will also be given priority.^[4] At the conclusion of the submission period, 82 songs from composers and 27 applications from artists were received.^[5] From the received entries, a ten-member expert committee unanimously selected Anonymous as the Andorran entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007.^[6] Their song "Salvem el món" was presented on 1 March 2007 during a special gala broadcast by RTVA at the Auditori Claror del Centre Cultural i de Congressos Lauredià in Sant Julià de Lòria.

At Eurovision[]

According to the then Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big 4" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the ten highest placed finishers in the 2004 contest were required to qualify from the semi-final in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final. As Andorra did not make the top 10 of the previous contest or was a member of the "Big 4", Anonymous were forced to compete in the semi-final. For 2007, a new feature allowed five wild-card countries from the semi-final to choose their starting position. The heads of delegation went on stage and chose the number they would take. In the semi-final, Austria, Andorra, Turkey, Slovenia and Latvia were able to choose their positions. It was later revealed that the Andorran delegation had chosen to perform in position 21, following the entry from Malta and preceding the entry from Hungary.

In Andorra, the semi-final and the final were televised on RTVA with commentary by Meri Picart and Josep Lluís Trabal. The Andorran spokesperson, who announced Andorra's jury voting results during the final, was Marian van de Wal, who previously represented Andorra in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005.^[7]

Semi-Final[]

Anonymous performing their song at the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007.

At Eurovision, Anonymous wore simple clothing styled in a typically punk rock theme. The staging included fast paced flashing numbers and interactive translations of the song in English. The performance was likened to that of Green Day and Blink-182.

At the end of the show, Andorra was not announced among the top 10 entries in the semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final.^[8] It was later revealed that Andorra placed twelfth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 80 points (just 11 points away from qualifying for the final). Anonymous remain a Eurovision fan favourite and the only ever male representatives for Andorra.^[9]

Voting[]

In 2005 the EBU introduced an undisclosed threshold number of televotes that would have to be registered in each voting country in order to make that country's votes valid. If that number was not reached, the country's backup jury would vote instead. In both the semi-final and final of the contest, this affected two countries: one of them being Andorra. Therefore, the country had to use a backup jury panel to calculate the Andorran results. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression of the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Andorra and awarded by Andorra in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Portugal in the semi-final and Ukraine in the final of the contest. Andorra also notably gave 10 points to Poland in the semi-final of the contest and 10 points to Romania in the final. 2007 also marked the only year throughout Andorra's participation span between 2004 and 2009 that no points were awarded from Andorra to Spain.

Points awarded to Andorra[]

Points awarded to Andorra (Semi-final)^[10]

Score	Country
12 points	Spain
10 points
8 points
7 points	Czech Republic
6 points	Iceland  Poland  Portugal
5 points	Estonia  Finland
4 points	Belarus  Greece  Ireland  Russia  Slovenia
3 points
2 points	Croatia  Israel  Lithuania  Norway  Sweden  Turkey
1 point	Macedonia

Points awarded by Andorra[]

Points awarded by Andorra (Semi-final)[10] Score Country 12 points  Portugal 10 points  Poland 8 points  Slovenia 7 points  Turkey 6 points   Switzerland 5 points  Netherlands 4 points  Hungary 3 points  Norway 2 points  Denmark 1 point  Austria

Points awarded by Andorra (Final)[11] Score Country 12 points  Ukraine 10 points  Romania 8 points  France 7 points  Finland 6 points  Hungary 5 points  Germany 4 points  Moldova 3 points  Russia 2 points  Sweden 1 point  Lithuania

References[]