Andorra in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Encyclopedia
Andorra
participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, as previously confirmed by Andorran broadcaster Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra
(RTVA).
After many disappointing results since Andorra
's debut in 2004
, on top of Andorra's poor 15th place in the semi at the 2008 contest
, RTVA announced in June 2008 that they had not decided on whether or not they would be present at the 2009 contest. However, on 10 September it was announced by RTVA that they would be present at Eurovision 2009, announcing a new proposal for a national final that would be used to select the Andorran representative.
The winner of the national final was Susanne Georgi
with the song "La teva decisió", and she will be the sixth Andorran Eurovision entry, competing in the first semi-final on 12 May 2009.
Georgi failed to reach the final becoming the sixth Andorran eurovision entrant to miss the grand final.
(EBU).
An expert jury chose the three best songs to compete at the 2009 Andorran Eurovision national final. Interested singers were told to send demos with a maximum of three songs, with at least one song sung in Catalan
. In addition, composers were told to send in at least one song to the station. All composers and singers must be over 18, preferably with Andorran citizenship and nationality. Catalan lyrics are preferred by RTVA. The singers' musical experience and fluency in Catalan, as well as their fluency in speaking English and French, will also be taken into account. At the national final, the Andorran entrant will be chosen entirely through the use of SMS texting
by the public.
107 entries were received by RTVA, featuring 64 songs without a singer attached, 15 performers without songs, and 28 applications of both singer and song. Entries came from around Europe, with almost half of them coming from Andorra, with another 27 entries coming from neighbour country Spain
. A further eight entries came from both France
and Lithuania
, six from Sweden
, four from Greece
and Malta
, three from Belgium
, two from both Ireland
and Israel
, as well as one entry coming from Iceland
and the United Kingdom
.
The three artists chosen to compete in the Andorran national final were revealed on 13 December 2008, live on Andorran television. The three artists were selected by a professional jury, who began selecting the successful artists from the afternoon of the 13th. One of the original chosen artists, British
born singer Jack Lucien
revealed 3 days before that he had to pull out due to other commitments, meaning the additional entry of Susanne Georgi
, the eventual winner. His song Marxaré was released on May 4, 2009. On 29 December, one of the three finalist songs, "Estrelles d'or", by Marc Durandeau and Marc Canturri, was disqualified after it was revealed that the former had submitted a similar song into the Spanish selection for 2008
. The duo was replaced by the runner-up of the jury choice, Mar Capdevila with the song "Passió obsessiva".
, hosted by Meri Picart. Three songs by different artists competed to represent Andorra at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, and the winner was selected by a 50/50 mix of SMS and jury voting.
Each of the three artists were given the chance to present their songs to the Andorran public prior to the final in the weeks preceding it, on three televised shows aired by RTVA on 14, 21 and 28 January.
The winner of the final was Susanne Georgi
with "La teva decisió", receiving 66% of the SMS vote and 47% of the jury vote.
. This was followed by promotion in Susanna's home country Denmark
, getting extensive coverage in newspapers, and on radio and TV, as well as performing at the Danish Grammy Awards.
Spanish broadcaster Televisión Española
(TVE) has revealed that Andorra will be among a number of nations to perform in a special Eurovision show held days before the final on TVE. The show will feature Susanna performing "La teva decisió" along with entries from five other countries, the Big 4 of Spain, France
, Germany
and the United Kingdom
, as well as Greece
and a number of past Eurovision artists.
and preceding Switzerland
.
RTVA has revealed that they were unhappy with the European Broadcasting Union
(EBU)'s decision to allow Spain to switch semi-finals for their voting. Having originally been drawn to vote in the first semi-final, the same semi-final as Andorra, TVE asked the EBU to switch semi-finals to allow for promotion of Eurovision itself. RTVA has announced their disappointment on this decision, as RTVA believes that, without Spain voting, Andorra's chances of qualifying will be lower. There was also a feeling that the amount of promotion done in Spain was to no avail.
At Eurovision, Susanna has revealed that she will be accompanied on stage by four backing singers. She has also explically stated that she will not use backing dancers, as opposed the Spanish entry Soraya
, as her performance does not require such resources to improve her performance.
Andorra in the Eurovision Song Contest
Andorra has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest six times, debuting in the 2004 contest. Interest in the contest had been great for a long time, despite the local Andorran broadcaster, Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra , not showing the contest until recent years...
participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, as previously confirmed by Andorran broadcaster Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra
Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra
Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra, S.A. , is the public service television and radio broadcaster in the Principality of Andorra. It operates a television channel, ATV, and a radio station, RNA; both of which broadcast in Catalan.-History:...
(RTVA).
After many disappointing results since Andorra
Andorra in the Eurovision Song Contest
Andorra has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest six times, debuting in the 2004 contest. Interest in the contest had been great for a long time, despite the local Andorran broadcaster, Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra , not showing the contest until recent years...
's debut in 2004
Eurovision Song Contest 2004
The Eurovision Song Contest 2004, was the 49th Contest and it was held in the Abdi İpekçi Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. This was the first occasion in which the contest was held in Turkey after they had won the competition in 2003 with Sertab Erener singing "Everyway That I Can"...
, on top of Andorra's poor 15th place in the semi at the 2008 contest
Eurovision Song Contest 2008
The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Contest. It was hosted in Belgrade, Serbia after Marija Šerifović won the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, Finland. This year was the first contest to have two semi-finals which were held on 20 and 22 May, and the final held on 24 May 2008...
, RTVA announced in June 2008 that they had not decided on whether or not they would be present at the 2009 contest. However, on 10 September it was announced by RTVA that they would be present at Eurovision 2009, announcing a new proposal for a national final that would be used to select the Andorran representative.
The winner of the national final was Susanne Georgi
Susanne Georgi
Susanne Jonah-Lynn Georgi Puigcercos, commonly known as Susanne Georgi, is a Danish singer who lives and works in Andorra....
with the song "La teva decisió", and she will be the sixth Andorran Eurovision entry, competing in the first semi-final on 12 May 2009.
Georgi failed to reach the final becoming the sixth Andorran eurovision entrant to miss the grand final.
National final
RTVA invited both composers and singers to enter the competition and began accepting entries on October 24 with a deadline of December 31, 2008. However, it was announced on November 8, that the new deadline would be December 1, 2008 after RTVA received the rules guiding the national selection dates from the European Broadcasting UnionEuropean Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 74 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 49 associate broadcasters from a further 25...
(EBU).
An expert jury chose the three best songs to compete at the 2009 Andorran Eurovision national final. Interested singers were told to send demos with a maximum of three songs, with at least one song sung in Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
. In addition, composers were told to send in at least one song to the station. All composers and singers must be over 18, preferably with Andorran citizenship and nationality. Catalan lyrics are preferred by RTVA. The singers' musical experience and fluency in Catalan, as well as their fluency in speaking English and French, will also be taken into account. At the national final, the Andorran entrant will be chosen entirely through the use of SMS texting
Short message service
Short Message Service is a text messaging service component of phone, web, or mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices...
by the public.
107 entries were received by RTVA, featuring 64 songs without a singer attached, 15 performers without songs, and 28 applications of both singer and song. Entries came from around Europe, with almost half of them coming from Andorra, with another 27 entries coming from neighbour country Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. A further eight entries came from both France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, six from Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, four from Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, three from Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, two from both Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, as well as one entry coming from Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
The three artists chosen to compete in the Andorran national final were revealed on 13 December 2008, live on Andorran television. The three artists were selected by a professional jury, who began selecting the successful artists from the afternoon of the 13th. One of the original chosen artists, British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
born singer Jack Lucien
Jack Lucien
Lucien Jack is an Andorran singer who has had success in Continental Europe under the names Hun, Lucien, and Jack Lucien. He is best known for his 2009 single I'm Not Afraid...
revealed 3 days before that he had to pull out due to other commitments, meaning the additional entry of Susanne Georgi
Susanne Georgi
Susanne Jonah-Lynn Georgi Puigcercos, commonly known as Susanne Georgi, is a Danish singer who lives and works in Andorra....
, the eventual winner. His song Marxaré was released on May 4, 2009. On 29 December, one of the three finalist songs, "Estrelles d'or", by Marc Durandeau and Marc Canturri, was disqualified after it was revealed that the former had submitted a similar song into the Spanish selection for 2008
Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Spain participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with an entry selected through a MySpace project called Salvemos Eurovisión . The Spanish Final was held at TVE's Estudios Buñuel in Madrid on March 8 , hosted by the popular Italian actress and singer Raffaella Carrà...
. The duo was replaced by the runner-up of the jury choice, Mar Capdevila with the song "Passió obsessiva".
The final
The Andorran national final was held on February 4, 2009 at the Apolo Andorra Hall in Andorra la VellaAndorra la Vella
Andorra la Vella is the capital of the Co-principality of Andorra, and is located high in the east Pyrenees between France and Spain. It is also the name of the parish that surrounds the capital....
, hosted by Meri Picart. Three songs by different artists competed to represent Andorra at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, and the winner was selected by a 50/50 mix of SMS and jury voting.
Each of the three artists were given the chance to present their songs to the Andorran public prior to the final in the weeks preceding it, on three televised shows aired by RTVA on 14, 21 and 28 January.
The winner of the final was Susanne Georgi
Susanne Georgi
Susanne Jonah-Lynn Georgi Puigcercos, commonly known as Susanne Georgi, is a Danish singer who lives and works in Andorra....
with "La teva decisió", receiving 66% of the SMS vote and 47% of the jury vote.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Lyrics (l) / Music (m) | Percentage | Place | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jury | SMS | Total | |||||
| 1 | Susanne Georgi Susanne Georgi Susanne Jonah-Lynn Georgi Puigcercos, commonly known as Susanne Georgi, is a Danish singer who lives and works in Andorra.... |
"La teva decisió" | Susanne Georgi (m & l), Rune Braager (m & l), Lene Dissing (m & l), Pernilla Georgi (m & l), Marcus Winther-John (m & l), Josep Roca Vila (l) |
47% | 66% | 56.5% | 1st |
| 2 | Mar Capdevila | "Passió obsessiva" | Josep Roca (m & l), José Juan Santana (m & l), Gonzalo Vandelvira (m & l) | 23% | 13% | 18% | 3rd |
| 3 | Lluís Cartes | "Exhaust" | Lluís Cartes (m & l) | 30% | 21% | 25.5% | 2nd |
Promotion
Due to limited funds in ATV, Susanna was not able to participate in a large promotional tour of her entry around Eurovision. However Susanna did promote her entry to some degree. On 27 February, Susanna performed on on Punto Radio in neighbouring SpainSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. This was followed by promotion in Susanna's home country Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, getting extensive coverage in newspapers, and on radio and TV, as well as performing at the Danish Grammy Awards.
Spanish broadcaster Televisión Española
Televisión Española
Televisión Española is the national state-owned public-service television broadcaster in Spain. TVE's activities were previously financed by a combination of advertising revenue and subsidies from the national government, but since it's been supported by subsidies only.TVE belongs to the RTVE...
(TVE) has revealed that Andorra will be among a number of nations to perform in a special Eurovision show held days before the final on TVE. The show will feature Susanna performing "La teva decisió" along with entries from five other countries, the Big 4 of Spain, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, as well as Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and a number of past Eurovision artists.
At Eurovision
Since Andorra did not win the 2008 contest, it will have to compete in one of the two semi-finals. Andorra will have to compete in the first semi-final of the contest on 12 May, where Susanna will perform 7th in the running order, following ArmeniaArmenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
and preceding Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
RTVA has revealed that they were unhappy with the European Broadcasting Union
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 74 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 49 associate broadcasters from a further 25...
(EBU)'s decision to allow Spain to switch semi-finals for their voting. Having originally been drawn to vote in the first semi-final, the same semi-final as Andorra, TVE asked the EBU to switch semi-finals to allow for promotion of Eurovision itself. RTVA has announced their disappointment on this decision, as RTVA believes that, without Spain voting, Andorra's chances of qualifying will be lower. There was also a feeling that the amount of promotion done in Spain was to no avail.
At Eurovision, Susanna has revealed that she will be accompanied on stage by four backing singers. She has also explically stated that she will not use backing dancers, as opposed the Spanish entry Soraya
Soraya Arnelas
Soraya Arnelas Rubiales , better known by her stage name Soraya, is a popular Spanish singer...
, as her performance does not require such resources to improve her performance.