Andorra in the Eurovision Song Contest

Andorra has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest six times. It debuted at the 2004 contest and participated every year until the 2009 contest. A majority of the competing songs were sung in Catalan, the national language of Andorra. Interest in the contest had been great for some time before 2004, despite the local Andorran broadcaster, Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra (RTVA), not airing the contest until the early 2000s. Previously, citizens could watch it on either Spanish or French stations.

Andorra
Member stationRTVA
National selection events
Participation summary
Appearances6 (0 finals)
First appearance2004
Last appearance2009
Best result12th SF: 2007
External links
Andorra's page at Eurovision.tv

As of 2020, Andorra is the only country to have participated in the contest without reaching the final. The best the country has ever done was in the 2007 contest, where it finished 12th in its semi-final and did not advance to the final.

Participation

Despite its interest in the competition, Andorra has never qualified for the final. In 2007, a qualification was predicted, but with a 12th place finish, it just missed out. In the past, RTVA held a large reality show contest titled 12 Punts to select its entry for Eurovision. From 2006 through 2008, RTVA held an internal selection process to select the Andorran entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. For 2009, RTVA announced that there would be a public selection process to select the entry - something not seen in the country since 2005.[1][2] Andorra sent the song "La teva decisió (Get a Life)" performed by Susanne Georgi to the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia. Like those before it, the entry also failed to qualify for the final, receiving only 8 points in the semi-final.

In December 2009, RTVA announced that Andorra would not participate in the 2010 Contest due to a lack of funding for an Andorran entry. This came after RTVA had already submitted an application for the contest in case funding could be found to submit an entry.[3][4] The country did not return to the 2011 contest due to financial difficulties.[5] On 8 November 2011, RTVA announced that they would leave the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), due to financial reasons and a cut of subsidies from the Andorran government.[6] After a meeting with the EBU director Ingrid Deltenre in June 2012, RTVA decided to stay in the EBU, but said participation in Eurovision is still unlikely.[7] In November 2019, the Andorran Government confirmed to El Nacional that RTVA could return to the contest after an assessment of the cost was made. However, they did not specify whether that return would happen at the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, or at a future contest.[8] Ultimately, Andorra were not on the final list of participants for the subsequently-cancelled 2020 contest.[9] However, 2009 Andorran representative Susanne Georgi, who had found a sponsor and advocate for Andorra's return to the contest, stated in an interview that planning was underway for a return in 2022. Initially, she had advocated for a return in 2021, but she and the Prime Minister of Andorra agreed that given the circumstances of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and its immediate aftermath, they would wait another year.[10]

Contestants
Table key
◁
 Last place
Year Artist Language Title Final Points Semi Points
2004
 Marta Roure Catalan "Jugarem a estimar-nos" Failed to qualify 18 12
2005
 Marian van de Wal Catalan "La mirada interior" 23 27
2006
 Jenny Catalan "Sense tu" 23[lower-alpha 1] ◁ 8
2007
 Anonymous Catalan, English "Salvem el món" 12 80
2008
 Gisela English, Catalan "Casanova" 16 22
2009
 Susanne Georgi Catalan, English "La teva decisió (Get a Life)" 15 8

Barbara Dex Award
Further information: Barbara Dex Award

The Barbara Dex Award is an annually awarded, fan-voted accolade for the "worst dressed" artists in the Eurovision Song Contest.[12]

Year Performer Host city Ref.
2008 Gisela Belgrade
[13]

Commentators and spokespersons
Year Commentator Spokesperson Ref.
2003 Albert Roig and Meri Picart Did not participate
[14][15]
2004 Meri Picart and Josep Lluís TrabalPati Molné
[16][17]
2005 Ruth Gumbau
[18]
2006 Xavi Palma
[19][20]
2007 Marian van de Wal
[21]
2008 Alfred Llahí
[22]
2009 Meri PicartBrigits García
[23]

Notes
  1. Andorra finished in 23rd place at the 2006 contest, even though 24 countries appear on the semi-final scoreboard published by the European Broadcasting Union. Serbia and Montenegro withdrew from the competition before the contest, but could still vote for other entries. Their entry itself was not performed and could not be voted for, thus they were assigned 24th place by the EBU.[11]

References
  1. Hondal, Víctor (11 September 2008). "Andorra will participate at Eurovision 2009". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 11 September 2008.
  2. Jiandani, Sanjay (22 October 2008). "Andorra prepares for Eurovision 2009!". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
  3. Hondal, Victor (13 November 2009). "Andorra submit application to EBU". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  4. Victor, Hondal (12 December 2009). "Definitely, no Andorra in Oslo". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
  5. Jiandani, Sanjay (6 October 2010). "Confirmed: Andorra will not return in 2011". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
  6. Van Ee, Dennis (10 November 2011). "Andorra: RTVA to quit the European Broadcasting Union". escdaily.com. ESCDaily. Archived from the original on 2013-06-16. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  7. Hondal, Victor (20 June 2012). "Andorra to stay in EBU, no Eurovision return planned". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  8. Granger, Anthony (20 November 2019). "Andorra: Government Plans For RTVA's Return to Eurovision Song Contest". eurovoix.com.
  9. "41 countries will 'Open Up' at Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam". eurovision.tv. EBU. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  10. Granger, Anthony (1 August 2020). "Andorra: Government Verbally Agrees Return to Eurovision in 2022". Eurovoix. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  11. "Semi-Final of Athens 2006". European Broadcasting Union. Eurovision.tv. 18 May 2006. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  12. Backer, Stina (25 May 2012). "Forgettable song, memorable outfit: The crazy clothes of Eurovision". CNN. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  13. Adams, William Lee (9 July 2015). "Poll: Who was the worst dressed Barbara Dex Award winner?". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  14. "ATV Eurovisio". rtvasa.ad (in Catalan). Archived from the original on 10 December 2003. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  15. Eurovision Song Contest 2003. Riga, Latvia. 24 May 2003.
  16. Bakker, Sietse (14 May 2004). "And here are the votes from... the spokespersons". esctoday.com. Archived from the original on 29 January 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  17. Eurovision Song Contest 2004. Istanbul, Turkey. 15 May 2004.
  18. Eurovision Song Contest 2005. Kiev, Ukraine. 21 May 2005.
  19. Bakker, Sietse (20 May 2006). "Meet the spokespersons for tonight's voting!". esctoday.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2006. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  20. Eurovision Song Contest 2006. Athens, Greece. 20 May 2006.
  21. Eurovision Song Contest 2007. Helsinki, Finland. 12 May 2007.
  22. Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Belgrade, Serbia. 24 May 2008.
  23. Eurovision Song Contest 2009. Moscow, Russia. 14 May 2009.
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