Andorra in The Eurovision Song Contest

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 (RTVA), not showing the contest until recent years (citizens could watch it on Spanish and French stations). A majority of the songs have so far been sung in Catalan, the national language of Andorra.

Despite the homeland interest in the competition, Andorra has never qualified for the final. In 2007, a qualification for the final was predicted, but with a 12th place finish, it just missed out. In the past RTVA held a large reality show contest to select its entry for Eurovision. From 2006, RTVA held an internal selection process to select the Andorran entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.

RTVA confirmed its participation in the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia. It announced that there would be a public selection process - something not seen in the country since 2005. Andorra's 2009 entry once again failed to qualify, getting only 8 points in the semifinal.

In the finals, Andorra has always given its 12 points to Spain, with the exception of 2007. As the two nations are neighbouring, this has done very little to dispel accusations of political voting which have been going on for a long time.

In December 2009 RTVA announced that Andorra would withdraw from the 2010 Contest due to a lack of funding for an Andorran entry. This came after RTVA submitted an entry for the contest, in case funding could be found to submit an entry. However no funding could be found, and so Andorra was forced to withdraw.

Andorra did not participate in the 2011 contest due to financial difficulties, and they have no plans to return in 2012, for the same reason.