After
a a run of three three female soloists performing their first thre
Eurovision entries in Catalan, to increasingly disappointing
results, it was rumourded that Andorra was considering withdrawing
from the Eurovision Song Contest. Instead Andorran broadcaster RTVA
chose a dramatic change in style when choosing its 2007 entrants,
surprising many people along the way.
In
total 82 songs were submitted to RTVA for their 2007 Eurovision
Song Contest selection. While most of the songs were submitted by
composers from Andorra and Catalonia some are also from Portugal,
France, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and other European
countries. in addition 27 singers and groups applied to represent
Andorra in Helsinki.
On January 15th, the
announcement of the winner of the internal selection was made and
the choice of young punk group Anonymous surprised many people.
Anonymous
were formed in 2004 when two good school friends, Niki Francesca
(vocals) and Guillem Gallego (drums), decided to start their own
punk rock band following in the footsteps of their idols, American
groups Blink 182 and Sum 41. In the beginning it was hard going
economically, and finding other band members interested in the same
type of music was also very difficult in a country as small as
Andorra, but eventually two more members were found completing
their group: Alejandro Martínez (aka Potter) on guitar and
Cristian Narváez on bass guitar. Narváez who is a part-time
member of the band will not be on stage in Helsinki.
The
band has quickly gained recognition and is now well known around
the country, and has played at various venues both at home in
Andorra and in the neighbouring Spanish region of Catalonia. In
2005 they played at the official concert to open the Mini Olympics
celebrated in Andorra and later the same year at Dijousderock. They
won second place in the Global Battle of the Bands competition.
At the end of 2006 Anonymous were the opening act in the Falling
Kids Tour sharing stage with one of the most emergent teen punk
bands in Spain and they are still taking part in the Emergenza
2007. The boys have qualified for the second round and they are
hoping to make it to the third round. The Emergenza Music Festival
in Barcelona is the largest competition for unsigned bands around
the world.
Anonymous has also been heard on
the local and Spanish radio and various articles have appeared in
the local and Spanish press -La Vanguardia, El Periodic and Diari
d'Andorra.
The band created their own web
page www.anonymouspunkrock.com and has recently started offering
merchandise including badges and stickers. Having seen their
growing popularity and the increasing demand for their music in
Spain as well as Andorra, they have just finished recording their
first demo CD at Orion Studios, Andorra la Vella, and are actively
looking to sign up with a record label who sees the potential in
their music.
Their Eurovision song "Salvem
El Món" (Let's Save The World) which was written by the
band was unveiled in a special Eurovision show screen on March 1st.
The entry which is bi-lingual punk style with lyrics in English and
Catalan is an appeal for people to make an effort in protecting the
environment and if the bookmakers and internet polls are to be
belireved, may give Andorra its best ever chance of qualifying for
the Eurovision final.
The band have
not engaged in a European tour to promote their entry but have
instead focused on building their local fan base and recoding a
very modern promo style preview video.
ANDORRA @ EUROVISION