Sample+Wiki+for+Eurovsion+(Fenn)

//__Artist Biography__//:
The group representing the country of Andorra in this year's Eurovision Song Contest is called **Anonymous**. They identify as a punk rock band in the style of Blink 182 or Green Day, and have only been together since 2004. The band had four members in the past (including in the video available on the [|Eurovision page]), but all of their current publicity photos and [|blog entries] indicate there are only three members now. Interestingly, there is no indication of the individual band members' names on the Eurovision site, so they truly are anonymous there. They use initials on their blog, but I was able to find the names of the original four members on a [|website] for the Emergenza music competition: Niki, Gallego, Christian, and Alejandro. Christian is the one who is not permanently in the band, or, at least, he will not perform with them for the Eurovision contest. They range in age from 18 to 19, and apparently draw a large teenage audience to their shows around Andorra and Catalonia. Their official [|website] indicates that Anonymous competed in the [|Global Battle of the Bands], though a year is not given and I was unable to confirm their participation in any of the three years that competition has run (2004-2006). They have also participated in the [|Emergenza] competition, which is another venue for unsigned bands around the world.

//__Song Information__//:
The song Anonymous will perform for the competition is called "Salvem El Mon," which means "Let's save the world" in English. The song's lyrics are in Catalan and English, with the verses sung in the former and the chorus or refrain in the later. Catalan, which is the national language of Andorra and a Romance language, has many similarities to Spanish but is closer to Portuguese. Simply listening to the song, one might assume the lyrics are in Spanish. However, viewing the [|original lyrics] (i.e. not in translation) confirms that they are in Catalan. The band wrote the song themselves, specifically with the intention of entering it into the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest. On both the Eurovision site and the band's site, the song is presented as a call to youth to "take an active role in protecting the planet." Imagery in the video references both the "world" or Earth and youth activity, though there is nothing that can be construed as explicitly "environmentalist" in either the video or the lyrics. The song is guitar-driven, with the bright distortion-heavy sound common in contemporary "punk" music by bands like Green Day and Blink 182 (both influences on Anonymous). The singer has a nasally-sound to his voice, especially noticeable in the refrain—at points he sounds exactly like Billy Jo from Green Day! The rhythm of the song is rapid in tempo and incessant, driven by a solid drum beat that only slows down slightly during the bridge—which in this case is a repeat of the refrain over a minimal instrumental backing. There is no guitar solo, although a second guitar line features repeated high notes mimicking the melody toward the end of the song. Overall the song is short and punchy, recalling the sort of mainstream "punk" that has been popular around the world for the past ten years or so.

Choice comment/critique of the song, as provided by Paddy Power at Hecklerspray.com: "Important environmental messages delivered by a supermarket own-brand version of McFly from a notorious tax haven singing in Catalan with a horrific punk accent. That's the Andorra Eurovision entry for you; Anonymous - named because that's exactly what these three scrawny emo kids are - singing //Salvem El Mon (Let's Save The World)//. Imagine **Sum 41** singing a song about climate change containing the line //"The problem seems to be/ That our interests are not the same"// and you've got //Salvem El Mon// by Anonymous. And we hate ourselves for liking it." In other words, not much substance to the song in terms of content, but it certainly sticks in your head for awhile...

//__Narrative of Entry__//:
On January 15th, the announcement was made that Anonymous would represent Andorra in the 2007 Eurovision competition. The selection was made by a jury of 10 in Andorra, and the public announcement notes that the panel voted unanimously in favor of Anonymous; I have been unable to determine how many other candidates there were in the pool. It was also stated in the announcement that the song would not be unveiled to the general public until the band had put "finishing touches" on it and produced a recorded version. By February, the band met a well-known vocal coach, Helen Rowson. She had been retained specifically to ready the band for their Eurovision appearance. Shortly after beginning their vocal training, Anonymous entered Music Land Studies located in Barcelona, Spain and began tracking "Salvem El Mon." The band presented the finished song to the public in a televised gala event on March 1, 2007 sponsored by Andorra Television. Over the weekend of March 3-4, the band participated in a production session for the music video accompanying their song (you can watch the video on the [|Eurovision site]). As of the last week in April, the official Eurovision fanclub (OGAE Andorra) in Andorra predicted that the Serbian entry would win Eurovision 2007. Over half (52.7%) of the fan club members doubt that Andorra will even make it to the finals, but emphasized that Anonymous would likely acheive the highest score for Andorra so far in Eurovision history (see [|story] here).

//__Andorra's EUROVISION history__//:
Andorra's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest dates back to 2004, when that year's entrant (Marte ROURÉ) placed 18th in the semi-final. While this represented Andorra's highest berth thus far, it was too low on the list to qualify for the Finals. Nonetheless Rouré made history by being the first person in Eurovision history to sing a composition in the Catalan language. Andorra fared no better the next two years, having the distinction of finishing in last place of the semi-final round in 2006. It was recently announced that Marian van de Wal—who represented Andorra in the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest—has been selected to read the national voting results from Andorra during the final round of competition on May 12. It is customary for celebrities somehow connected with participating countries to read voting results culled from national television audiences. In the 2005 contest, van de Wal placed 37th overall, thereby not qualifying Andorra for the final round.