Andorra: Cut and Shut

Andorra is one of the few countries in this year's Eurovision with no televised national pre-selection. So seeing their entry prominently on Youtube was a bit of a positive surprise - until on closer inspection it turns out we've been sold a lemon...



Mind you, it wasn't as easy to spot as it seems in hindsight. (Are there any Eurovision songs not exactly three minutes in length?) When I listened to it first I thought it was just badly produced, somehow squat and compact in a strangely unpleasant way. Then I started counting bars and noticed that the end of the chorus cuts off abruptly on the third beat of a bar. Whoops!

A closer listen reveals that the "chorus" is just one little section relooped, the "second verse" is a straight copy of the first verse and all the little connections (especially the chorus-second verse one and the chorus-chorus repeat one) are obviously just cross-fades. The song has quite simply been put together from the minute-long sample previously posted on YouTube. I honestly don't know why someone would go through the trouble of doing all that...

So, what does the sample reveal? Standard slightly housed-up eurovision fare, not very memorable, and in distinct danger of leading the listener lost through having overly many sections. (Do you really need two different bridges?) Won't make it through the semi-final without some super-spectacular stage performance, a fate unfortunately shared by last year's entry (which deserved better).