UPD Andorran rehearsal and press conference complete

by Richard West-Soley 352 views

Andorran semifinalist Jenny took to the stage at 11:00 local time to rehearse her entry for the principality, Sense tu.

Spanish-born Jenny, wearing a little black dress for her very firstrehearsal,started off her rehearsal with a series of vocal warm-upsbefore the initial set of sound-checks. Her voice was in strong form to start off, although in the full performance of the song her vocal lacked control towards the end, something which further rehearsals should remedy. Jenny, however, really brings across the attitude behind the song as she struts and pouts with true style against a largely red stage.

Experienced backing
Amongst Jenny's four backing ladies is Belinda, a vocalist who supported not only Marta Rouré at the 2004 contest in Istanbul, but also David Civera, who sang for Spain in Copenhagen in 2001. Comparing her three lead vocalists, Belinda was emphatic in naming Jenny as the strongest.

A contingent of Andorran press present at the rehearsal received her performance very enthusiastically, and seemed more than pleased with the presentation of the song!

Dance routine à la Selma
Jennifer was joined by four female backing vocalists, who begin their performance sitting on four chairs around the soloist. As the song builds, they leave their chairs to perform a sassy dance routine which is reminiscent of the routine that Selma choreographed for her Icelandic entry of 2005.

Something different
The Andorran head of delegation explained at the following press conference that the search for a song this year focussed on finding something different – that special something. What they came up with was a song not typical for Eurovision, but rather something much more theatrical. The whole delegation, including Jenny, are well aware that it is not a typical Eurovision song, but hope Europe will back it.

Cinderella of Eurovision
At the press conference, Jenny was portrayed as a kind of Cinderella of the Eurovision Song Contest, having made a rags-to-riches transformation from unknown waitress to international representative. Discovered by Andorran TV while working at a school, she was earmarked to be a backing singer, but soon catapulted to lead singer in a very short time thanks to her unbelievably powerful'black' voice. This is her first 'job' as a singer; in fact, the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 gives Jenny her very first audience as a professional artist.

Already Sense tu has enjoyed some success onSpanish playlists, andthe group hope that the song could make the leap to international success. Jenny hopes that the rest of Europe take to the song at least as well as the Spanish havedone! The key to enjoying the song is to see the whole, Jenny stressed. She is just one part of the presentation, and viewers should take into account the backing singers, the choreography and the writing team behind the song to appreciate it fully.

Home languages versusEnglish
Once again, Andorra have chosen to sing in Catalan, a conscious choice that was applauded by the collected members of the press. The delegation believe that singing in your own language is a vital part of showing your country to the world, and moreover, a good way for others outside your country to learn a bit of your language, Jenny added. The head of delegation questioned the use of English, wondering whether there are small children all over Europe growing up with the belief that English is spoken in most of its countries!

At the moment, Andorra's Eurovision Song Contest history is a short one, and part of building up foundations is showcasing the country's profile to viewers. A vital part of that is language, and whatever language Andorra may choose after ten years in the contest, Catalan is the obvious choice at this early stage, according to the delegation.

Eurovision in the family
One thing is certain – Jenny's proudest supporter will be her Eurovision fan father, from whom she inherits a great love of the contest. To prove the point, she treated the audience to a rendition of Rosa's 2002 entry for Spain, Europe's living a celebration, which won a rousing reception from the press conference attendees. Jenny ended with her hope that everyone in Europe will enjoy the whole show as much as she is enjoying being part of it.

Richard West-Soley

Senior Editor

Richard's ESC history began way back in 1992, when he discovered the contest could fuel his passion for music and languages. Since then, it's been there at every corner for him in some way or another. He joined the esctoday.com team back in 2006, and quickly developed a love for writing about the contest. In his other life, he heads the development team at the learning resources company Linguascope, and writes about all aspects of language learning on the site Polyglossic.com.