Susanne Georgi was the last representative of Andorra in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “La teva decisió”, but she did not make it to the Grand Final.
The “ESC Bubble” press team had the opportunity to meet Susanne at her studio, Stars Academy, in Andorra la Vella. She talked about both her participation and the possibility of the country’s return to the competition.
Susanne is an active activist in the fight to bring one of Europe’s smallest nations back to the world’s biggest music show, which has over 160 million viewers worldwide.
Andorra’s Eurovision history is relatively short and unfortunately disappointing. The Principality has only participated in the contest six times (from 2004 to 2009) and has never made it to the Grand Final. Financial constraints were cited as the main reason when Andorra’s broadcaster, Ràdio i Televisió d’Andorra (RTVA) announced its withdrawal from Eurovision in 2009. Susanne admitted that this was a very difficult decision.
“I remember in the very beginning, it was very frustrating because [RTVA] said we don’t have the money. And I mean that you can understand […] and COVID came and it was even worse, and we don’t have the money. So okay? You want money, I’ll find the money. So I went out and I found the money to fund the whole project. And they were like yeah, but it wouldn’t look good if we took this from the private sector… You said you wanted the money, I got the money. What is the problem?! […] So it’s this endless, you know, this fight. […] But I definitely would like to make sure that we do the right things, because we need so much more money and promotion than a Germany or a Spain, we need to do double the work because people don’t know Andorra. So it’s going to be hard work.”
However, there is also good news as the recent elections in the country kept the same government in place, which means that she already knows the officials who can make decisions to lead Andorra back to Eurovision.
In addition, there was also a change at RTVA, which brought Susanne great joy.
“[RTVA] changed the TV director […] because the former TV director did not want Eurovision under any circumstances. And I have had meetings where I was pulling my hair out!”
By finding the funding to bring Andorra back into the contest family, Susanne discovered other reasons to justify the country’s return to the Eurovision stage.
“I think sometimes people, if they’re not in this world, they don’t actually see how much potential it has for the tourists for the country. […] But I know that [the government] wants it. I know, there’s a lot of people that want this to happen within the government now, and with the change of the TV director, I really do have hope. And I think we’re closer than ever!”
Despite the obstacles she faced along the way, Susanne did not give up her campaign easily. A TV crew is following her, intending to record a documentary about her work on Eurovision. She has also contacted many singers and songwriters in Andorra, going so far as to believe that Andorra could return to Eurovision “tomorrow” if required.
When asked if she would return to the Eurovision stage on behalf of Andorra, Susanne expressed the following thought:
“I would never say no if someone asked me, ‘Do you want to come back?’ […] I’m not saying I 100% believe I’ll be back on that stage at some point. But at this point when it comes to Andorra, I would love to be able to try to run this project so we can succeed 100%. […] And that’s very important for me. I don’t feel alone. On the contrary, I feel like I have so many little soldiers behind me, you know, even outside Andorra, like the fact that you came up here to talk to me – that means everything to me!”
Below you can see Andorra’s last participation in 2009 in Moscow, with Susanne Georgi performing the song “La teva decisió”:
Source: escbubble.com
Stay tuned on EurovisionFun for all the latest news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest!
Follow us on all social media, so you do not miss a moment about your favorite contest:
