Andorra in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004

Andorra debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "Jugarem a estimar-nos" written by Jofre Bardagí. The song was performed by Marta Roure. The Andorran broadcaster Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra (RTVA) organised the national final 12 Punts in order to select the Andorran entry for the 2004 contest in Istanbul, Turkey. The national final took place over four stages and nine televised shows, resulting in the selection of Marta Roure as the winning artist and "Jugarem a estimar-nos" as the winning song during the final on 15 March 2004.

Andorra competed in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 12 May 2004. Performing during the show in position 6, "Jugarem a estimar-nos" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Andorra placed eighteenth out of the 22 participating countries in the semi-final with 12 points.

Background
On 6 March 2003, the Andorran national broadcaster, Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra (RTVA), confirmed their intentions to debut at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest after broadcasting the contest in and receiving approval from the Andorran government which saw the Eurovision Song Contest as a way to raise their profile at a reasonable cost. RTVA would also broadcast the event within Andorra and organise the selection process for the nation's entry. On 7 September 2003, RTVA announced that they would organise a national final to select the 2004 Andorran entry, while a collaboration with Catalan broadcaster Televisió de Catalunya (TVC) for the national final was announced on 24 November 2003.

12 Punts
12 Punts (12 Points) was the national final that selected Andorra's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. The competition was a collaboration between Andorran broadcaster Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra (RTVA) and Catalan broadcaster Televisió de Catalunya (TVC), and consisted of nine shows that commenced on 18 January 2004 and concluded with the final on 15 March 2004. All shows took place at the Auditori Nacional d'Andorra in Ordino, hosted by Pati Molné and Xavier Graset and broadcast in Andorra on ATV as well as in Catalonia on TV3 and via radio on Catalunya Cultura.

Format
The selection of the Andorran Eurovision entry took place over four stages. The first stage, entitled Eurocàsting, took place between 26 October and 20 December 2003 and involved 40 candidates being presented to the public, with two artists being ultimately selected to proceed to the second stage of the competition. Eurocàsting was initially set to take place between November 2003 and January 2004 in the format of a talent show similar to the Spanish Operación Triunfo, however the idea was later dropped. The second stage was the six televised heats which took place between 18 January and 22 February 2004 with two songs competing in each show. One song was selected to proceed from each heat to the third stage, the semi-finals, which took place on 1 and 8 March 2004 with three songs, one of them being performed as a duet between the two finalists, competing in each show. One song was selected to proceed from each semi-final to the final. The fourth stage was the final, which took place on 15 March 2004 and featured the two songs that qualified from the semi-finals being performed by the two finalists. The winning artist and song was selected separately during the final, with the artist selection taking place throughout the nine shows of 12 Punts. The results of all shows were determined by a combination of votes from a five-member professional jury and a public televote via SMS in Andorra and Catalonia. Each juror had an equal stake in the final result, while the televote in each state/region had a weighting equal to the votes of a single juror.

The members of the jury panel were:


 * Marcos Llunas – musician, Spanish representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 1997
 * Salvador Cufí – representative of the record company Música Global
 * Catheryne Metayer – director of the Petits Cantors del Principat d'Andorra
 * Josep Maria Escribano – director of the Conservatory of Andorra
 * Oriol Vilella – musician

Eurocàsting
Auditions for Eurocàsting took place between 24 and 26 October 2003 at the Andorra la Vella Fair. Applicants were required to have Andorran citizenship or residency as of 2002 and fluency in Catalan. 40 candidates were selected from 75 applicants and were presented to the public via postcard specials broadcast during introductory shows held until 28 November 2004 on the ATV programme L'aigua clara, hosted by Albert Roig. The combination of votes from a five-member professional jury and a public televote that registered 16,000 votes determined the top six candidates to qualify for the next stage, which were announced during a special show on 29 November 2003. The six candidates were joined by an additional three artists invited by RTVA to directly compete in the next stage as established artists with continuous participation in musical performances or having released a CD in the past five years (Bis a Bis, Jordi Botey and Marta Roure) and were further presented on L'aigua clara between 9 and 19 December 2003. The combination of the jury and public vote determined the two artists for 12 Punts, which were announced during an additional show on 20 December 2003. The members of the jury panel were Josep Maria Escribano (director of the Conservatory of Andorra), Giacomo Marcenaro (music director of the production company MPX), Marc Llunas (musician, Spanish representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 1997), Meri Picart (presenter) and Oriol Vilella (musician).

Competing songs
A submission period was open for songwriters to submit their songs between 10 November 2003 and 20 December 2003. Songs were required to be in Catalan and those that reflect the culture and identity of Andorra were preferred. Additional songs were also provided by the record company Música Global. Over 60 submissions were received at the conclusion of the submission period and an expert committee selected twelve songs for 12 Punts, which were announced on 1 January 2004. An album containing the competing songs was later released on CD by Música Global with one of the songs, "No és nou" performed by the band Gossos and Spanish Eurovision 2003 contestant Beth, becoming a hit in 2006.

Heats
The six heats of 12 Punts took place between 18 January and 22 February 2004. In each heat two songs, one performed by Bis a Bis and one performed by Marta Roure, competed and the combination of votes from a five-member professional jury (5/7), a public televote in Andorra (1/7) and a public televote in Catalonia (1/7) selected one song to qualify for the semi-finals. In addition to performing their assigned song, both artists performed a part of the other song that competed in their respective heats.

Semi-finals
The two semi-finals of 12 Punts took place on 1 and 8 March 2004. In each semi-final three of the six songs that qualified from the preceding six heats competed; one was performed by Bis a Bis, one was performed by Marta Roure and one was performed by both artists together. The combination of votes from a five-member professional jury (5/7), a public televote in Andorra (1/7) and a public televote in Catalonia (1/7) selected one song to qualify for the final. In addition to the performances of the competing songs, the first semi-final featured an interval act from the band Els Pets, while the second semi-final featured interval acts from the band Gossos and singer Lluís Llach.

Final
The final of 12 Punts took place on 15 March 2004. Both Bis a Bis and Marta Roure performed the two songs that qualified from the preceding two semi-finals and the combination of votes from a five-member professional jury (5/7), a public televote in Andorra (1/7) and a public televote in Catalonia (1/7) selected "Jugarem a estimar-nos" as the winning song and Marta Roure as the winning artist. In addition to the performances of the competing songs, the show featured an interval act from Spanish Eurovision 2003 contestant Beth.

At Eurovision
It was announced that the competition's format would be expanded to include a semi-final in 2004. According to the rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the ten highest placed finishers in the 2003 contest are required to qualify from the semi-final on 12 May 2004 in order to compete for the final on 15 May 2004; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final. On 23 March 2004, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order for the semi-final and Andorra was set to perform in position 6, following the entry from Israel and before the entry from Portugal. At the end of the semi-final, Andorra was not announced among the top 10 entries in the semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Andorra placed eighteenth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 12 points, all of them which were awarded by Spain.

The semi-final and the final were broadcast in Andorra on ATV with commentary by Meri Picart and Josep Lluís Trabal. The Andorran spokesperson, who announced the Andorran votes during the final, was Pati Molné.

Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Andorra and awarded by Andorra in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Portugal in the semi-final and to Spain in the final of the contest.

Following the release of the televoting figures by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that a total of 4,612 televotes were cast in Andorra during the two shows: 1,609 votes during the semi-final and 3,003 votes during the final.