Eurovision 2015 Contestants: San Marino

The Most Serene Republic of San Marino, as its official name goes, is not exactly the most serene Eurovision contestant there is. Having failed to qualify in its first four attempts, the landlocked microstate reached the Eurovision final for the first time in 2014, where it finished 24th — out of 26 contestants.

This year's proud candidates, Anita Simoncini and Michele Perniola, are both former Junior Eurovision Song Contest artists — because, hey, kids aged 10 to 15 also have the right to sing over-the-top lyrics while dressed as George Michael.

In the official video for their song "Chain of Lights," something that looks like Tinkerbell decides to freak random people out by traveling from smartphone to smartphone. We're guessing the moral to this story is "maybe don't pick up your phone if you're golfing in San Marino?"

With lyrics like "If we all light a candle/We could build a chain of light/If we all walk together/We will feel the love inside," their "Chain of Lights" sounds like a charity song somebody wrote while high on marshmallows. It also boasts what's potentially the worst intro in the whole history of intros, and so many key changes you can't unlock the door and run.

Our vote:

Does it make you want to visit that country? 7.25/10

Was there enough glitter? 6.25/10

Ok to quit your day job? 3.25/10

OVERALL AVERAGE: 5.58/10

WORLDCRUNCH

Premium stories from Worldcrunch's own network of multi-lingual journalists in over 30 countries.

WORLDCRUNCH

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Migrant Lives

Migration

What's Driving More Venezuelans To Migrate To The U.S.

With dimmed hopes of a transition from the economic crisis and repressive regime of Nicolas Maduro, many Venezuelans increasingly see the United States, rather than Latin America, as the place to rebuild a life..

Photo of a family of Migrants from Venezuela crossing the Rio Grande between Mexico and the U.S. to surrender to the border patrol with the intention of requesting humanitarian asylum

Migrants from Venezuela crossed the Rio Grande between Mexico and the U.S. to surrender to the border patrol with the intention of requesting humanitarian asylum.

David Peinado via Zuma Press

Julio Borges

-Analysis-

Migration has too many elements to count. Beyond the matter of leaving your homeland, the process creates a gaping emptiness inside the migrant — and outside, in their lives. If forced upon someone, it can cause psychological and anthropological harm, as it involves the destruction of roots. That's in fact the case of millions of Venezuelans who have left their country without plans for the future or pleasurable intentions.

Their experience is comparable to paddling desperately in shark-infested waters. As many Mexicans will concur, it is one thing to take a plane, and another to pay a coyote to smuggle you to some place 'safe.'

Venezuela's mass emigration of recent years has evolved in time. Initially, it was the middle and upper classes and especially their youth, migrating to escape the socialist regime's socio-political and economic policies. Evidently, they sought countries with better work, study and business opportunities like the United States, Panama or Spain. The process intensified after 2017 when the regime's erosion of democratic structures and unrelenting economic vandalism were harming all Venezuelans.