Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

Spain participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "La venda", performed by Miki and written by Adrià Salas. The Spanish broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE) used the tenth series of reality television talent competition Operación Triunfo as the platform to select the Spanish entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Eurovision Song Contest 2019
Country Spain
National selection
Selection processOperación Triunfo 2018
Selection date(s)20 January 2019
Selected entrantMiki
Selected song"La venda"
Selected songwriter(s)Adrià Salas
Finals performance
Final result22nd, 54 points
Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2018 • 2019 • 2020►

As a member of the "Big 5", Spain automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 26, Spain placed twenty-second out of the 26 participating countries with 54 points.

Background
Main article: Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2019 contest, Spain had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-eight times since its first entry in 1961.[1] The nation has won the contest on two occasions: in 1968 with the song "La, la, la" performed by Massiel and in 1969 with the song "Vivo cantando" performed by Salomé, the latter having won in a four-way tie with France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Spain has also finished second four times, with Karina in 1971, Mocedades in 1973, Betty Missiego in 1979 and Anabel Conde in 1995. In 2018, Spain placed twenty-third out of twenty-six countries with the song "Tu canción" performed by Amaia and Alfred.

The Spanish national broadcaster, Televisión Española (TVE), broadcasts the event within Spain and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. The Spanish broadcaster had used both national finals and internal selection to choose the Spanish entry in the past. For 2018, TVE used the reality television singing competition Operación Triunfo (the Spanish version of Star Academy) to select the artist and song to represent Spain in the contest, as they had previously done from 2002 to 2004. On 28 February 2018, TVE's Governing Board approved the renewal of Operación Triunfo for a further series.[2] On 14 September 2018, TVE confirmed that the series would serve as the platform to select the Spanish entrant at the 2019 contest.[3]

Before Eurovision

Operación Triunfo 2018
Main article: Operación Triunfo (series 10)

Operación Triunfo is a Spanish reality television music competition consisting of training 16 contestants in a boarding academy in order to find new singing talent. The tenth series, also known as Operación Triunfo 2018, premiered on La 1 on 19 September 2018, hosted by Roberto Leal and broadcast from the Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya in Terrassa, Barcelona. On 14 September 2018, during the press conference presenting the series, it was announced that the performer(s) that will represent Spain at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest would be selected from the sixteen contestants entering the show's boarding academy.[3] The same method was used in the 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2018 editions; however, unlike previous editions, all the contestant that entered the academy were eligible for the Eurovision selection process, and not only the contestants who succeeded in advancing to the series' finale.[3] "Gala Eurovisión", the special live show of Operación Triunfo 2018 that selected the Spanish entrant and song for Eurovision took place on 20 January 2019, a month and a day after the series' regular finale. "Gala Eurovisión" featured ten competing entries: three entries were selected by the audience from among seventeen competing songs via an online public vote, and seven additional entries were selected by an evaluation committee from the remaining fourteen entries.[4][5]

Contestants

Operación Triunfo 2018 featured eighteen novel solo artists as contestants, of which sixteen were selected to enter the show's boarding academy in the introduction live show or "Gala 0" on 19 September 2018.[6][7] The sixteen contestants that were selected to enter the academy were eligible for "Gala Eurovisión". A total of 17 songs were allocated, either solo or in duet combinations.[4][5][8]

    Contestant was eligible for "Gala Eurovisión" and was allocated at least one song
    Contestant was eligible for "Gala Eurovisión" but was not allocated any song

Contestant Age Residence Episode of elimination Place finished
(Overall ranking)
Famous 19 Seville Gala Final Winner
Alba Reche 20 Alicante Runner-up
Natalia 19 Pamplona 3rd
Sabela 24 A Coruña 4th
Julia 23 Cádiz 5th
Miki 22 Barcelona Gala 12 6th
Marta 18 Málaga Gala 11 7th
María 26 Madrid Gala 10 8th
Marilia 18 Las Palmas Gala 9 9th
Carlos Right 25 Barcelona Gala 8 10th
Noelia 22 Málaga Gala 7 11th
Damion 21 Tenerife Gala 6 12th
Dave 20 Cádiz Gala 5 13th
Joan Garrido 22 Palma Gala 4 14th
África 22 Madrid Gala 3 15th
Alfonso 22 Madrid Gala 2 16th
Rodrigo 25 Huelva Gala 0 Not selected
Luis 19 Barcelona

Competing entries

Interested songwriters were able to submit their song demos from 1 November 2018 to 15 November 2018. 953 song were submitted to TVE before the deadline expired.[9] Participating songwriters could suggest the contestant(s) from Operación Triunfo 2018 they considered ideal to perform their song, but the suggestion was not binding. All submitted songs had to include lyrics in one of the official languages of Spain. A five-member evaluation committee — consisting of a member representing the Spanish branch of the international OGAE fan club, a member representing the Spanish AEV fan club, a member from the digital branch of TVE, and two members representing the Spanish music industry — shortlisted up to ten songs for an online vote by 10 December 2018.[4][5]

In addition to the public call, established songwriters were contacted directly by TVE and the production company Gestmusic, and were invited to provide songs from 1 November 2018 to 15 November 2018. Over one hundred additional songs were submitted by the invited songwriters.[9] A five-member evaluation committee — consisting of two members representing TVE's management, a member from the digital branch of TVE, and two teachers from Operación Triunfo's boarding academy — shortlist up to ten additional songs for the online vote.[4][5]

Seventeen selected songs (via the public call and via invitation) were allocated by the boarding academy's staff to thirteen of the sixteen eligible contestants of Operación Triunfo 2018 in solo and duet combinations. The allocation was announced on 11 December 2018. The contestants recorded a one-minute demo of their respective songs. The demos were made available to the public via TVE's official website on the night between 19 December 2018 and 20 December 2018, during the finale of Operación Triunfo 2018 when the regular winner of the season was determined. An online public vote ran until 2 January 2019, enabling each user to vote for their three favorite entries each day.[10] The three entries with the most votes advanced to the special live show "Gala Eurovisión" that took place on 20 January 2019. A five-member evaluation committee — consisting of two members representing TVE's management, a member from the digital branch of TVE, and two teachers from Operación Triunfo's boarding academy — selected seven additional entries from the fourteen remaining songs for "Gala Eurovisión".[4][5][11]

    Qualified via online voting[12]
    Qualified via evaluation committee[11]

Online vote – 20 December 2018 – 2 January 2019[8]
Artist Song (English translation) Songwriter(s) Place
Alba Reche "¿Qué será luego?" (What's next?) Aitana López 6
Carlos Right "Nunca fui" (I was never) Lolo Álvarez 15
"Se te nota" (You can't hide it) Juan Pablo Isaza, Juan Pablo Villamil 12
Damion "Sale" (It comes up) Víctor Arbelo, Adri Mena 13
Famous "No puedo más" (I can't take it anymore) Leroy Sánchez, Louis Biancaniello, Nolan Sipe 4
Joan Garrido & Marilia "A tu lado" (By your side) Ángel Reyero, Fernando Fú 16
Julia "¿Qué quieres que haga?" (What do you want me to do?) David Santisteban, India Martínez 11
María "Muérdeme" (Bite me) Juan Suárez, David Feito, Victoria Riba, Nuria Azzouzi, Rosa Martínez 1
Marilia "Todo bien" (Everything's alright) Sananda, Chris Wahle, Andreas Öhrn, Juan Carlos Fuguet López 7
Marta "Vuelve" (Come back) Santi Fontclara, Lydia Torrejón 8
Miki "El equilibrio" (The balance) – 17
"La venda" (The blindfold) Adrià Salas 5
Miki & Natalia "Nadie se salva" (No one is safe) María Peláe, Nil Moliner, Javi Garabatto 9
Natalia "La clave" (The key) Merche, Ander Pérez, Nuria Azzouzi, Rosa Martínez 3
Noelia "Hoy vuelvo a reír otra vez" (Today I'm laughing again) Jacobo Calderón, Álex Ubago 2
Sabela "Dímelo de frente" (Say it to my face) – 14
"Hoy soñaré" (I'll dream today) Jesús Cañadilla, Alejandro de Pinedo 10

"Gala Eurovisión"

"Gala Eurovisión", the special live show of Operación Triunfo 2018 to select the Spanish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, took place on 20 January 2019. Ten entries competed in the live show. The winner was selected by public vote.[4][5]

During the show an expert panel commented on the performances. The members of the expert panel were:[13]

As the opening of the show, the competing artists performed the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 "Toy". In addition to the performances by the competing artists, Eleni Foureira – runner-up of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 representing Cyprus – performed her entry "Fuego" and "Tómame".[13] Alfred García – who represented Spain in the 2018 Contest together with Amaia Romero – was present for the announcement of the winning entry.

Gala Eurovisión – 20 January 2019
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Marilia "Todo bien" 6% 6
2 Sabela "Hoy soñaré" 2% 9
3 Famous "No puedo más" 5% 7
4 Natalia "La clave" 6% 5
5 Julia "Qué quieres que haga" 3% 8
6 Miki "La venda" 34% 1
7 Noelia "Hoy vuelvo a reír otra vez" 7% 4
8 Carlos Right "Se te nota" 1% 10
9 Miki & Natalia "Nadie se salva" 14% 3
10 María "Muérdeme" 22% 2

Preparation

The official video of the song, directed by Adrià Pujol and Fèlix Cortés, was filmed on 13 February 2019 at the Mercantic antique market in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona[14] and was released on 7 March 2019.[15]

Promotion

Miki made appearances across Europe to specifically promote "La venda" as the Spanish Eurovision entry. He performed at the Eurovision in Concert event at the AFAS Live venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands on 6 April; the London Eurovision Party at the Café de Paris venue in London, United Kingdom on 14 April, and the Moscow Eurovision Party at the Vegas City Hall venue in Moscow, Russia on 24 April.[16][17][18][19]

In addition to his international appearances, Miki performed "La venda" as a guest on competitive dance reality television series Fama, a bailar, aired on #0, on 26 March.[20] On 30 March, he performed the song at the Plaza de Oriente in Madrid on occasion of the Earth Hour.[21] On 20 April, he performed during the Eurovision-Spain Pre-Party event which was held at the Sala La Riviera venue in Madrid.[22] On 8 May, the special concert event Miki y amigos, which aired on TVE's official website and YouTube channel, centered on him, accompanied by guest performers.[23]

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 took place at Expo Tel Aviv in Tel Aviv, Israel and consisted of two semi-finals on 14 and 16 May and the final on 18 May 2019.[24] According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. As a member of the "Big 5", Spain automatically qualifies to compete in the final. In addition to their participation in the final, Spain is also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals. During the semifinal allocation draw on 28 January 2019, Spain was allocated to air and vote in the first semifinal on 14 May.

In Spain, both semi-finals were broadcast on La 2, while the final was televised on La 1 with commentary by Tony Aguilar and Julia Varela.[25] For the first time since 2002, Radio Nacional de España also aired the final with commentary by Daniel Galindo; it simulcasted on Radio Nacional, Radio 5 and Radio Exterior.[26] For the second consecutive year, the final was broadcast live in cinemas across the country due to an agreement with cinema chain Cinesa.[27] The Spanish spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Spanish jury during the final, was Nieves Álvarez, for the third year in a row.[25] The Spanish song placed 22nd in the final with 54 points.

Staging and performance

The staging director for the Spanish performance was Fokas Evangelinos, who had previously worked with the delegations of Greece, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Azerbaijan in a similar role, including the winning performances of Greece in the 2005 Contest and Russia in the 2008 Contest.[28] Miki was joined in stage by backing singers and dancers Mikel Hennet (who represented Spain in the 2007 Contest as part of D'Nash), Ernesto Santos, Fran Guerrero, María Acosta and Mary Martínez.[29]

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member, as well as the nation's televoting results, were released shortly after the grand final.[30]

Points awarded to Spain
Points awarded to Spain (final)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Spain

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Spanish jury:[30]

  • María Soledad Giménez Muñoz (Sole Giménez) – Chairperson – composer, author, singer
  • Elena Gómez – radio music coordination at Radio 3
  • Ricardo Luis Merino Urdiales (Ricky Merino) – singer, dancer, television host
  • Raúl Gómez García (Raúl Gómez) – composer, singer, pianist
  • David Feito – songwriter, producer, represented Spain in the 2013 contest as part of El Sueño de Morfeo
Split voting results from Spain (Semi-final 1)
Draw Country Jury Televote
S. Giménez E. Gómez R. Merino R. Gómez D. Feito Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Cyprus152111556101
02 Montenegro5101617121217
03 Finland13781379216
04 Poland1115107111313
05 Slovenia11217497483
06 Czech Republic494133865
07 Hungary71199131112
08 Belarus1243344711
09 Serbia6861268314
10 Belgium3376106574
11 Georgia8161514171615
12 Australia2625111247
13 Iceland141412101415210
14 Estonia1051316810156
15 Portugal17171181614112
16 Greece9152221092
17 San Marino16131415151738
Split voting results from Spain (final)
Draw Country Jury Televote
S. Giménez E. Gómez R. Merino R. Gómez D. Feito Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Malta121779231414
02 Albania20191919252425
03 Czech Republic52110245613
04 Germany7222217191720
05 Russia15461699292
06 Denmark10232012141811
07 San Marino25252525242521
08 North Macedonia4181521121219
09 Sweden2334211256
10 Slovenia32423101710122
11 Cyprus231011356515
12 Netherlands829133838
13 Greece19131311201924
14 Israel21151422152116
15 Norway131182361147
16 United Kingdom14162124162218
17 Iceland24201615222383
18 Estonia1882418111612
19 Belarus229118211517
20 Azerbaijan91431047101
21 France1761214131374
22 Italy65185774112
23 Serbia11141720182023
24  Switzerland161227883210
25 Australia1756121065
26 Spain
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References
  1. "Spain Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  2. "TVE confirma 'OT 2018', renovando el formato por una nueva edición". FormulaTV.com. 28 February 2018.
  3. "Spain: TVE confirms participation in Eurovision 2019". esctoday.com. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  4. "Bases de participación de Eurovisión 2019: ¡tú puedes ser el autor de nuestra canción en Tel Aviv!". RTVE.es (in Spanish). 4 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  5. "Spain: TVE opens song submission period for Eurovision 2019; national final in January". Esctoday.com. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  6. RTVE.es. "CONCURSANTES DE OT 2018" (in Spanish).
  7. "'OT 2018': Así ha sido el minuto a minuto de la Gala 0" ['OT 2018': This is how Gala 0 went minute by minute] (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  8. "17 canciones participarán en la preselección de RTVE para Eurovisión 2019" (in Spanish). 11 December 2018.
  9. "'OT 2018': RTVE recibe más de 1.000 canciones para la preselección de Eurovisión 2019". FormulaTV.com (in Spanish). 16 November 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  10. "Noemí Galera y Manu Guix reparten los temas de Eurovisión a los concursantes de OT 2018". RTVE.es (in Spanish). 11 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  11. "Conoce las diez canciones que aspiran a convertirse en la canción de España para Eurovisión 2019". RTVE.es (in Spanish). 4 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  12. "María, Noelia y Natalia convencen al público y se alzan finalistas para Eurovisión 2019" (in Spanish). 2 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  13. "RTVE.es estrena en exclusiva las canciones candidatas a Eurovisión el jueves 17 de enero" (in Spanish). RTVE. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  14. "Miki graba el videoclip de "La Venda" y confirma tres paradas de su gira eurovisiva". eldiario.es (in Spanish). 14 February 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  15. https://wiwibloggs.com/2019/03/06/la-venda-ya-cayo-miki-releases-new-version/234601/
  16. "MIKI ACTUARÁ EL VIERNES 8 DE MARZO EN EL WKND MELFEST". www.ogaespain.com (in Spanish). OGAE Spain. 6 February 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  17. "Welcome… Miki from Spain!". eurovisioninconcert.nl. Eurovision in Concert. 13 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  18. "MIKI, CONFIRMADO PARA LA 'LONDON EUROVISION PARTY 2019'". www.ogaespain.com (in Spanish). OGAE Spain. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  19. Lucas, Lucas (26 March 2019). "Miki confirma asistencia en la pre-party de Moscú". www.eurovision-spain.com (in Spanish). Eurovision-Spain.com. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  20. Andrés, Maria José (27 March 2019). "'Eurovision': Miki desvela más detalles de la puesta en escena de 'La venda'". www.diezminutos.com (in Spanish). Diez Minutos. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  21. "¡Miki será el anfitrión de la Pre-Party 2019 de Eurovision-Spain!" (in Spanish). RTVE.es. 28 March 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  22. "¡Miki será el anfitrión de la Pre-Party 2019 de Eurovision-Spain!". www.eurovision-spain.com (in Spanish). Eurovision-Spain.com. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
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  24. "Tel Aviv to host Eurovision 2019! - Eurovision Song Contest Israel 2019". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  25. "Tony Aguilar y Julia Varela comentarán Eurovisión 2019 y Nieves Álvarez será la portavoz del jurado español" (in Spanish). RTVE. 25 March 2019.
  26. "Radio Nacional de España volverá a emitir el Festival de Eurovisión". Eurovision-Spain.com (in Spanish). 29 March 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  27. "Eurovisión podrá verse también en cines". ABC (in Spanish). 17 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  28. "El griego Fokas Evagelinos será el director artístico de la puesta en escena de Miki" [Fokas Evagelinos will be the artistic director of Miki's stage performance]. rtve.es (in Spanish). RTVE. 16 February 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  29. "Primeros ensayos de Miki para Eurovisión con Fokas Evagelinos y Mamen Márquez". rtve.es (in Spanish). RTVE. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  30. Groot, Evert (30 April 2019). "Exclusive: They are the judges who will vote in Eurovision 2019!". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
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