Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013

After Spain achieved their first top ten placing since the 2004 edition in 2012, TVE announced that they would continue to internally select the artist that would represent the nation for the Eurovision Song Contest.[6][7] An early prediction of a possible candidate was David Bustamante, who stated in June 2012 that he was open to the idea of competing in Eurovision but had no time to commit to the contest.[8] International media later suggested that Pablo Alborán had been chosen to represent Spain, but record label EMI Music Spain quickly issued a press release denying these reports, explaining that he was preparing to promote his new album Tanto on tour.[9] Other artists who were rumoured to be in discussions with TVE included Chenoa, Malú, David Bisbal,[10] Diana Navarro, Álex Ubago and Sergio Dalma.[11]

On 17 December 2012, TVE announced pop-rock band El Sueño de Morfeo as the Spanish entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 on the La 1 evening magazine programme +Gente.[12][13] For Eurovision, they used the initials ESDM because it would be easier to read for an international audience.[13] During the subsequent press conference, the band stated that they had prepared and written three songs that contained a traditional Celtic influence; ESDM were also hoping to submit another two songs for presentation by TVE. They spoke of their plan to organise a meeting with Pastora Soler to exchange musical ideas and receive advice about competing in Eurovision.[14]

El Sueño de Morfeo: Destino Eurovisión was the national final organised by TVE that took place on 26 February 2013 at the TVE studios in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, hosted by Carolina Ferre.[15] The show was broadcast on La 1 as well as online via TVE's official website. Three songs, one selected from an Internet round and the remaining two selected as pre-qualified songs, all performed by El Sueño de Morfeo, competed with the winner being decided upon through a combination of public televoting and an in-studio expert jury.[16]

One of the competing songs in the national final was selected through an Internet vote. Users had between 5 and 11 February 2013 to vote for their favourite entry on RTVE's website and the winning song that qualified for the national final, "Atrévete", was announced on 12 February 2013.[16][17]

The televised final took place on 26 February 2013. ESDM performed three candidate songs and the winning song, "Contigo hasta el final", was selected through the combination of the votes of an in-studio jury (50 percent) and a public televote (50 percent).[18][19]

The three members of the in-studio jury that evaluated the entries during the final were:[15]

• José María Íñigo – Journalist, Spanish commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest
• Rosa López – Singer, represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2002
• Marco Mengoni – Singer, represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013

On 14 March 2013, a preview of the music video of "Contigo hasta el final" was premiered on +Gente. The video, directed by Pedro Castro and filmed in different locations in the municipality of Llanes in Asturias in early March, featured two people described as having lost their faith in love as they did not know its meaning before they met.[20][21] On 24 and 25 March, a Sveriges Television film crew was flown to Asturias to observe ESDM showcasing their hobbies and rehearsing and composing their songs in a recording studio for the national postcard.[22] An English language version of "Contingo hasta el final" was recorded and released during April 2013.[23]

ESDM at the final dress rehearsal for the final on 18 May.

ESDM took part in a half-hour technical rehearsal on 12 May, followed by two 20-minute dress rehearsals on 15 and 17 May.[28] This included the jury final where professional juries of each country, responsible for 50 percent of each country's vote, watched and voted on the competing entries.[29] During the individual press conferences for the "Big 5" countries on 15 May, ESDM took part in a draw to determine in which half of the final the Spanish entry would be performed.[30] Spain was drawn to compete in the first half. After the second semi-final was held on 17 May, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final. The running order for the semi-finals and final was decided by the producers rather than through another draw so that similar songs were not placed next to each other.[31] Spain was subsequently placed to perform in position five, following the entry from Finland and before the entry from Belgium.[32]

The Spanish performance featured lead singer Raquel del Rosario wearing a yellow dress that she designed in collaboration with the designer Yolanda Pérez, of the brand "Yolancris". Del Rosario chose to go barefoot for the song.[33] Guitarists David Feito and Juan Luis Suárez wore more casual outfits and had no choreography for the performance, staying in one spot.[34][35] The performance began with a bagpipe player standing on the catwalk of the stage, performing the first notes of the song. The stage lighting and LED screens first displayed blue and purple rays of the sun, with imitations of waterfall-like lamps falling from the ceiling, and the rear of the stage had white star-light twinkles projected onto it. The colours changed to shades of red and orange as the song rose in tempo, to reflect the warmth of the song. Del Rosario walked along the catwalk of the stage and sang into a light box that lit up in yellow. The light box then rose upwards, along with several other lamps in the audience. The stage director of the performance was Pedro Castro.[35][36][37] On the day of the final, Spain were considered by bookmakers to be the 25th most likely country to win the contest;[38] they finished 25th with eight points. They were awarded six points by Albania and two from Italy.[39]

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation.[40] The jury consists 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 was asked to judge each contestant based on vocal capacity, the stage performance, the song's composition and originality, and the overall impression of the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could 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 were released shortly after the grand final, at the discretion of the participating country.[41]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Spain and awarded by Spain in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest.[39][42] Details of the jury voting and televoting were not released to the public, because the EBU wanted to prevent any possible influence this could have on future televoting results.[43] Spain awarded its 12 points to Norway in the second semi-final, and to Italy in the final.[39][42]