Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Spain participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Tu canción", written by Raúl Gómez and Sylvia Santoro. The song was performed by Amaia y Alfred, a duo made up of Amaia Romero and Alfred García. The Spanish broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE) used the ninth series of reality television talent competition Operación Triunfo as the platform to select the Spanish entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. Amaia & Alfred with "Tu canción" were selected by the vote of the Spanish public from among nine competing entries.

Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Country Spain
National selection
Selection processOperación Triunfo 2017
Selection date(s)29 January 2018
Selected entrantAmaia y Alfred
Selected song"Tu canción"
Selected songwriter(s)Raúl Gómez
Sylvia Santoro
Finals performance
Final result23rd, 61 points
Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2017 • 2018 • 2019►

As a member of the "Big 5", Spain automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 2, Spain placed twenty-third out of the 26 participating countries with 61 points.

Background
Main article: Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2018 contest, Spain had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-seven 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 2017, Spain placed twenty-sixth and last with the song "Do It for Your Lover" performed by Manel Navarro.

The Spanish national broadcaster, Televisión Española (TVE), broadcasts the event within Spain and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. TVE confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest on 1 September 2017.[2] The Spanish broadcaster had used both national finals and internal selection to choose the Spanish entry in the past. For 2017, TVE selected the entry that would compete at the Eurovision Song Contest via the multi-artist national final Objetivo Eurovisión 2017. From 2002 to 2004, the reality television singing competition Operación Triunfo (the Spanish version of Star Academy) was used to select the artist and song to represent Spain in the contest. On 26 April 2017, TVE announced that they had commissioned a new season of Operación Triunfo, which premiered on 23 October 2017 returning to TVE after 13 years.[3] On 4 December 2017, TVE confirmed that the ongoing series would serve as the platform to select the Spanish entrant at the 2018 contest.[4]

Before Eurovision

Operación Triunfo 2017
Main article: Operación Triunfo (series 9)

Operación Triunfo is a Spanish reality television music competition consisting of training sixteen contestants in a boarding academy in order to find new singing talent. The ninth series, also known as Operación Triunfo 2017, took place from 23 October 2017 to 5 February 2018 at the Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya in Terrassa, Barcelona, hosted by Roberto Leal. The competition was broadcast on La 1, TVE International as well as online via TVE's official website rtve.es. During the sixth live show (Gala 6) on 4 December 2017, Leal announced that the Spanish entry for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest would be selected from the contestants competing on the ongoing series. The same method was used in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 editions.[4] On 20 December 2017, TVE announced that the five contestants that would advance to the series' final would compete in the Eurovision selection show, Gala Eurovisión, on 29 January 2018.[5] It was later announced that the contestant placed sixth would also compete in Gala Eurovisión as part of a duet combination.[6] The six contestants performed nine songs in Gala Eurovisión and the winner was decided exclusively through a public vote.[7]

Contestants

Operación Triunfo 2017 featured eighteen novel solo artists as contestants, of which sixteen were selected to enter "The Academy" following the introduction live show (Gala 0) on 23 October 2017.[8] During each regular weekly live shows (galas), the contestants were assigned a popular song to perform in a duet or solo. The public votes via telephone, SMS and the official Operación Triunfo app, and the contestant with the most votes is exempt for nominations. The show's judging panel nominates four contestants for eviction, from which the Academy's staff and the safe contestants each saves one nominee. The two remaining nominees each perform of a song of their choice during the next live show, where one of the contestants is saved by the public. The first four finalists were decided during Gala 11 on 15 January 2018. Alfred, Amaia and Miriam were selected by the judging panel while Aitana was selected by the Academy teachers.[9] The fifth finalist, Ana Guerra, was decided by the public during Gala 12 on 22 January 2018. The top five classified contestants qualified for Gala Eurovisión as soloists, while Agoney, who placed sixth, participated in Gala Eurovisión as part of a duet combination.[6][7][10]

  Contestant qualified to "Gala Eurovisión"

Contestant Age Residence Episode of elimination Place finished
(Overall ranking)
Amaia 19 Pamplona Winner 1st
Aitana 18 Barcelona Runner-up 2nd
Miriam 21 A Coruña Third place 3rd
Alfred 20 Barcelona Gala Final 4th
Ana Guerra 23 Tenerife 5th
Agoney 21 Gala 12 6th
Roi 23 Santiago de Compostela Gala 11 7th
Nerea 18 Barcelona Gala 10 8th
Cepeda 28 Ourense Gala 9 9th
Raoul 20 Barcelona Gala 8 10th
Mireya Málaga Gala 7 11th
Ricky 31 Palma Gala 6 12th
Marina 19 Seville Gala 5 13th
Thalía 18 Cáceres Gala 4 14th
Juan Antonio 23 Bilbao Gala 3 15th
Mimi 25 Granada Gala 2 16th
Joao 21 Madrid Gala 0 Not selected
Mario

Competing entries

Circa 200 original songs were submitted by music publishers, independent songwriters as well as specific artists and songwriters invited by TVE for Gala Eurovisión. The Academy teachers evaluated the songs received and selected nine songs. The nine songs were then allocated to the top six classified contestants of Operación Triunfo 2017. The top five contestants were each allocated one song as solo artists, three songs were allocated to duet combinations, and the remaining song "Camina", written by the sixteen official contestants of Operación Triunfo 2017 together with the series' musical director Manu Guix, was performed by the five finalists as a group.[6][11][12][13] The competing songs and the allocations were announced on 23 January 2018. Prior to Gala Eurovisión, the competing songwriters together with the Academy teachers coached the contestants in order to prepare their performances.[5][7]

Gala Eurovisión

Gala Eurovisión took place on 29 January 2018. The winner was selected through two rounds of public voting via telephone, SMS and the official Operación Triunfo app. In the first round, the top three entries advanced to the second round: "Arde" performed by Aitana, "Lo malo" performed by Aitana & Ana Guerra and "Tu canción" performed by Alfred & Amaia. In the second round, the winner, "Tu canción" performed by Alfred & Amaia was selected.[6] Gala Eurovisión was watched by 3.086 million viewers in Spain, making it the most watched Spanish national final since 2004.[14][15]

The four members of the expert panel that commented on the entries were:[16]

In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers included Luísa Sobral performing "Cupido", winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 for Austria Conchita Wurst performing "Rise like a Phoenix", J Balvin performing a medley of "Machika" and "Mi Gente", and the eliminated contestants of Operación Triunfo 2017 performing the Eurovision winning songs for Spain "La, la, la" and "Vivo cantando". Manel Navarro who represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was also present to announce the winner.[16]

First Round – 29 January 2018
Draw Artist Song (English translation) Songwriter(s) Televote Place
1 Aitana, Alfred, Amaia, Ana Guerra & Miriam "Camina" (Walk) Operación Triunfo 2017 contestants, Manu Guix 1% 9
2 Aitana "Arde" (Burn) Alba Reig, María Peláe — 2-3
3 Agoney & Miriam "Magia" (Magic) David Otero, Diego Cantero, Tato Latorre 7% 5
4 Alfred "Que nos sigan las luces" (May the lights follow us) Nil Moliner 3% 8
5 Aitana & Ana Guerra "Lo malo" (The bad stuff) Jess Morgan, Will Simms, Brisa Fenoy — 2-3
6 Amaia "Al cantar" (While singing) Rozalén 4% 7
7 Miriam "Lejos de tu piel" (Far from your skin) Steve Robson, Ina Wroldsen, Diego Cantero 8% 4
8 Ana Guerra "El remedio" (The remedy) Nabález 5% 6
9 Alfred & Amaia "Tu canción" (Your song) Raúl Gómez, Sylvia Santoro — 1
Second Round – 29 January 2018
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Aitana "Arde" 31% 2
2 Alfred & Amaia "Tu canción" 43% 1
3 Aitana & Ana Guerra "Lo malo" 26% 3

Preparation

The official video of the song, directed by Gus Carballo, was filmed in February 2018 at studio in Madrid. The video premiered on 9 March 2018 on a special prime time broadcast on La 1, hosted by Roberto Leal.[17][18] The music video served as the official preview video for the Spanish entry.

Promotion

Amaia y Alfred made appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Tu canción" as the Spanish Eurovision entry. On 5 April, they performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London, United Kingdom. They also performed during the Israel Calling event which was held at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, Israel on 10 April. On 14 April, Amaia y Alfred performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the AFAS Live venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands.[19]

In addition to their international appearances, on 26 February, Amaia y Alfred performed an acoustic version of the song on talk show El Hormiguero on Antena 3, where they were guest interviewed.[20] On 11 March, they performed the acoustic version on talk show Viva la vida on Telecinco, where they were likewise guest interviewed.[21] On 15 March, they performed the song on the Premios Dial awards show at the Auditorio de Tenerife in Santa Cruz, aired live on Divinity.[22] On 24 March, they performed the song on the La noche de Cadena 100 charity concert at the WiZink Center in Madrid, aired live on Divinity.[23] On 25 March, they performed as guests on competitive dance reality television series Fama, a bailar, aired on #0.[24] On 21 April, they performed during the Eurovision-Spain Pre-Party event which was held at the Sala La Riviera venue in Madrid.[19] On 26 April, the special live concert event Amaia, Alfred y amigos, which aired on TVE's official website and the web platform Playz, centered on them, accompanied by guest performers Zahara and Love of Lesbian, among others.[25] During the concert, Amaia y Alfred performed "Your Song", an English version of their entry.[26]

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 took place at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal and consisted of two semi-finals on 8 and 10 May and the final on 12 May 2018.[27] 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. At the semi-final allocation draw on 29 January 2018, Spain was drawn to vote in the first semi-final on 8 May; the country also performed in the first semi-final jury show on 7 May, and an extended clip of the performance was broadcast in the televised semi-final show the following evening.

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.[28][29] The Spanish spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Spanish jury during the final, was Nieves Álvarez, for the second year in a row.[29] For the first time, the final of the Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast live in cinemas across the country due to an agreement with cinema chain Cinesa.[30] The Spanish song placed 23rd in the final with 61 points.

Staging and performance

The staging director for the Spanish performance was Tinet Rubira, and Jordi Vives was the multi-camera director.[31]

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:[32]

Split voting results from Spain (Semi-final 1)
Draw Country Jury Televote
R. Cano B. Fenoy Miriam Roi Conchita Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Azerbaijan8181317121317
02 Iceland16131818191815
03 Albania10124447465
04 Belgium9101416131213
05 Czech Republic359554774
06 Lithuania1791514141483
07 Israel2121211247
08 Belarus12111915161616
09 Estonia4156365692
10 Bulgaria14381288338
11 Macedonia13161613171718
12 Croatia7141211111119
13 Austria543233811
14 Greece18191719181912
15 Finland681091010156
16 Armenia19171110151514
17  Switzerland15257765101
18 Ireland11678992112
19 Cyprus17161210210
Split voting results from Spain (final)
Draw Country Jury Televote
R. Cano B. Fenoy Miriam Roi Conchita Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Ukraine22131919212116
02 Spain
03 Slovenia2061723191724
04 Lithuania16211115171914
05 Austria5122523815
06 Estonia819612710192
07 Norway3111616111183
08 Portugal2441317221513
09 United Kingdom916914151621
10 Serbia25172324252325
11 Germany1055344756
12 Albania191877101223
13 France11114865674
14 Czech Republic491261374210
15 Denmark23242418232417
16 Australia623151391422
17 Finland12202021182020
18 Bulgaria18102220141865
19 Moldova13222122202212
20 Sweden78810129211
21 Hungary21252525242518
22 Israel22315210112
23 Netherlands1714184161319
24 Ireland14749865101
25 Cyprus1312111238
26 Italy1515101138347

References
  1. "Spain Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  2. "Spain: RTVE Confirms Eurovision 2018 Participation - Eurovoix". Eurovoix. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  3. 'Operación Triunfo' vuelve a La 1, 16 años después de su estreno en TVE
  4. "La representación de España en Eurovisión 2018 saldrá de 'Operación Triunfo'". RTVE.es. 5 December 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  5. Mahía, Manu (8 January 2018). "España escogerá el 29 de enero su candidatura para Eurovisión entre los finalistas de OT". Eurovision-Spain.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  6. "Agoney, Ana Guerra y 'Camina' podrían ir a Eurovisión 2018". RTVE.es (in Spanish). 22 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  7. "Los cinco finalistas de OT competirán por ir a Eurovisión 2018". RTVE.es (in Spanish). 20 December 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  8. RTVE.es. "Concursantes" (in Spanish).
  9. Rico, Vicente (16 January 2018). "Amaia, Alfred, Miriam y Aitana, ¡primeros finalistas de OT y candidatos a Eurovisión!". Eurovision-Spain.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  10. Rico, Vicente (12 January 2018). "El lunes conoceremos a los cuatro primeros finalistas de OT que optan a Eurovisión". Eurovision-Spain.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  11. Carro, David (17 January 2018). "'OT 2017': TVE y Gestmusic trabajan en Eurovisión 2018 con más de 200 canciones para solistas y dúos". FormulaTV.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  12. Mahía, Manu (23 January 2018). "¡OT presenta las nueve canciones candidatas de España para Eurovisión!". Eurovision-Spain.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  13. @ot_oficial (25 January 2018). "COMUNICADO DEL DEPARTAMENTO DE CAMBIO DE TÍTULOS: La canción que interpretan @AnaG_ot2017 y @Aitana_ot2017 se llama "Lo Malo" porque el anterior título está registrado por una marca comercial. Así que ¡a tope con "Lo Malo"! 🕺 ¿Verdad @BrisaFenoy? 😎 #OTDirecto25E" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. "La Gala de Eurovisión de 'OT 2017' brilla y un impresionante 23,6% es testigo del triunfo de Alfred y Amaia". formulatv.com (in Spanish). FórmulaTV. 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  15. "'OT 2017' (23,6%) se convierte en la preselección eurovisiva más vista desde 'Operación Triunfo 3'". formulatv.com (in Spanish). FórmulaTV. 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  16. "El público elige el lunes la candidatura española para Eurovisión 2018 entre nueve temas" (in Spanish). RTVE. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  17. García Hernández, José (18 February 2018). "El videoclip de Tu canción se estrenará en marzo ¡Así es el making of!". eurovision-spain.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  18. Ortiz, Laura (5 March 2018). "Eurovisión 2018: TVE estrena el videoclip de "Tu canción", de Amaia y Alfred, el viernes 9 de marzo". formulatv.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  19. "Amaia y Alfred se van de gira por Europa". www.rtve.es (in Spanish). RTVE. 21 February 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  20. "En directo: Amaia y Alfred visitan 'El Hormiguero' (con susto a Pablo Motos incluido)". www.lecturas.com (in Spanish). Lecturas. 26 February 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
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  22. "¡Amaia y Alfred cantarán por primera vez Tu canción en los Premios Dial!". www.cadenadial.com (in Spanish). Cadena Dial. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  23. "Amaia y Alfred, artistas confirmados para La noche de CADENA 100 2018". www.cadena100.es (in Spanish). Cadena 100. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
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  25. "Amaia, Alfred y amigos: pop, jazz e indie en concierto homenaje, este jueves RTVE.es y Playz". www.rtve.es (in Spanish). RTVE. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
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  27. Jordan, Paul (25 July 2017). "Lisbon revealed as Host City of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  28. Mahía, Manu (30 January 2018). "España confirma que emitirá las dos semifinales de Eurovisión 2018" (in Spanish). eurovision-spain.com. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  29. "Tony Aguilar comentará junto a Julia Varela Eurovisión 2018" (in Spanish). RTVE. 14 March 2018.
  30. Granger, Anthony (27 March 2018). "Spain: Eurovision 2018 Final to Be Broadcast in Cinemas". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
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  32. Groot, Evert (30 April 2018). "Exclusive: They are the expert jurors for Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
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