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 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.
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

Prior to the 2018 contest, Spain had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-seven times since its first entry in. 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, 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. 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 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. On 4 December 2017, TVE confirmed that the ongoing series would serve as the platform to select the Spanish entrant at the 2018 contest.

Before Eurovision

''Operación Triunfo 2017''

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 ninth series, also known as Operación Triunfo 2017, aired on La 1 from 23 October 2017 to 5 February 2018, hosted by Roberto Leal and broadcast from the Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya in Terrassa, Barcelona. On 4 December 2017, it was announced by Leal, during sixth week's live show or "Gala 6", that the performer that would represent Spain at 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. On 20 December 2017, TVE announced that the five contestants that would succeed in advancing to the series' final would also be the five candidates to represent Spain in the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. On 22 January 2018, it was announced that the sixth-placed contestant would also bid to represent Spain as part of a duet combination. "Gala Eurovisión", the special live show that selected the Spanish entrant and song for Eurovision took place on 29 January 2018, one week prior to the series' final on 5 February 2018. For the Eurovision selection show, the top six classified contestants of Operación Triunfo 2017 were allocated nine songs by the staff of teachers at "The Academy", where the contestants are trained during the Operación Triunfo competition. The Spanish entrant to Eurovision was decided by public vote.

Contestants

Operación Triunfo 2017 featured eighteen novel solo artists as contestants, of which sixteen were selected to enter "The Academy" in the introduction live show or "Gala 0" on 23 October 2017. For the regular weekly live shows or galas, the contestants are assigned a popular song to perform in a duet or solo. The audience votes for their favourite performer, and the contestant with the most votes is exempt for nominations. The show's jury panel nominates four contestants for eviction. The Academy's staff meeting saves one of the nominees, and the safe contestants save another of the nominees. The two remaining nominees prepare the performance of a song of their choice each for next week's live show, where one of the contestants is saved by the audience via televote, sms and app voting. The five contestants who succeeded in advancing to the series' final were also the five candidates that participated in the special Eurovision selection show as soloists. In addition, three songs were allocated to duet combinations of the top six classified contestants, and the five finalists performed a ninth competing entry as a group. The first four contestants that qualified for the final were determined on "Gala 11" on 15 January 2018: three were selected by the show's jury panel – Amaia, Miriam and Alfred – and one was selected by the teachers at "The Academy" – Aitana –. The fifth contestant that qualified for the final – Ana Guerra – was decided by public vote on "Gala 12" on 22 January 2018; the remaining contestant – Agoney – participated in "Gala Eurovisión" as part of a duet.
Contestant qualified to "Gala Eurovisión"
ContestantAgeResidenceEpisode of eliminationPlace finished
Amaia19PamplonaWinner1st
Aitana18BarcelonaRunner-up2nd
Miriam21A CoruñaThird place3rd
Alfred20BarcelonaGala Final4th
Ana Guerra23TenerifeGala Final5th
Agoney21TenerifeGala 126th
Roi23Santiago de CompostelaGala 117th
Nerea18BarcelonaGala 108th
Cepeda28OurenseGala 99th
Raoul20BarcelonaGala 810th
Mireya20MálagaGala 711th
Ricky31PalmaGala 612th
Marina19SevilleGala 513th
Thalía18CáceresGala 414th
Juan Antonio23BilbaoGala 315th
Mimi25GranadaGala 216th
Joao21MadridGala 0Not selected
Mario21MadridGala 0Not selected

Competing entries

On 23 January 2018, the top six classified contestants of Operación Triunfo 2017 were allocated nine songs for the Eurovision selection show. The five contestants that succeeded in advancing to the series' final would perform a song each as solo artists, three songs were allocated to duet combinations, and one candidate song would be performed by the five finalists as a group. The candidate songs were previously evaluated internally, and allocated to the finalists by the staff of teachers at "The Academy". Circa 200 original songs were evaluated internally for the Eurovision selection. Music publishers were asked to provide songs, specific artists and songwriters were also contacted directly, and some independent songwriters submitted songs by own decision. In addition, "Camina", a song written by the sixteen official contestants of Operación Triunfo 2017 together with the series' musical director Manu Guix, competed performed by the five finalists as a group.
From 23 January 2018 to 29 January 2018, the candidate songs' songwriters, together with the teachers at "The Academy", coached the contestants in order to prepare their performances.

"Gala Eurovisión"

"Gala Eurovisión", the special live show of Operación Triunfo 2017 to select the Spanish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, took place on 29 January 2018. Nine entries competed. After a first round of voting, the three entries with the most votes from the public – via telephone, sms and the official Operación Triunfo 2017 app – advanced to a second round of voting. In the second round, the winner was selected by public vote. "Gala Eurovisión" was watched by 3.086 million viewers in Spain, making it the most watched Eurovision Song Contest selection show since 2004 when Ramón was selected with the song "Para llenarme de ti".
During the show an expert panel commented on the performances. The members of the expert panel were:
In addition to the performances by the competing artists, Luísa Sobral performed "Cupido", Conchita Wurst – winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 – performed her winning entry "Rise like a Phoenix", J Balvin performed a medley of "Machika" and "Mi Gente", and the eliminated contestants of Operación Triunfo 2017 performed the Eurovision winning songs for Spain "La, la, la" and "Vivo cantando". Manel Navarro – who represented Spain in the 2017 Contest – was present to announce the winning entry.

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. 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.
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. On 11 March, they performed the acoustic version on talk show Viva la vida on Telecinco, where they were likewise guest interviewed. 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. 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. On 25 March, they performed as guests on competitive dance reality television series Fama, a bailar, aired on #0. On 21 April, they performed during the Eurovision-Spain Pre-Party event which was held at the Sala La Riviera venue in Madrid. 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. During the concert, Amaia y Alfred performed "Your Song", an English version of their entry.

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. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" 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. 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. 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. 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.

Voting

Points awarded to Spain

Points awarded by Spain

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Spanish jury: