On Sunday night, Spain became the second country to select their entry for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. After a show filled with energetic performances, there could only be one winner. Thanks due to an infectiously catchy song and great energy on the main stage, Miki was announced as the winner with “La venda”, receiving 34% of the televote.
It’s time to go down the ten performances and see what was great, and what maybe could have been improved, in the order they performed in.
1) Marilia – “Todo bien” (6th place; 6%)
Marilia looks stunning in this performance, wearing a sparkly silver outfit with fringe. She has great energy and works well with the dancers around her, each of them having their moment with her. Overall, it is a good pop performance, but it lacks that special touch for a Eurovision entry.
2) Sabela – “Hoy soñaré” (9th place; 2%)
This is a sweet song but it can not hold up well on stage when the staging itself is ineffective. I mentioned in my review about the nautical touches, but that is unseen, apart from a pier and a turquoise skirt. There did seem to be a bit of trouble reaching the very high notes and, despite the final minute being solid, there were no fireworks here.
3) Famous – “No puedo más” (7th place; 5%)
From watching this performance, I can see why Famous won Operación Triunfo, with his soulful voice and charisma on stage. Unfortunately, this song is completely below what he is capable of performing, especially when the first minute dragged. The staging did nothing to boost this performance either; a real shame considering who performed it.
4) Natalia – “La clave” (5th place, 6%)
One of the best performers on the night, Natalia and her backing dancers pulled off some great moves on stage. The choreography seemed so full-on that it completely overwhelmed the song itself, which, despite modern, felt empty and didn’t give the singer much to work with.
5) Julia – “Qué quieres que haga”
(8th place; 3%)
Unlike most of the other understated songs, this one had lovely staging that actually complimented it. I loved the combination of the natural green with Julia’s pure white dress. The song does take a very long time to get going and only really picks up in the last minute, but I think this deserved a better placing than it got.
6) Miki – “La venda” (Winner; 34%)
This was the clear winner on the night, for me. The song itself was ready made for a great performance, but it is elevated even more by a couple of things. The decision to have Miki in the audience with the band members (who were great, by the way) at the start gave off a real carnival feel, so you could actually see the effect of the infectious tune. Secondly, Miki had brilliant energy all of the way through and such great charisma, that he really sold the party feel! One little comment would be that the Spanish delegation need to find a way to sustain that last minute on such a great scale, as it plateaued slightly by then, but what a great performance and deserved to win by the margin it did.
7) Noelia – “Hoy vuelvo a reír otra vez”
(4th place; 7%)
This was my favourite studio version coming into Sunday, but I did think it suffered from “Miki-fatique” in the final results. This was a powerful ballad that was sung well, overall. Potentially it was a bit too full-on at the start, which didn’t allow for such a natural progression through the gears in the second half; it simply felt louder and more emotional. I also wished that there was a better transition in the staging at the climax, as it stayed dark with little white lights. Despite that, Noelia did a good job with this song.
8) Carlos Right – “Se te nota” (10th place; 1%)
There isn’t too much to say about this performance. It is a nice song, less grand than several of the others, but still nice. But nice doesn’t win you votes and the staging was practically non-existent, which did nothing to boost the appeal. He sung and played his guitar well but this performance won’t stay in my mind for very long.
9) Miki & Natalia – “Nadie se salva”
(3rd place; 14%)
What I was most happy about in this performance was that it allowed Natalia to showcase all of her talents; she has a killer voice to match those dance moves. Miki has such charm, as we saw from “La venda”, that this was a match made it heaven. It did lack the free-flowing fun of his previous entry, indeed more heavily choreographed, but this pair were still fun to watch.
10) María – “Muérdeme” (Runner-Up; 22%)
Potentially the most trendy and modern song in the whole line-up, this entry showcased a great soundtrack and some great choreography. I did love the urban feel of the staging, really helped it to stand out from the other dance tracks. With that being said, I still felt a disconnect between all of that and the actual song, which I am struggling for the life of me to remember. I can see how this finished as runner-up, however she could have challenged Miki a lot more if the songwriting was more powerful.
What did you make of the Spanish national selection and did your favourite win? Let me know in the comments section below, and I will be back very soon on The Blogging DJ with more Eurovision posts; subscribe to be the first to read these!
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