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 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.
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

Prior to the 2019 contest, Spain had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-eight 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 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, 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 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. On 14 September 2018, TVE confirmed that the series would serve as the platform to select the Spanish entrant at the 2019 contest.

Before Eurovision

''Operación Triunfo 2018''

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 that will represent Spain at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest would be selected from the sixteen contestants entering the show's boarding academy. 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. "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.

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. 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.
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
ContestantAgeResidenceEpisode of eliminationPlace finished
Famous19SevilleGala FinalWinner
Alba Reche20AlicanteGala FinalRunner-up
Natalia19PamplonaGala Final3rd
Sabela24A CoruñaGala Final4th
Julia23CádizGala Final5th
Miki22BarcelonaGala 126th
Marta18MálagaGala 117th
María26MadridGala 108th
Marilia18Las PalmasGala 99th
Carlos Right25BarcelonaGala 810th
Noelia22MálagaGala 711th
Damion21TenerifeGala 612th
Dave20CádizGala 513th
Joan Garrido22PalmaGala 414th
África22MadridGala 315th
Alfonso22MadridGala 216th
Rodrigo25HuelvaGala 0Not selected
Luis19BarcelonaGala 0Not selected

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. Participating songwriters could suggest the contestant 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.
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. 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 Triunfos boarding academy — shortlist up to ten additional songs for the online vote.
Seventeen selected songs 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. 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 Triunfos boarding academy — selected seven additional entries from the fourteen remaining songs for "Gala Eurovisión".
Qualified via online voting
Qualified via evaluation committee

"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.
During the show an expert panel commented on the performances. The members of the expert panel were:
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". Alfred García – who represented Spain in the 2018 Contest together with Amaia Romero – was present for the announcement of the winning entry.

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 and was released on 7 March 2019.

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.
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. On 30 March, he performed the song at the Plaza de Oriente in Madrid on occasion of the Earth Hour. On 20 April, he performed during the Eurovision-Spain Pre-Party event which was held at the Sala La Riviera venue in Madrid. 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.

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. 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. 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. 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. For the second consecutive year, the final was broadcast live in cinemas across the country due to an agreement with cinema chain Cinesa. 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. 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. Miki was joined in stage by backing singers and dancers Mikel Hennet, Ernesto Santos, Fran Guerrero, María Acosta and Mary Martínez.

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.

Points awarded to Spain

Points awarded by Spain

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Spanish jury: