In two weeks time, the first semi-final of Eurovision 2022 will take place. The wait is almost over! Before then, we still have a few songs to preview. Today we head to the land of flamenco, sangria and constant Eurodrama. It’s Spain!
History
Spain first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961. This year marks their 61st entry in the contest. They have participated every year since their debut, making them the longest participating country that has never withdrawn. They have won on two occasions; in 1968 with “La la la” by Massiel (albeit controversially with accusations of bribery by Franco) and in 1969 on home ground in Madrid as one of the four winners with “Vivo cantando” by Salomé. Their last top 5 result was in 1995 when Anabel Conde came second with “Vuelve conmigo” and they have failed to place in the top 10 in the last 10 contests, except for Pastora Soler in 2012 and Ruth Lorenzo in 2014, who both finished 10th. At the 2021 contest, Blas Cantó finished 24th in the final with “Voy a quedarme”, which was one of four songs to receive no points from the public vote.
Selection
The Spanish broadcaster, Televisión Española (TVE), used the new national final Benidorm Fest to select their 2022 entry. A total of 13 songs (originally 14 but one song withdrew) competed across two semi-finals. In each semi-final, a combination of an expert jury (50%), a demoscopic jury (25%) and public voting (25%) chose four songs to advance to the final. The same voting method was used in the final to decide the winner. Despite only winning the jury vote, Chanel received the most points overall and was awarded the Spanish ticket to Turin.
Artist
Chanel Terrero Martínez, known simply as Chanel, was born on July 28 1991 in Havana, Cuba. When she was three years old, she moved with her family to Olesa de Montserrat in Catalonia. She then moved to Madrid to start her acting career at the age of 16.
Throughout the 2010’s, Chanel participated in several Spanish productions of musicals, including Mamma Mia!, Flashdance, The Lion King and The Bodyguard, where she played the lead role of Rachel Marron. She took part in the castings for the Spanish production of West Side Story and was one of the five finalists for the role of Anita in the Steven Spielberg film adaptation of the musical.
As a dancer, Chanel appeared as part of the troupe on Tu cara me suena (Your Face Sounds Familiar) and was a dancer for Shakira during the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2010, which were held in Madrid. She also was featured on the Alberto Collado song “Mentira” (Lie). She is currently working on her debut album.
The song that Chanel will perform in Turin is called “SloMo”. It was written and composed by Arjen Thonen, Ibere Fortes, Keith Harris, Leroy Sánchez and Maggie Szabo.
Song Review
Like most people when the Benidorm Fest entries were released, I did not pay much attention to this song when it came out. Then the live performance happened and Chanel showed everyone what they were missing.
This song conjures up the rythyms of Latin America, rythyms I was wondering if Spain were ever going to tap into for a Eurovision entry. On top of an already catchy beat is Chanel serving confidence and sex. She already performs like she is a world famous star on a stadium tour and the crowds eat her up every single time. And the way she can bend her body into any shape like she does it in her sleep? I mean, come on!
The song is not the most original song on the planet but Chanel just sells it with her performance. Not to sound like a Spanish Eurofan or anything (because we all know how passionate they can get) but I think Spain could get their first top ten result since 2014 and maybe even their best result since 1995. If anything, this is the beginning of a new era for Spain in Eurovision.
The One That Got Away
Benidorm Fest was packed with great entries from both new and established artists and was praised by many Eurofans. However, this being Spain, there had to be some Eurodrama.
Tanxugueiras, a group that mixes traditional Galician music with modern sounds, have earned fans throughout Spain since forming in 2017. Coming into Benidorm Fest, they were heavy favourites to win. Their song “Terra” (Land) would have been the first Eurovision song to feature lyrics in Galician, Asturian and Basque and the first since 2009 to feature lyrics in Catalan. Their ode to respecting diversity, not just the linguistic diversity of Spain, earned top marks from the demoscopic jury and the public vote (70.75% of whom voted for the song) but they only finished third overall. This lead to angry Eurofans, especially Galician fans, to accuse TVE of vote rigging. Tanxugueiras asked their fans to accept the results as they had.
Tanxugueiras were one of the guest performers for the Eurovision-Spain Pre-Party earlier this month and from being in the audience, I can say they got one of the biggest reactions of the night. The fact that a group singing in a regional language of Spain can come to Madrid and have the crowd in a frenzy is incredibly impressive. Just wait until they get the chance to do it to all of Europe…
¡Mucha suerte a España! Molta sort a Espanya! Zorte on Espainiari! Moita sorte a España!
Are you dancing in slo mo or fast forwarding to the end? Leave your comments below. Stay tuned tomorrow for another Eurovision preview!
(Sources: eurovision.tv, TVE, YouTube)
Thinking About It 