They’re one of Spain’s most-remembered one-hit wonders, having conquered the world with their 2002 number “The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)”.

And now, to mark the 15th anniversary of their only mega-hit, the sisters of Las Ketchup — Pilar, Lola and Lucía — have given an interview to newspaper El Mundo where they discuss, among other things, their disastrous performance at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006.

For those of you who don’t remember, Las Ketchup delivered a less-than-stellar stage show. Sitting and spinning on office chairs, they shouted “Un bloodymary” while two dancers — both with shaved heads — performed lacklustre choreography. Iconic to some, peculiar to others, the entry finished with just 18 points (thanks, Andorra). Europe clearly thought their sauce was past its sell-by date.

Las Ketchup: “Bloody Mary” live at Eurovision 2006

It’s understandable that the sisters have mixed feelings for the contest and their entry.

Pilar explained that while they loved the fans and the experience itself, their time on stage was difficult. Apparently they couldn’t hear themselves while singing.

But an even bigger problem was their total lack of autonomy. They chose neither their song nor their costumes, which looked like street clothes dyed with tomato sauce. Lucía said that had they been able to make their own decisions, they would have chosen another song.

Their Eurovision experience might not have been a bed of roses (also red!). But hey: ten years later they got to rock the Melodifestivalen stage as a special interval act. How many Spaniards can say that?

Las Ketchup at Melodifestivalen 2016

The sisters understood early that it would be difficult to match the success of their hit, which sold more than seven million copies globally.

In the interview, they explained that they knew “the boom was going to finish sometime”.

“We were more prepared to fall than to rise,” one of the sisters said. “We dealt with it quite well.”

One hit wonders or not, they are lucky enough to keep performing and living thanks to music.

They recently performed in Norway and they’re actually relieved that they’re not that famous: “Our kids wouldn’t be able to cope with it.”

Are you craving a Bloody Mary now? We won’t judge you if you are. Either way please share your thoughts on Las Ketchup below!

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192.168.0.1
6 years ago

Wow, lovely website. Thnx … Feel free to visit my blog

Vicky
Vicky
6 years ago

I loved their entry

Hebbuzz
Hebbuzz
6 years ago

What a weak excuse, saying after 15 years they coukdn’t hear eachother sing, as if they did not had to go through several soundchecks. And the song does not sound to bad , at least not worse than their MF-performanc for which I guess they choose the outfit and choreography themselves? Despite that the Ketchup song was stronger I really don’t hear nor see much of a difference…..

Hebbuzz
Hebbuzz
6 years ago
Reply to  Hebbuzz

I like both songs btw 🙂

Fusedmarc is the real winner
Fusedmarc is the real winner
6 years ago

We would’ve been fine (even better) without them, so I guess they perceived what they had to do wrongly. -A Spaniard

Roelof Meesters
Roelof Meesters
6 years ago

It’s official, I am the only one who liked this. I loved it actually. The chjairs DID look really cheap, but I LOVE the song, it’s abig guilty pleasure. The dancers where strange tho, and I don’t like their outfits.

Charli Cheer Up
Charli Cheer Up
6 years ago

They had a new fourth member that joined them in 2006. Why didn’t she return with them on Melfest 2016?

Efraim
Efraim
6 years ago

My guess is that they chose to go with the original Ketchup Song lineup, but I don’t really know.

Stan
Stan
6 years ago

Maybe MelFest only had enough money to have 3 women lipsyncing for 1min30s?

D
D
6 years ago

If they had performed a good song they would have gotten a good placement. Instead they performed crap

azaad
azaad
6 years ago

To this day, I still cannot get over the mid level junior manager office chairs- serve that mediocre corporate realness! Although to be fair, 2006 was a year of awful staging- the only inarguably brilliant staging was done by Bosnia and Herzegovina with Lejla…

On the subject however, this, and Levina’s finish this year, goes to the point that a singer should enter Eurovision with a song they wanted to enter with.

Twisted French
Twisted French
6 years ago

Well well well…. it’s a bit dishonest to say that 15 years later… They are free women, if you don’t want to do something you don’t do it. They are artists, they do whatever they want. They don’t say how much they’ve been paid for that or why they did it, to give another boost to their career and sell other copies of their one single hit. They didn’t HAVE to do it, Spain is not a dictatorship anymore. They did it because they had good reasons to do it, that’s all. Maybe just the pride of representing their country… Read more »

Crusty Bjorkwoman
Crusty Bjorkwoman
6 years ago

At least they are not bitter about their experience like so many other past Eurovision flops.

Efraim
Efraim
6 years ago

Let’s face it, the first three post-Operación Triunfo entries were flat-out awful. I think there began the “we’re not going to win, so why bother?” mindset that plagued us Spaniards for years.
We’ve gotten a bit better from that, though judging by our recent track record, I’d say that within our delegation it has evolved into an “only in it for the ratings” stance.

Mark
Mark
6 years ago

Typical Spain. Can’t do Eurovision well without Franco’s rigging.

Theo
Theo
6 years ago

Oh, come on… It’s not like they were forced to sing such a rubbish song, comparing to their other hits (Asereje or Kusha las payas). Did somebody held a gun against their heads, demanding to sing that Bloody Mary crap song? Don’t think so…

Justin K.
Justin K.
6 years ago
Reply to  Theo

No, but I would think somehow they’d be blacklisted (and/or accused of ‘breach of contract’) if they backed out from their initial agreement.

It sheds light on RTVE’s handling of Eurovision, and the lack of polish and ‘intentionality’ they have. azaad made a good point with Levina’s song, but it seems most countries are taking a step in the right direction (including Germany–they had two great vocalists to choose from out of the night). It’s a struggle to say if Spain is tagging along, of they’re just stuck in their ways…

Glad to know Las Ketchup are doing well though!

Joel
Joel
6 years ago

The rhyme between ‘underground’ and ‘declarau’ will always seem to me one of the smartest choices in Spain’s history