Spain’s TVE will announce who will represent the country at Eurovision in the coming days. In honor of that, our Panamanian correspondent Mr. Häggkvist has compiled a list of his dream contestants. Olé!
Spain will be back in Malmö, and all the world’s Spanish and Latin fans want to know who will represent “La Madre Patria” at Eurovision. I’m here to list some of the biggest voices in Spanish music—the artists who people really love and who I think could make something beautiful in the European festival.
According to some Spanish publications, the selection of Spain’s artist will be managed like it was in 2012 with “AN ARTIST WITH A WELL KNOWN NAME ON THE SPANISH SCENE” being chosen internally by RTVE, the Spanish broadcasting company, and Warner Music Spain, the record company that has been working with RTVE for the last 3 years.
After considering both voice and stage presence, I’ve drafted the following list of people. All of them are big names in Spanish-speaking countries. They are:
David Bisbal
He gained his fame as a runner up on the reality television show Operación Triunfo. At the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest, he was a backing singer for Rosa, the Spanish entry. He has released four studio albums since then, and all of them topped the Spanish charts. He has toured throughout Europe and Latin America and is now considered to be a crossover international artist.
As of 2012, David Bisbal has sold more than 5 million records in Spain and America, including 35 platinum, 17 gold and 2 diamond albums.
David Bustamante
Bustamante’s breakthrough came on the TV hit Operación Triunfo. The show set ratings records and monopolized the top position of the CD sales charts during its five-month run. When the program ended in February 2002, David Bustamante was one of the three finalists.
Since then, Bustamante has released seven solo albums, and has had big success in Spain and Latin America. He has sold over 1,700,000 units. He was a guest in the 2012 Spanish song selection, and when he was asked about performing in Eurovision, he was very open to the idea of representing Spain.
Chenoa
She’s an Argentine-Spanish female music artist who—surprise, surprise—also appeared on Operación Triunfo. Most of her music is in Spanish, but she has recorded a few tracks in English. She has sold more than 1,000,000 records since 2002. And she’s very known in the Spanish-speaking countries. Spanish Eurovision fan clubs selected her as their ideal candidate three years in a row. Could 2013 finally be a dream come true?
Malú
The niece of talented flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía, Malú made her debut in 1998 with the release of Aprendiz. It featured “Donde Quiera Que Estes,” “Antes Que Amantes, Amigos,” and “Aprendiz” among other singles. She soon became a platinum selling artist, achieving an Amigo award for best new artist of the year. This year Eurovision fans selected her as the perfect entrant for Spain in Malmö. (Sorry Chenoa!)
Pablo Alborán
In 2011, he was nominated for three Latin Grammy Awards. He has released a studio album, a live album, four singles, four music videos and various musical collaborations. He hit No. 1 with his debut album, making Pablo the first solo artist to debut at the top in Spain since 1998.
After Pastora Soler finished in the top 10 in Baku, the media around the globe said that Pablo Alboran was the name for Spain. But a few days after the rumor started, Pablo and his record company EMI Records said that the Eurovision thing “was not true”. Which is a shame. He’s stunning, as you can see at the top of this post!
This is just a small list of the big voices and names that could one day grace the Eurovision Stage. I could have mentioned other performers like Diana Navarro, La Oreja de Van Gogh, Mirela, Enrique Iglesias, Edurne, Monica Naranjo, Maria Toledo, Rebeka Brown and even people who have been in the contest before like Rosa Lopez, Sergio Dalma and Pastora Soler.
If the Spanish television said that they will have a big name for Malmö, trust me, it will be just like that, so we just should wait to hear the big name for España, Ole!
& For the Spanish Readers… Esperemos que España por fin vaya a salir de los años de sombra y volvamos a los tiempos de Massiel, Salome, Julio Iglesias, Karina & Mocedades!
Mr Häggkvist
Spain is a tricky one.. Spanish mainstream scene is beyond full of these kind of vocal pop singers you can count them in hundreds. I don’t think any of them has that special “something” required to win. Maybe Malu or Bisbal could do something interesting with their unique great voices.. I can’t picture La Mala Rodriguez on the ESC stage, but she’s such a talented rapper and musician that I just had to mention her.. El Sueño de Morfeo or LOVG could create a dance-pop track worthy to compete in Eurovision… I’d really love to see Spain triumphing again…