Barei from Spain has just finished her first rehearsal of “Say Yay!” at Eurovision 2016 and we are not saying yay. Barei is absolutely flawless – her vocal is flawless, her costume looks fierce and she is nailing that iconic Barei dance move. What let’s it down is everything else outside of Barei herself.
The performance starts with a dark stage scene with lights billowing from the back of the stage. Barei works her microphone stand, absolutely slaying the life out of the slow part in the beginning. As the song gradually builds, producers introduce more light and triangular shapes appear on the LED floor – predominantly in shades of turquoise, purple, green and white.
It seems that Barei cannot win when it comes to backing vocalists. We knew this was an issue in the Spanish national final and it’s an issue in her Eurovision performance too. We are unsure whether or not it’s a teething issue or if the backing singers just sing out of tune, but it is a huge issue and makes the song sound really off.
Barei looks amazing in her outfit. She’s wearing a thigh skimming gold dress with those tricky shoes that look like sneakers but are actually heels. The backing vocalists’ costumes are incredibly unflattering. They look frumpy and awkward wearing an oversized rugby guernsey made of a cheap sequinned fabric paired with black converse shoes.
During the first chorus, Barei stages a “twisted ankle” and falls on stage. The press centre legitimately thought she had hurt herself — until she looked up to the lights and sang a cappella for a brief second. The press centre erupted in applause.
Overall, Barei was great. We give her twelve points and pray that RTVE can sort out her backing singers ahead of the final.
Spain: First rehearsal at Eurovision 2016
Spain: First press conference 2016
Barei’s “Say Yay!”: Reviews and Reactions
Spain: Interview with Barei in London
Read all of our Eurovision rehearsal reviews
Photo: Eurovision.tv (EBU)
Wiwi guys just want Russia to win.
I expect the same treatment to gay visitors than local gays there. It would be a good slap on their faces. Face reality guys.
Human rights fight must be up. Don’t sleep until it’s done.
Following Sergey fit body is not the best way to face this reality, it’s a contradiction itself.
No flowers, stars and blue and red leds! Hehe Hope Spain makes the required improvements and is back to the top.
Three gay puppets giving their opinion about a real artist is it really important? Barei, 12 points from Belgium!!!
dear Marcus if as says in his commentary involved 42 countries, only one is winning, why Sweden for example has won 6? Why Spain has to wait an average as you speak of years to win back ESC and Sweden, for example, no? It is a bit unfair assessment that have made the first trial when, for example in the press room with the famous drop journalists applauded why something will be? I think it’s Spain is not valued as it deserves at least this year when it takes a perfect proposal and an international language such as English. I… Read more »
I have good vibes about the performance.
I don’t understand why some of the journalists said the backing singers were superb and others that they sounded horrible.
When it comes to being vocally on point or not, there is no degree of hesitation ;).
It’s not a subjective issue. That’s why I’m a bit confused about all of this.
By the way, I fully respect wiwi’s opinions. They’ve got a lovely and fresh way to tell us the latest news. So stop making up conspiracy theories.
Love from Spain!
Barei’s iconic dance move? Kurt Calleja must’ve giggled on that one!
We try different things, Europe. If you don’t gamble you always get the same results. We lately tried with the ballad approach, superb voices, no results. Now we come with something more international, appealing to the masses, with a message of motivation force, especially addressed to the young people who’s about to start its adult life and many doubts are arousing in them. But it’s really for everyone who wants to overcome their personal barriers of any kind and still feels a bit young inside. 47 years and counting without winning. Four 2nd places since then. Investing every year a… Read more »
Wiwis! Wake up! You haven’t even published the video of her rehearshal yet! It’s what happens when a rehearshal is planned so late on a Friday evening! By the time the press conference finished half Europe was sleeping and the other half drinking beer listening to Barei’s song! Hahaha
No doubt Spain is doing very smart moves. They are going to take a big amount of televoting from youngsters/kids, who in fact are those who get crazily involved in this voting thing (apart from the Eurofan community)
HAHA! 😀 that press room reaction was amazingly fun. I can imagine this in front of 200 million TV audience.
Captain Trollei calling Globen Arena control towel! We’re now at 0ft so don’t be afraid, I know by heart my shades!
This song is strong enough to be defended without great visual shows, but with smart camera play ofc. I’m okay with this, let’s see the 2nd rehearsal.
Marco, relax, buddy. It’s not specifically a Spanish thing. I once criticized the Russian entry and, wow, the Russian fans almost killed me with their words. About staging: personally I find it sad the importance of technology in Eurovision nowadays, I do miss a bit the good old days where the focus was on singing and dancing and the stage was basically the same for everyone. But well, there is no sense in complaining, it’s the way it is.
This will be very intimate. You’re not going to see wide camera angles because as you can see, there’s nothing to tell at the background.
It’s going to be very personal at the start, party all over with the Eurovision crowd at the end…
What visuals did you expect from this song? More blue and red, planets or stupid wings? This has been matched perfectly with the song and didn’t overdo things.
She wants your attention on her, not at some stupid image that makes you lose the main focus.
Someone who focused on singers and emotions!!!!! Can’t believe I found one HALLELUJAH!!!
As everyone gets mesmerized by that alternative visual contest, Barei and her Say Yayers! stand out as true, genuine entertainers.
Make the best out of this with those rehearsals, please!!
Who’s the girl with this unbelievable voice at the video @Zoltan linked?
Could that be Brequette? This woman could very well be the best voice of the whole contest WAOUW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgwrO7IJ_Nc
Say Yay! matches perfectly with black voices.
I mean…can you get better voices than this as backing vocals? Dope.
The backing vocalists stand position is questionable. I mean, this song is supposed to be a metaphor of the own personal story of Barei that she was (poetically and philosophically) transmit to everyone.
She should be alone at the very start, the main focus, until the fall more or less, then regroup with those beautiful girls when they get close to the celebration part.
-Girl power-
There’s also some kind of mirror effect close to the end but I couldn’t understand it very well, my spanish is not very good. @Zoltan youtube video.
This is a thoughtful performance. Curious to see the whole thing.
I’ve watched the snippet and it really looks promising, like Barei in Concert at 02 Arena, and definitely it’s something different and genuine. I am honestly fed up with so many Leds and holographics and circus… So yeah it’s refreshing to see a singer performing like barei does with a simple staging but lots of energy and attitude. Top 5 for me
Who’s blabbering about betting odds?
Spain is the second one with most popular bets after Russia.
We know everybody bets in Russia. After the Hovi incident, Spain started to go down. Guess why Spain was going down.
Also betting for your own country is not allowed in Spain, unlike the rest of countries.
Camera shots pretty plzzz Spain!!!
Don’t mess it up like last year.
If this little woman from Spain puts all her soul and charisma on the great night, I mean…this is boding very well
She has to flow on stage. Nothing more, nothing less. Bring on the emotions
And those black voices are going to slayyyyy
W O W
I think Spain is really aiming for something super memorable, not only the song but the whole concept of staging.
So right at the finish she goes to a platform right in the middle of the audience. My god…this crowd is going to get crazy on May 14th. This sure will have a great impact on the televote.
People’s not considering the “Hi, I’m Barei, and Eurovision 2016 is my personal concert” for now. But they’ll find it out on May 14th
Knock her out from your favorites scheme at your own peril.
ok so…Know that…Spain or Armenia will take th trophy
Just forgett Russia and Frence ok?
https://youtu.be/hw60tNRruVE?t=655
Look at this and judge the press reaction by yourselves.
The first ah!!! (she fell down)
And then the big surprise and round of applause as they discover it was on purpose.
Now, how do you think people will react at home to this? It’s meant to be fun, different.
I think it’s original, but also could be divisive.
Could this (among other things) help Spain becoming a performance that gets stucked in your head?
I have faith in Barei and her song. I would accept it as a winner song if majority will up vote it to the top. I see no reason why this song will have no points from East. I’m not sure if my voting will change the picture, but I’ll vote for her! and I hope I’m not the only one from East who liked her song and will support her. this year things are different. Barei have song that is understandable to East and West, not only to Spanish speaking countries and neighbors. it should do better now at… Read more »
I love Barei, “the perfect imperfection”. My kind of girl.
They’ll improve.
A bit of trolling and some banter from wiwibloggs…they know how to generate comments from spaniards
I’m australian and I sense Spain is not generally liked in this contest for whatever reasons
Backing singers need better outfits, and a little choreography training. As it is, they would be better out of site. Otherwise, this looks like a real contender. Fix the backing singer problem and this will be top 3. But, I doubt RTVE wants to host a Eurovision, so I think they’ll leave it as is. Still top 10, but no Madrid2017.
What is she wearing???? Barbara Dex is in the air! 😉
Haye, maybe I don’t. But I can see 113 in betfare exchange, but in three others sites such as bet365 went from 66 this morning to 50 right now. Anyway, I insist it is easy to buy a place in the top in betting odds if you can bet for your own country. I wouldn’t consider this top so faithfully as an indicator
Kar, you don’t seem to understand betting odds… Barei was 66 this morning. She’s 113 right now… meaning… GOING DOWNHILL. Good night.
Dear Graham T. They are here to tell THEIR thruth, which I respect though I don’t agree in their manners in this occassion nor in their content. Me and many other blogs and press. And I have the right to think so as you have the right not to like Spain’s entry. About the odds, Spain is ranking better than this morning, when it had 6 66s and now has only three. I suggest you dont trust the odds so much, a top place is easy to buy if you can bet in your country. We cant.
Sorry to hear that. Was she wearing high heals? Safety is not guaranteed dancing with high heals, I foolishly ran with non trainers shoes and twisted my ankles few times and it was so painful
@Karbcn wiwibloggers aren’t here to tell what you wanna hear. They are here to tell the truth of what’s being offered and showed on stage by all countries and they are not too far away from reality since Spain’s drifting in the betting odds after the rehearsal. Deaf sign we’ve seen before at the Eurovision, the so-called ‘fall’ is, in my opinion a confusing and distracting moment from the song itself, and yeah she sung well but so did 70% of the contestants this year. The song is nothing special, you guys wanna sell it as if it was the… Read more »
Ben21…. you didnt get what I meant through those words. Anyway, Im pretty sure she worked harder than some others in many ways too, Barei performed in all gigs all over Europe, and had to prepare her own choreography, not all had to do that! She is also the composer of the song, that gives some work too… and about your critics about Spaniards, kindly stop it. We have the right to say that the way their commented the performance focused too much on the things to improve, as much as they have the right to do it as they… Read more »
I empathize winking choreography to the deaf and dumb . Thanks , Barei !
Marco, I think you are wrong sorry. We dont only focus on our entry. We follow and support other countries we like too. Our attitude is not narrow minded: we are just saying we haven’t liked the way they have focused their post. And of course, we will enjoy the show, and even laugh guessing the 8, 10 and 12 points of all the countries and at seeing Spain doesnt get one simple point from any eastern countries once again. And next year, we will enjoy this all again and will laugh again. For your information, you can check other… Read more »
Barei deserves to win because of her “hard work”… I beg your pardon? What does that mean? All other 41 contestants do not work hard? Honestly guys, you Spanish eurofans are far too self-centered and it’s about time you relax, cause it’s really getting annoying with you pushing people’s opinion into your own taste.
I really like it based on the snippet. Barei is such a good performer and her vocal has been consistent across a number of performances.
I would have preferred her to have dancers on the stage instead of backing vocalists, however!
Dear Spain. There are 41 other countries un this contest. If everybody would focus so strongly on their own entry as you do and thought that only they were worthy to win ESC, we would have world war III. It is the same in most countries: the average people know their home country’s entry best and tend to forget about all the others. But if Spain doesnt win, it is perceived as a scandal and somehow as if Europe wouldn’t like you. Let me tell you again: 42 entries, 1 winner, 41 non-winners. On average, you could thus expect to… Read more »
Continuing with my comments, and I don’t aim to offend anyone, sounding rude nor accuse anyone, but I wouldn’t be surprise if Russians had paid press and bloggers to tell wonderful things about the Russian entry or if they were buying themselves a place in the top of the odds through their bets. Fans keep on saying they dont like the performance, whereas press and some blogs already made it the winner. What is clear to me is that’s not the case of Spain. First because the budget is limited, though we participate with a higher amount of money as… Read more »
One of the few actions in which no predominant red and blue WoW!
I think we Spaniards have reacted so negatively to their post, not due to their critizism, what might in fact be very positive for improvement, but due to the way they do it. They focus their post and direct all their sarcasm on two two aspects they dont like and totally forget about Barei’s excellent performance, the surprise which made everybody applaud in the middle of the performance and many other positive aspects. The reactions of the Spaniards would have been different if they had started with ‘we say yay but…’ instead of ‘we say nay’ but Barey was amazing.… Read more »
PLEASE READ THI AN GIVE US A REAL OPINION NOT JUST TO TALK
http://www.rtve.es/television/20160506/caida-lengua-signos-efectos-visuales-video-del-primer-ensayo-barei-eurovision-2016/1349080.shtml
COMO LES FALTA ESTAR INFORMADOS ELLA HA DICHO QUE HARIAN UNA SORPRESILLA EN EL ESCENARIO POR DIOSSS SI ESTO ES LA ESCENCIA DEL VIDEO, LGICO QUE ESTABA ENSAYANDOLO
I love the passion of the Spanish fans, which is why I’m going to Spain this year to relax and also watch the shows from bars there with their faithful! But lay off wiwibloggs. They’re just doing their jobs which is coverage with an attitude. We all should know that eurovision bloggers are far from objective, but I don’t think any of them said they were! And for me, that’s okay.
The Big 5 don’t know how to stage, do they ?
She always have been very insistent about 3 very differenced parts staging performance. (3 different emotions, as she calls it)
As you can see, you can’t feel this from this short rehearsal video. So I want to believe we gonna feel this through the tv show.
Not even need to say this was a first contact with the scenario. Lots of things to arrange.
Haha gotta love how you guys receive a lot of hate for a bad review, spanish fans are passionate!
I can’t judge from the snippet in eurovision.tv, but it looks ok.
To people accusing wiwibloggs for being biased an unprofessional for giving their opinions: remember the site’s slogan.
Her backing vocals sound okay in the video, but it’s not really HD, so it’s hard to tell. The staging also looks good, I like the colours, although I agree that a staging similar to Belgium’s might suit the song better.
C’mon guys, just cause the wiwi team didn’t like the rehearsal doesn’t mean they want to sabotage Spain, what would they gain with that? They trashed Greta’s first rehearsal too, and you know William loves her.
Amigos de España, más sensatez y menos sensibilidad a la hora de escribir.