Eurodrama never ends in Spain. On Friday night we came to the latest episode of the ongoing Objetivo Eurovisión 2017 telenovela, when information emerged claiming that RTVE’s head of delegation Federico Llano had resigned.
Official fan club OGAE Spain broke the news and reported on Llano’s withdrawal. They explained that he had apparently made this decision owing to “personal issues”.
Later, Llano confirmed to Bluper that he won’t fly to Kyiv as Spain’s HoD. His decision stems from both personal issues and other projects that he is working on at the moment. We should point out that broadcaster RTVE has not published any statement on the matter.
Federico Llano has been Spain’s head of delegation for the past 15 years. During that time Spain has not won Eurovision and has only placed in the top ten four times.
We should point out that Spain’s four Top 10 finishes over the past 15 years put it ahead of the UK, which only achieved that twice over the same time period, France (three times) and Germany (three times).
Even so, he has been frequently criticised by fans, who blame him for Spain’s poor results at Eurovision. Fans have asked for his resignation on multiple occasions. The last instance came after the dramatic ending of this year’s national selection Objetivo Eurovisión, which left many people wondering if the process had been rigged.
Is this an answer to Objetivo Eurovisión?
While Llano has said that his decision stems from personal issues, fans aren’t convinced. Many think that his resignation is related to the major drama that erupted at this year’s Objetivo Eurovisión. Many Eurofans have celebrated his decision.
Federico Llano dimite de su cargo eurovisivo! #Eurovision #ObjetivoEurovision pic.twitter.com/pu2R5Fa0CW
— Juanan (@Juanan_N) February 24, 2017
Federico Llano dimite, espero Toño Prieto siga su camino
— juan miguel pardeza (@juanmiguelRMD) February 25, 2017
"Federico Llano abandona #Eurovision"
España en estos momentos: pic.twitter.com/YtiQtCSXcu
— M (@casasola89) February 25, 2017
The reaction has been huge. Within less than an hour of the announcement, “Federico Llano” was the number one trending topic on Twitter in Spain.
Who will succeed Federico Llano?
Sources claim that after his resignation, Ana María Bordás will take the job. Bordás is a radio journalist who directed RTVE’s second TV channel La 2 between 2014 and 2015. At the moment, she is the head of RTVE’s international projects department.
Bordás has a lot of experience as a radio journalist. She was RNE’s (RTVE’s radio) correspondent in Washington for three years, and she directed the Catalonia edition of RNE for eight years. However, fans are not really happy about her potential election.
Ana María Bordás, posible sustituta de Federico Llano, cumplirá dentro de poco 58 años. ¿Renovación?
— Javier Escartín (@javierescarting) February 25, 2017
Anda que no sé si prefiero a Federico Llano o a Ana María Bordás, porque menudos dos…
— Javier R. (@JaviDeVillena) February 25, 2017
Dimite Federico Llano y lo sustituyen por Ana María Bordás, ¿estamos de broma? ¡Que dimita todo el equipo!#ToñiPrietoDimision
— EUROFANS ENFURECIDOS (@eurofans_enfure) February 25, 2017
Cuando dimite Federico Llano pero lo sustituye Ana María Bordaspic.twitter.com/3EUMKaKIGw
— dani (@DaniOVD) February 25, 2017
What do you make of Federico Llano’s resignation? Do you think this will affect Spain’s participation in Kyiv? And what of Ana María Bordás as the new Head of Delegation? Tell us in the comment section below, and don’t forget to share your reactions in our wiwibloggs app!
It’s official guys: Toñi Prieto is NOT resigning http://bluper.elespanol.com/noticias/toni-prieto-no-dimite-niega-tongo-comite-tve
If you understand Spanish this is a must-read. It’s from a well-known Spanish ESC blog http://www.elcaliblog.com/2017/02/eurofans-yo-provoque-el-tongo-en.html
The official statement by TVE essentially says that everything in the NF was done according to the rules of the EBU, that every single contender (including those who entered the Eurocasting) knew and accepted said rules, that music radio hosts often have contact with artists for obvious professional reasons, and that it’s not that extraordinary that it’s the jury who gets the last word, citing that last year, the national and international juries combined had the 60% of the vote. So pretty much the message TVE is sending to Spanish Eurofans is: everything was OK whether you believe it or… Read more »
Today, a 35 min official statement from TVE will be given in public tv regarding eurovision, and they’ll try to answer the thousand complaints they have recieved since Objetivo Eurovision. They’ll use the program “TVE Responde” to do it. Tune in on channel 2 at 14:05 CET. About Federico, it was about time. Hopefully this so called “im leaving this year for health issues” will be a permanent thing, and he’ll never return as chief of delegation. Thought it is clear he is trying to avoid more problems with the corruption in TVE and Eurovision. Remember that at the end… Read more »
Looks like there was collusion in Spain. I still think they’ll let the artist go but next year is open to new possibilites
@hayastan:i apologize. haven’t hard my coffee yet.
@mad-professor – good point. But, they will never learn. Hahah And will never say that that is the case.
Love Manel, hope he will be ok, can’t wait news about his preparations, Spain has a good entry this year, even if fans wanted a sex kitten, diva copycat.
This year will be good for Spain, even if Spain don’t want it.
About time tbh
@ fikri
He says it for delegation team not for the representative. How could you not understand what you are reading
Corruption is punished.
@esc1234: what do you mean young? spain representative this year looks like he doesn’t pass puberty yet.
Adiossss but
Llano going won’t stop Spanish fans from choosing terrible entries.
Thank god the man who was mainly responsible for spanish failures in the contest is gone. But please, choose someone young, France did that and we all know the results!
Yes….anyone and everyone who supports and promotes corruption should have no place in any ESC related event.