“Just do if for your lover, juuuust do it…” and then ouch!
Spain’s Manel Navarro hit a bum note heard all around Europe (and Australia) on Saturday night, killing the atmosphere of his summery tune — and making for a rather strange climax to his song.
Surely the dodgy note — which he had nailed many times in rehearsals — contributed to Spain’s last-place finish.
In Spain we call the bungled note a “gallo”, which means rooster.
The missed note has led to endless memes and commentary, much of it playing on the theme of poultry.
For you it might have been painful to hear. But for us it was something like this:
Poor Manel had never missed that note… until the night of the Eurovision final.
The Twittersphere has been rather merciless.
-Productor:es "do it for your lover"
-Manel Navarro: dO iT foR YOuR LoVEr pic.twitter.com/5arCBX0shU— JeyDi (@Josedani_99) May 13, 2017
PM Mariano Rajoy doesn’t quite seem to be getting it…
Viendo #Eurovision , me pregunto… ¿el gallo no era típico de Portugal? pic.twitter.com/kWXRhWNdev
— Juan Buga (@juan_buga) May 15, 2017
OH WAIT, the Simpsons already predicted this…
https://twitter.com/dan_fedez/status/863813370897731584
Edurne sends her love.
¿Qué gallo te gusta más? RT MANEL LIKE EDURNE #eurogallo #eurotongo #eurovisionrtve #eurovisión pic.twitter.com/lMckQAp2NN
— Kyle Hyde (@JPA360) May 14, 2017
Oh dear.
Toda europa al escuchar el gallo de nuestro querido Manel. Era necesario JAJAJAJAJJA #Eurovision #EUROGALLO pic.twitter.com/5ISXbxF5rF
— Moonlight ? (@anadelahuerta19) May 14, 2017
His note got on many people’s goat.
Otro ángulo en exclusiva del gallo de Manel Navarro en #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/WtofKq5iRd
— Rafi·ki·sko?p (@rafikiscope) May 13, 2017
Subtle move, Salvador.
Cuando escuchas el gallo de Manel pic.twitter.com/6VSSFqROfu
— ~*Lara Chan*~ (@laravelpri) May 13, 2017
(When you listen to Manel’s squawk)
OK, THIS IS THE LAST ONE.
El gallo de Manel Navarro lidera los mejores ‘memes’ de Eurovisión 2017 https://t.co/0YGI7LivMx pic.twitter.com/yaKNBwLesw
— La Vanguardia (@LaVanguardia) May 13, 2017
Manel has dealt with the moment with immense grace and humour.
During the voting, he tweeted this:
Aunque se haya colado un invitado no deseado… ??? pic.twitter.com/eydtmSirai
— Manel Navarro Music (@ManelNMusic) May 13, 2017
He says a “non-desired guest” showed up during the performance.
BBC commentator Graham Norton seemed to have a similar thought. During the show he said:
“Oooh some dodgy notes in there. I wonder if there’s something going wrong technically. Or maybe, he’s not great.”
Given the note that launched a thousand memes, it’s perhaps not surprising that the Spaniard was the most talked about act in all of Eurovision on Twitter.
Judging from the bunch of tweets above, I’m not sure whether this is an honour or not. But hey, at least he’s first in something.
RTVE blames Manel for the last place
If there has been a broadcaster accused of not engaging enough with Eurovision 2017, then the award definitely goes to RTVE.
They’ve been busy dealing with issues. Spain’s ex HoD, Federico Llano, had to resign in late February following allegations that the Objetivo Eurovisión jury had been bribed.
Manel secured Spain’s worst placing at Eurovision since 1999.
RTVE decided to avoid taking any responsibility and indirectly blamed Manel’s squawk for the result.
España, última en #Eurovisión tras el 'gallo' de Manel Navarro https://t.co/yQrL7sDxYu #EurovisonRTVE pic.twitter.com/IzKLqtTu3G
— RTVE (@rtve) May 13, 2017
(Spain comes last in Eurovision after Manel Navarro’s squawk)
After all we’ve seen and all we’ve written this year, it’s pretty clear that Manel’s bum note wasn’t the only factor behind Spain’s last place finish. With one Eurodrama after another, this year’s Eurovision may well have been RTVE’s annus horribilis.
To make matters worse, RTVE recorded its lowest Eurovision viewing figures since 2007, with only 3.9 million tuning in.
Will things improve in 2018? Do you think Manel’s squawk was the principal reason for Spain’s last place finish? Which meme is your favourite? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
Australia had a bum note in the semi final and got through (okay, he could have messed up in the TV shows all he wanted, it was only the juries who were voting for him anyway 😛 ). But I wonder if anyone noticed, Ilinca also squeaked on her high note (“don’t WANT this anymore”)? And look where Romania ended up. Hitting all the notes is only that important if your song is all about vocal masturbation; if you fail at such a song, like Elhaida Dani in 2015, you can probably blame your result on that. But campfire reggaes… Read more »
The song was fresh and catchy, The performance entertaining. The lyrics in Spanish quite nice too. The chorus too repetitive, though. They could have easily avoided that.
About the note, Australia, Greece, Cyprus and Latvia had many too. And they ranked quite well in their semis.
Im just wondering how it would have ranked if it was Sweden or Australia.
Spanish television gives the fault to the singer…
NOOOOO, the song was horrible, period.
The spanish jury chose the song, when televote in spain gave the victory to another song.
So, don’t bleme the singer, but only the song.
I found it extremely frustrating for Spain, because they had so many better songs in their national selection. Things can only get better next year…
As one of the few people here who would have seen Spain’s last win live (on TV), I think it’s going to be a long time before they win again.
Manel failed a note, but he sang nice the rest of the song and in the rehearsals, he hit that note. People just try to find a reason to bully other people. We are in a time where all of us are against bulling, but I’ve read some comments that make me sick. Some people need therapy. Everyone can fail, he is a 21 year guy who tries to do what he likes and tbh he has the charisma and a really beatiful voice. People need to hate on other people just to feel good with themselves. I’m really sorry… Read more »
I agree, some people have been downright vicious to him, including RTVE itself. I know there is a lot of drama surrounding his selection but I can’t believe all the hatred toward him I’ve seen online, it’s not necessary, I mean he already came in last place. The way people talk it seems like they want him to die, at the end of the day it’s a contest and one that already finished so I don’t know why people have to go so far.
Well actually, I disagree that the rest of the performance was good, I think it was pretty shaky throughout but nonetheless everything seemed better compared to the gallo, still it’s not like he killed someone or something so I don’t see why people insist on attacking him so much.
He should sing now : “Do it for your hater”
Whit Brequette, “No Enemy”?
Only with Leklein they had chance to be in TOP 12 in final, maybe result like Norway.
With Mirela position like Greece,Cyprus or Israel from 19 to 24 place in final.
It’s challenging to find knowledgeable individuals on this subject, but you sound like you understand what you are talking about! Thanks
I liked his act, and is true he did no mistake in the jury final, and he got 0 points. It’s unfair. The mistake was in the televote final. Really wish him good luck in the future.
Now Spanish fans can go back to their beloved divas. Do you want to bet what will be the gender of the Spanish singer in Lisbon 2018?
By the way, last time when Spain has send a man was in the 2010, and he had bad luck with 2nd running order and that Jimmy Jump on stage. This year Manel had no support from his country.
Spain will send only women from now till the end of time, I don’t think they ever wanted anything else.
AMEN
Shame on RTVE for resorting to corruption and even bigger shame on them for completely putting the blame for the fiasco on someone They themselves selected by rigging.
Seriously I do not even wanna waste too much words but how the jury in Spain decided that not Mirela but he was selected gave me only hopes that one day these same jurors would be punished for not letting this awesome song go to Eurovision
Contigo would’ve been my top 10 contender
Where are all those oblivious people who couldn’t see the corruption in Objectivo Eurovision and were predicting that Manel will do well and come atleast 25th?
I see Mirela has been playing with potions
Acts like these make me furious that the “Big 5” get a free pass for the final.
Fantastic acts like Finland didn’t get though while we were forced to listen to an endless repeat of the same line for 3 minutes straight…
It turns out LeKlein’s Ouch was ahead of its time. She was singing about Spain’s Eurovision 2017 experience before it happened.
The verses aren’t horrible, nor is the music. But the chorus is just too awfully repetitive. But hey, in the end I’m glad this was the Spanish entry this year, because it saved Germany from going last for a historic three years in a row.
A pity it came at Mirela’s expense.
There was something missing in this song… I don’t know, maybe he should have said “do it for your lover” few more times, just in case…
Very interesting trivia = Bottom 3 songs of 2017 (Spain, Latvia, San Marino) are also the most repetitive ones. Maybe saying the same lyric 20 times over wasn’t the best idea ever.
Baahaha 😛
Hmmm true, hadn’t thought of that.
Maybe an allied super chorus would have solved the problems…
It’s the spirit of the night,
So do it for you lover,
And tell me baby:
Where we draw the line?
😀
This guys was a shame from day one. And Karma is so sweet… The best part is that we will no longer hear him again, casue his musical career is finished. It eneded on february when he didnt resigned but now is official.
The bum note came during the Public viewing. He still got 5 points from the public.
He got zero points from the expert juries who would have been marking his better performance.
So no. Spain came last because the song was absolutely dreadful. And I predicted the last place finishing since the National Final.
He got 5 because of meighbourly voting!!
Rtve makes a nightmare to be eurofan in Spain.
Shame of public TV
1997: UK wins in Dublin 2000: Denmark wins in Stockholm 2002: Latvia win in Tallinn 2008: Russia wins in Belgrade (Serbia and Russia have very close political and cultural links) 2009: Azerbaijan and Armenia make the top 3 and 10 respectively in Moscow 2011: Austria and Switzerland manage to qualify in Dusseldorf 2012: Russia comes second and Turkey comes seventh in Baku 2013: Denmark wins in Malmo and Norway comes fourth (and the other Nordics all qualified) 2014: All the Nordics came in the top 15 and Sweden came third in Copenhagen 2015: Czech Republic comes top 10 in their… Read more »
That is a possibility, yet again, last year all of the Nordics failed to qualify in a contest held in Sweden, even if two of them were predicted as clear qualifiers.
That’s true and I chose not to mention it. Every rule has its expectation I guess!
Great , France should well too, we have strong links with Portugal, and the biggest portuguese diaspora in world second only behind Brazil 🙂 and our last winner, is from portuguese background !!
Mate, you look too much into it.
The weakest song of the night + that note – it just HAD to finish last. This is why I am glad we have jury after all, because if it were 100% televote, Nathan and Levina would end-up lower than Manel.
IF Manel indeed bribed juries in his NF, this is what I call “Occidentali’s Karma”. If not, I am truly sorry. In all fairness, Manel comes accross as very charming and he did win over many other contestants, including Lucie Jones. So, will I believe Eurodrama gossip (supported by watching Objectivo Eurovision) or not? Not sure.
And Anja too!!
If you still can’t see the clear truth….then you need some logic training Colin !! Even my neighbours dog can smell Manel’s corrupt bum!!
It definitely seems like he cheated, I just don’t want to claim it 100%. Everything points out that it was dodgy, though.
Lol….being diplomatic eh!! :/
Trust and hope Spain and RTVE learn something from this whole debacle, but don’t hold your breath folks. They could really take lessons from their neighbours to the west. 😉
Hope that Sony will keep supporting Manel in the future, and I want for him to have a career. Time will tell who had a life after Eurovision.
Xavi Martinez sends his regards.
The #EUROGALLO Manel memes saved my life, I have half of the screen captured and saved for posterity.
When they cast this whole saga as a telenovela I hope that Jinx Monsoon plays a really tricksy version of Manel, who bribes even to cross the road first.
If Australia has a rooster, the juries give it 4th place. If Spain has a rooster, it must be all Manel’s fault.
RTVE should support such a young person not mock them on their official social media account. Anti-social media. If I lived in Spain I would stream online through my TV just to avoid watching on RTVE.
I was not prepared for that final wardrobe malfunction photo. It’s so many layers of horror.
Lol, it isn’t that bad….well, it is more than a little awkward. I don’t know I find Manel kind of sexy so I didn’t mind the picture, still it was weird. Lol William seems too happy to be having a “wardrobe malfunction”.
Oh no, Manel is not sexy he just looks sinister, like he habitually exposes his tit on purpose. William is the cute one but the visible euphoria to be exposing a tit with an ESC star is unsettling (actually William is a bigger ESC star in my mind than Manel anyway). It all looks awkward and wrong, the start to a very bad film.
But honestly in this very bad film I can’t possibly imagine what Manel and William would do together apart from wait for big Jimmie to arrive from San Marino.
Lol, he does look sinister in that picture, kind of like a creepy pervert. But I think he’s sexy in some other pictures. Exactly, the visible euphoria is a little weird. William can be pretty cute.
Oh, and I completely agree, RTVE seems horrible, what broadcaster openly blames it’s own act’s vocal issue for a last place finish? I’d try to avoid them too if I lived in Spain.
Yes, it’s like the euphoria is a prelude, as if this is the photo for January in the calendar and by December all of the clothes have been bribed away.
El gallo was horrendous but I’m really surprised at how negatively people have reacted to the song. Perhaps they don’t understand the verse and thus focus entirely on the repetitive chorus but this is certainly not the worst song to ever be sung at Eurovision, trust me I’ve heard them all and this is a gem compared to many others. It really is a pleasant, if unremarkable song, with a nice, laid-back California beach vibe….I guess Europeans don’t like that type of music or similar artists like Jack Johnson. The verse really isn’t that bad though, it’s just not in… Read more »
The language used for the main verses is not the reason. The song itself was quite weak as a contest song, IMO.
It was weak, especially for the contest, but it still doesn’t deserve the title of “worst Eurovision song ever” as some people seem to claim. Although a lot of people I’ve seen commenting about it have stated that all he says is “do it for your lover” and “la la la”, which is certainly not the case, although he does say it a lot, which leads me to believe that since perhaps many people don’t understand the verse that they focus instead entirely on the super repetitive chorus. I didn’t think it was particularly strong either but pleasant enough, not… Read more »
Spain needs to write this year off and do EVERYTHING different next year.
poor Manel..he has been so attacked, I wonder if he regret doing eurovision
Staging was ok, they did the best they could with the worst song I’ve ever heard. Made me laugh everytime Manel said proudly he wrote it
I don’t get why so many people say it’s the worst song ever, have you heard some of the horrible things sent in past years? Yes, the chorus is way too repetitive and not very deep but the verse is nice, if you understand Spanish, nothing amazing but o.k. This song also has a pleasant, beach sound, again nothing spectacular but I don’t think it’s worthy of being called the worst song ever, I’ve heard much, much worse. I mean really, San Marino sends worse songs every year.
Oh yes, the song isn’t terrible in isolation. But this ESC was especially strong, so Spain’s entry seemed weaker than it would have been in a weaker contest.
That is true, this was a very strong year. This looks like a masterpiece when compared to most of the songs from the early 2000s that competed in Eurovision but this year it just wasn’t at the same level as most of the others. I still think that San Marino was the absolute worst though, which is not unusual for them tbh. Still, what really killed this song imo is that ultra repetitive chorus.
I like his song. It is just not for ESC. And he isan ok singer. If the Spanish people did not like him then why did they vote him so high that he got the points to win the NF.
They didn’t, that’s the problem. He was chosen through rigging.
I feel sorry for him, but, keeping it real, he’s in a business where the object of the game is brilliance. There is simply no room for mediocrity whatsoever. And it’s not as if the other 25 finalists are all going to go on and have glittering careers. Even the winner isn’t guaranteed anything.
Im stil remember and watching on youtube MIRELA with song Contigo from Spanish national final. She was the best for Eurovision 2017 instead of Manel.
BAILA LA LA ?
I have hated him from the start. Theb I heard about the Eurodrama and I hated him more. I think he is sometimes pervert-ish like in the national final where he stuck out his tongue and when his shirt had 3 buttons unbuttoned showing his not-so-beautiful chest.
I feel bad for Manel 🙁
Poor him, not only the song was quite bad, he was also unlucky to miss that note at the final. And adding all the national selection drama…. I wonder if he regrets going to Kiev.
Spain was always going to be last, with or without el gallo, but I am happy we gave him 5 points. Nul points would have been too bad and he seems like a really nice guy.
I’m glad Manel was last, but the responsibility must be shared. RTVE rigged the selection process in order to pick him, so now they can’t just wash their hands on this.
He may have sung a bad note but its nothing as bad as their singer was such a bad dancer she fell over last time
Worst song.
Worst singer.
Worst staging.
Worst entry in the history of Spain.
This had a great feat of making Baila Chiki Chiki a masterpiece!
Well, we Spaniards have a saying that goes: “Otros vendrán que bueno me harán” (“Others will come that will make me good”)
I wish people would leave him alone. Not many people could sing in front of 300 million people. I know i would be a shaking mess. He did his best and he seems like a sweet guy.
“Contigo” NO
He missed that note… is this a HUGE deal?
Manel went to Eurovison after a dramatic national final in Spain.
But it’s not his fault Spain came last.
Spanish television should take it more seriously and try to figure out how they can improve their results. Not only will the results be better but also they’ll send more decent songs and make this contest better. Apart form that, spanish people will be interested in the eurovision process, they’ll support their act and there will be no more drama.
It is a shame. Last year they had a great opportunity with Barei. But they did that stupid staging where she “fell over”, the music stopped and the lights went down; it was weird and seemed like they messed up even though it appeared later to be part of the song. It was just so unnecessary. It’s always too complicated with Spanish entries.
My favourite is still Lucia Perez, she was just easy going and fun in her performance and there was no drama at all.
Just watched the first video back a couple of times. If you listen closely, you can actually hear the crowd’s reaction to that horrific bum note!
Perfect end to the Spanish ESC drama….Manel should never have been there. Mirela was robbed. RTVE and Manel got what they deserved ultimately
The first vid cracked me up. :’D
Thats what happens when you win a corrupted national final. Well deserved
nothing more to add. 100% agree
Jeez, and I thought the British were brutal to last place acts!