Spain’s Operación Triunfo 2018 continues with the third live gala. Last night one act was sent home, one was voted the week’s favourite… and what was even going on with that “Friday I’m In Love” cover? It’s the long, meandering road to Spain’s Eurovision 2018 act. Let’s take a look!
The show kicked off with this week’s group performance, a cover of Coldplay’s “Viva la vida”. But then it was time for the elimination showdown between Dave who performed Miguel Rios’ “Rocanrol bumerang” and África who delivered Ariana Grande’s “God Is a Woman”.
While they are both good performers in their own ways, the consensus on social media seemed to be that while África was the better vocalist, Dave was more entertaining to watch on the show’s 24-hour live stream. And so África sadly lost the elimination vote and was the second act to leave the Academy. Dave was saved with 80% of the vote, but his song choice was criticised by the jury who gave him one of the bottom four positions for the week.
Omg! all this drama and we haven’t even got to the main performances yet!
The stand-out performance of the evening was delivered by Julia, who was the week’s only solo performer. She sang Lady Gaga’s “Born this Way” and she slayed. Julia proved that she can own the stage and doesn’t need to be part of a ship to be interesting. She won the vote as the evening’s public favourite and continues to be a big fave to win the series.
Another stand-out performance of the evening was Damion and Natalia‘s duet of “Lo siento”. Their performance of Beret’s heartbreak ballad was a huge favourite and rightly saw Natalia make it to the top three of viewer favourites. But Damion did not share that luck. The jury criticised him for not making progress and he joined Dave in the bottom four.
Another favourite was Alba Reche & Marta‘s cover of Pink and Nate Ruess’ “Just Give Me a Reason”. Alba’s husky tones complemented Marta’s rich vocals and the two effortlessly delivered the uplifting anthem. The performance saw Alba reach the audience’s top three for the second week in a row.
But we need to talk about the worst performance of the evening, Joan Garrido and Miki‘s cover of The Cure’s “Friday I’m In Love”. We’ve embedded the video below, but honestly, it’s not worth watching. It’s not even good on a *cries in Spanish* level.
Joan’s vocal performance was not great — but given that his culo is consistently getting more attention than his vocal ability, that’s not surprising. The big shock was Miki’s poor performance. He’s a popular contestant, full of charisma and has previously delivered great performances. But last night he seemed to be taking too many cues from Joan’s whiny, nasally vocals. Both guys rightfully earned places in the jury’s bottom four.
So with Dave, Damion, Joan and Miki up for elimination, which two would be saved? First, it was up to the teachers in the Academy to save one act. They picked Miki, meaning he’s safe for this week.
Then the remaining safe contestants voted to save one out of Dave, Damion and Joan. While Joan had been saved by his classmate’s vote for the past two weeks, he was out of luck this time. Dave narrowly got more votes, meaning Joan and Damion will face the elimination vote this coming week.
So that’s another week of Operación Triunfo. Gala 3 also asked more questions than it answered. Such as, why were Famous & Noelia wasted on the soft rock classic “What a Fool Believes”, especially when Joan is the big fan of the genre? Why did much of the staging seem to be recycling Agoney’s props from OT 2017? And why did Dave think “Rocanrol bumerang” was a good idea? We demand answers!
Operación Triunfo 2018 Gala 3 – performances
Group performance – “Viva la vida”
África – “God Is a Woman”
Dave – “Rocanrol bumerang”
Alba Reche & Marta – “Just Give Me a Reason”
Carlos Right & María – “Contigo”
Famous & Noelia – “What a Fool Believes”
Damion & Natalia – “Lo siento”
Joan Garrido & Miki – “Friday I’m in Love”
Marilia & Sabela – “Cómo quieres que te quiera”
Julia – “Born This Way”
What do you think of OT 2018 Gala 3? Which acts should compete in the Eurovision Gala? Share your thoughts below.
”Dave was more entertaining to watch on the show’s 24-hour live stream.”
that may be true but also the power that Africa has in the voice – Dave also has it but in another register and color of voice because both are two very different artists. (and also he had 3 beautiful performances before this one, and he shouldn’t have even been nominated in the first place . 🙂
I hate being rude when reviewing performances, but man… what an epic fail from Joan and Miki. They sounded really unnatural.
I’m a Cure fan. That Friday I’m in Love hurts me deeply.
It hurt everybody last night, you’re not alone.
Just go back and listen to the original (and anything else by the Cure, really)
That was a disappointing night, most performances were bland. They even managed to waste pairing Noelia and Famous’ powerful voices with a song that didn’t suit any of them. And yes, Miki was surprisingly poor (and nasal) this week. The positive exception for me was the duet between Marilia and Sabela, which is curious, since not many people is paying attention to them.
Best of the night. But for WiwiBloggs it doesn’t even deserve a mention in the article. Like they didn’t even were there
I can’t believe that you are making weekly articles for a talent show, but still there’s nothing about Junior Eurovision 2018. This is just ridiculous.
Aw, I miss wiwibloggs’ JESC coverage! Bring it back!
Marta and Alba should’ve been nominated instead of Dave and Damion. But Alba is one of the most popular contestants and lots of people been shipping her with Natalia since the castings and I’m 100% sure they’ll sing together this week, a way to keep the audience happy. Watch them make it to the final along with Julia.
OT is a popular contest and sadly Africa was the victim of a hate campaign since day one. Joan will be eliminated. Damion with his struggles and drama is going to be saved by the public.
If Damion´s staying is not beacuse of his “drama” just to clarify that. And you said that you were sure about Natalia and Alba singing together when it´s already official lol
Alba and Natalia weren’t official yet when he/she wrote the comment. ^^
In my opinion they could have nominated Damion in every week since the beginning of the show, except for yesterday… I really liked his performance and I hope he wins against Joan. At least on Damions side I see potential, but Joan is just not good at all! ,,Fiday I’m in love” was SO bad… Miki and Joan were the worst ones for me yesterday. The best singer in the house is Noelia and I wish they’d give her a really good song aswell, so she could show it. Also: The only bad female singer in there is Maria. And… Read more »
Damion should leave imo. Joan is not good either, but Damion is just painfull to hear. The Julia’s victory from this week was very predictable, still she was not the best of the night to me. I feel this tv show is too much controlled by their directors and producers. This time they wanted Julia to stand out and gave her the solo act, of a song than everybody knows and everybody could have made. My favs from yesterday: Marta, Alba, Africa (Rip), Famous, Noelia, Natalia & Marilia.