This week saw the ninth Gala of Spain’s Operación Triunfo and we are now just one month away from the grand final. But before then, there needs to be some more eliminations. And there was one tonight, along with some Catalan realness, no duets, temporary fencing and a little Spice.
First of all, we have to talk about the group performance. Tonight the remaining acts took on the Spice Girls’s 1997 Latin pop hit “Spice Up Your Life”. It was super fun and it made us wondered if Universal Spain will have another attempt at putting together a group with some of the OT acts. Perhaps a girl group this time.
For a while it seemed like Marilia couldn’t be eliminated. For the past three week she’d been in the bottom four and escaped elimination each time. But this week was different. Marilia showed a different side, giving a spirit performance of Rihanna’s “Only Girl (In the World)”. She was up against second-time eliminee Marta, who continued her love of ’80s pop with Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is”. It was Marta’s cheesy ballad that won audiences over, snapping up 53% of the vote and sending Marilia home.
One of the big performances of Gala 9 included something never heard before on OT: a song in the Catalan language. Miki performed fusion group Txarango’s song “Una lluna a l’aigua”. The Barcelona audience loved it — but so did viewers from around Spain. Miki was voted the week’s audience favourite, making him the first and only act to get the honour twice this series. Also, Miki a Eurovisión?
Another strong performance came from Alba Reche. She continued to show her versatility with her vision of indie pop group Love of Lesbian’s song “Allí donde solíamos gritar”. The performance was enough to take Alba again into the audience’s top three for the seventh time.
Also in the audience’s top three was Famous. He performed Luis Miguel’s “El Reloj”. While the Eurovision favourite was in the audience’s top three, the jury was less impressed. He was in their bottom four and faced elimination.
Another performance that inspired mixed reactions was María‘s take on Bad Bunny’s recent hit “Amorfoda”. María’s vocals were a little rough and pitchy, but the questions was, was this bad vocal technique or did it emphasise the passion and emotion of the song? The jury wasn’t impressed and put María in their bottom four.
Natalia wasn’t on form with her version of Zara Larsson’s “Lush Life”. After coming into the contest as a hot favourite, Natalia’s popularity seems to be waning a little, perhaps because Natalia entered the contest an almost perfectly formed pop star and hasn’t has the same journey and growth as other acts. But the jury still like her.
While Sabela did her best with Emeli Sandé’s “Next to Me”. Sabela joked that her English was still pretty bad, but aside from some unusual pronunciation, her vocals were otherwise in good form.
Julia found herself in the bottom four for the second time, with her performance of La 5ª Estación’s “Me Muero”. There are only four shows left and we’re now at the stage where really good singers are going to end up in the bottom.
So, facing elimination was Marta (again), along with Famous, María and Julia. The Academy professors saved Famous for the second week in a row, while the remaining contestants voted to save Julia. This means that next week Marta and María will face elimination.
Operación Triunfo 2018 – Gala 9 performances
- Group performance – “Spice Up Your Life”
- Marilia – “Only Girl (In the World)”
- Marta – “I Want to Know What Love Is”
- Natalia – “Lush Life”
- Miki – “Una lluna a l’aigua”
- Julia – “Me Muero”
- María – “Amorfoda”
- Alba Reche – “Allí donde solíamos gritar”
- Famous – “El reloj”
- Sabela – “Next to Me”
What do you think of OT 2018 Gala 9? Who would you like to see in the Eurovision Gala next year? Share your thoughts below!
Is it only the studio audience who decides the weeks favorite?
No, viewers can vote through the show’s official app.
Understood
Hmm. :/
Another great night for Julia. It’s true that she’s not that versatile, but she does a terrific job with this style of music. Loved this old school Famous, he looked super handsome on that outfit. Though I agree that he deserved better staging. Solid effort from Natalia and Alba as usual. At the moment, I think Famous and Natalia are the best options for Eurovision, as long as they get songs that fit them. I would pick him, but I think it’s easier to find the right song for her than for him.
She will do great next week as well.
She got alejanro sanz’s song. Ayy mi corazon.
Famous miki y julia
Marta, Julia, Sabela and Marilia lack a spark, i think they could shine more as a girl group, especially because they’re all good friends. Send them to Eurovision!
I don’t think so. They are too solo singers.
If they want a dou than famus with….. or cmiki wirh…
I remember someone asking a few days back when were the contestants going to perform their own song, ‘Somos’. Well, we finally got an answer: it’s next week’s group performance.
Good point about putting a girl group together. I have been thinking a bit about that as well recently. A lot of OT girl acts, like Marta, Marilla, Julia and Sabela, just miss a bit of spark and don’t really offer anything new. I think that a solo career would be very difficult to establish for any of them. Therefore, I think they could reach a bigger potential in a group.
OT2 already did that with Lunae (Tessa, Elena Gadel & Marey). It went nowhere.
Miki delivered a great performance last night, probably the best, but I don’t get all the hype around him. It feels like he has made up a character to appeal the audicence. He’s always making “feminist” statements in front of the cameras and in the Gala, the same happens with María. They both know what works on Twitter. Another important point to note is the ongoing favouritsm. Another matching song for Julia or Miki, but Famous and Sabela got a song far from their style. At this point, a song that far from their style is a hint of nomination.… Read more »
One thing that impresses me about Famous is how he always do a good job even if almost every week they throw a different kind of ball on his way. I don’t watch anything besides the performances, but I would dare to say that this guy has wonderful work ethic, because he always show a great deal of passion for what he’s doing on each gala.
True. Singing an all time classis he deliverd!
There will be no more favorites. From now on, anyone can be nominated at any time.
do you remember was it like that last year? I mean, was gala 9 the last gala with a favorite?
Yes, Aitana was the last favorita of the last season, in Gala 9 (after crying goodbye to Cepeda)
ah yes, I forgot, thank you 🙂
Catalan music slayed yesterday.
Miki gave an amazing performance.
So proud. Yas Catalan realness
That will be amazing if that will be big girl band
when I think this show can’t disappoint me more… they nominate Famous, the second time in a row, with arguments that make no sense (”there is no emotion” is an argument I don’t accept, because it’s what they always say when they want to get rid of someone and is also very subjective … A LOT of people loved it, and he got to people’s hearts.) such a shame. he did great. and HE DESERVED live music – Laura or Manu always play the piano when someone sings a bolero. and he deserved better staging. (the song is called ”the… Read more »
Micky and famous did great. Julia as well.
I wonder what songs they will get today.
I hope for more spanish songs.
A song in Catalan with that staging? Subtle OT, really subtle.
I guess it makes sense since the show is set in Barcelona and much of the live audience there are likely from the area.
Yeah I know, I was just implying that they gave him that song to make him favourite. That is a fun and relatively easy song suitable for the first couple of galas, not the ninth. They do not challenge him at all.
The studio and the Academy are set in Terrassa, province of Barcelona, which also happens to be Miki’s hometown.
See my comment above. I was not clear enough in my first comment.
Have just started watching this. I’m not sure if I’d want any of them at Eurovision but maybe Natalia? Can’t we have Aitana and Ana War back?
I hope Famous (you should check out some of his performances, they are great) or Famous and Natalia (they sang together Feel it still and did great! 🙂 )
Poor Marilia 🙁 Her performance was great and her outfit fabulous btw (@”Mister Vanilla Bean”: You commented on my compliments for men a few articles ago. But THIS performance was so epic, I almost forgot I prefer men haha 😀 ) <3
Are you very sexually deprived? Get something else to comment other than you’re gay or straight or whatever
Hey again! 😀 It was a classic symbol that you use to describe a performance: The girl was THAT good, she turned me straight XD But no, I am not deprived, everything is fine (and btw I am neither gay nor straight, but bisexual with tendency to men. This is no secret) <3
Yes , it’s no secret at all cause you mention it in all your comments. If you mentioned it to your partner instead maybe it’d suit your urges better. I get irritated when I read the same thing again and again , nothing personal