The grand final of Operación Triunfo 2018 is just two weeks away and things are getting dramatic. On this week’s gala, Marta was eliminated, two acts were given a pass straight to the grand final and what on earth was going on with Julia’s staging? Let’s take a look!
First up, the elimination. This week Marta was up for elimination for the fourth time, along with underdog Sabela. Marta again showed she’s the queen of the ’80s with the George Michael ballad “One More Time”, while Sabela let loose with “El cuarto de Tula”. Sabela was saved with 64% of the vote, one of the highest margins so far this series.
Then it was on to the rest of the performances, with only five acts remaining. Famous opened this section with an entertaining performance of Ariana Grande’s “Problem”. Not only did he nail the vocals, he also did a decent job with Iggy Azalea’s rap. Over the weeks famous seems to have found his groove and is picking up audience support.
The other big performance was Natalia, who delivered Nancy Sinatra’s sultry “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)”. The song perfectly suited Natalia’s femme fatale style, and delivered the song with gusto. Natalia seems to be a singer that needs the right kind of song (and that’s ok), but when it’s a good match, she slays.
Miki had fun with “Hijos de la tierra”. But there was the sense that he’s reached his limit. Miki has a particular style that he’s super comfortable with, he does well and the audience appreciate it. But it also means that his performances can feel a bit samey.
Alba Reche performed Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love”. To be clear, this was not the sultry, slowed-down version from 50 Shades of Gray. It was the original upbeat version from 2003. Including the rap. While Famous could handle the rap in his song, Alba was out of her depth delivering Jay Z’s rhymes. It wasn’t Alba’s best performance and showed her limits.
And omg we need to talk about the staging for Julia‘s performance. Julia sang Demi Lovato’s “Sober”, a heartbreaking song about living with the devastation of substance addition. The show producers chose to wheel on shelves of bottles, setting up a tacky, boozy backdrop behind Julia. Needless to say, viewers were not impressed by this tone-deaf concept, noting it was especially inappropriate given Demi Lovato’s very real struggles with addiction. The only good point was Julia’s flawless vocal performance, which almost managed to rise above the shocking backdrop.
The scoring was done differently this week. The judges each gave a score out of ten to the six remaining contests. The act with the highest score would be going straight to the grand final without facing elimination next week. That honour went to Natalia, who scored a perfect ten from all four judges.
One more act was also given a pass to the grand final when the professors of the academy chose one act to save. They picked Famous, the third time the professors have saved him from facing elimination.
So, next week Natalia and Famous will be immune from possible elimination. The four remaining acts — Alba Reche, Julia, Miki and Sabela — now face the final elimination. After next week’s performances, the jury will select one more act for the grand final, and the public vote will decide the last two finalists. Honestly, we’re still upset at Agoney narrowly missing out on the grand final last time and we’re not expecting it to be any easier this time.
Also of note this episode: Alfred Garcia (formerly of Alfred y Amaia) performed his debut solo single “La tierra hasta marte” (From Earth to Mars). We’ll be looking at that in more detail in an upcoming post.
Operación Triunfo 2018 – Gala 11 performances
- Group performance – “Ni tú ni nadie”
- Marta – “One More Try”
- Sabela – “El cuarto de Tula”
- Famous – “Problem”
- Julia – “Sober”
- Miki – “Hijos de la tierra”
- Natalia – “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)”
- Alba Reche – “Crazy in Love”
What do you think of OT 2018 Gala 11? Who else should make it to the grand final? Share your thoughts below!
Really surprised that Natalia scored a maximum forty points. I hope Sabela makes the final, to go with Famous who’s already secured his place, alongside Alba and Julia. At the beginning of the series I thought Natalia, Alba, Noelia, Julia and Miki would make the final, so I am not overly disappointed at this point.
My favoritos were Julia, Famous and Natalia. I dont get what people see in Sabela…she’s awful.
Julia keeps amazing me. It was important for her to do that with a song in English, to show that she has more than a “Spanish flavor”. The thing about Natalia is that she’s very theatrical. When the song requires, it’s great like last night. When it asks for vulnerability, she can get over the top. Alba looked gorgeous, but it was careless to give a rap to someone who has problems enunciating in English and had to move A LOT on the stage. Even more when Famous did the same thing and better. Loved Sabela and Marta’s performances, too… Read more »
ohhhhhh I sooooooo agree with you.
The song miki got, i don’t know……
But watch out they will do calypso together-miki and sabela. Love the choice of song!!!!
I like Miki a lot. He’s cute, he gives me good vibes, his performances usually are quite enjoyable. It’s just that I think all the other 5 have more things to offer than him. As Robyn mentioned, he seems to have reached his limit. Anyway, it will be cool to see him and Sabela paired together. We’ll have 3 duets next week then?
While I don’t like Julia at all. I think she gave one of the most deep and emotional performances overall. Famous was on point too. Btw, I don’t think Julia’s staging was that bad
At this point, my finalists (in preference order) are: 1. Famous 2. Natalia 3. Alba 4. Sabela 5. Julia
I believe the George Michael song was called One More Try.
Do you guys know when we will hear the songs for the eurovision?
in two weeks
Natalia is in a different level than all the others. She smashed it this week.
I would switch Famous for Alba. His rap was great but the singing was a bit static and monotone, comparing to the other finalists.
Miki or Sabela should go. They may be good, but they reached their limit here.
I still would like to see Famous in Tel Aviv though.
You will
I would love to see Sabela in the final. It is going to be highly unlikely, but Sabela keeps delivering great performances, including this one. I hope the audience next week will vote for her. For me, the final should be with Julia, Sabela, Natalia, Famous and perhaps Alba after all.
What she did was amazing! I loved the song choice! Brilliant. She nailed it like a pro.
I want a song like this in the eurovision.
But if famous will win, than i dont think so.
I have to admire Sabela here. She picked a rather unconventional elimination song and she requested dancers, because she prefers challenges, performing with the dancers is a challenge and it’s (dancing with professional dancers) also an opportunity that’s not easy to find outside (she said sometime during the week). But it wasn’t enough, she also wanted to sing her own lyrics in the latter half of the song. She did it at the first pase de micros. Then the second one. Then at the rehearsal with the dancers. And at the gala. All related to the occasion. Maybe there were… Read more »
I think I have seen in one video that Famous and Alba asked Noemi if they could sing the rapping parts (Famous already had one but he asked for more :DDD and I am not sure how it was with Alba, if she had anything before or not, but I guess they both wanted a to challenge themselves a little more to see if they can do it 🙂
You’re right, I just hope they learn it’s okay to say “I can’t do this for now” before somebody’s hurt 😀
The studio version is also slightly different. Five different sets of lyrics: two pases, one with dancers, one at the gala and one studio version. That’s really… excessive. I love it.
one thing that bothered me last night is that Famous didn’t get at least one 10 from the jury. His journey through the programme wasn’t so much worse than, say, Alba’s or Julia’s ( I would even dare to say Alba was forgiven bigger mistakes than him. (khm Just give me a reason, khm Contaminame) (please alba’s fans, don’t @ me 😀 these are the facts) and he has also had brilliant performances like the two of them. someone who does what he did at gala 1 With Feel it still (let’s even go back to gala 0 to Faith),… Read more »
Give Famous the first place already
I absolutely agree with you Robin. But the spanish fans are freaking out about alba either way…She was completely out of breath, the only good thing was her dance moves. And dont even get me started with the playback..
Famous performance wasnt that great. The best part was the rap, but this song doesnt work with a males voice. Meh
Natalia is great.
She is beautiful, but I get nothing from her singing. It feels to me she is in a wanna be pop star. She likes the the “Tokyo style”. She needs to dare more. And be more mature. Marta is even got to that point last night, with a great performance. So did sabela more improving needed. Oh Alba. She is a great person.great voice. I hope for her, that all the “love” she gets, will not blow in her face. For the name of god, let her go. Because the “love” will turn bad for her, Ot, learn what happened… Read more »