She represented Spain last year in Lisbon with her then-boyfriend Alfred García, and ever since their result, Amaia has kept quiet about Eurovision. So much so that she didn’t even attend the Operación Triunfo 2018 Eurovision gala. She clearly hasn’t wanted to talk about it — until now.
On Wednesday Amaia attended the premiere of Pedro Almodóvar’s latest film “Dolor y gloria” and she was asked why she didn’t go to the OT gala, where she was supposed to pass the baton to this year’s representative Miki. And before you ask: No. Alfred was not the reason.
As you may remember, the former Spanish lovebirds brought to Lisbon an air so sweet it could be mistaken for cotton candy and roses. They broke up just months after the contest. Ouch! Ever since them runour has had it that Amaia has been skipping events where she might bump into Alfred.
Her explanation is rather different. In a red carpet interview with news agency Europa Press, she explained: “After our bad result at Eurovision, I didn’t feel like I was someone who has to pass the baton to Miki or anything”.
She goes on: “It’s not that I don’t want to meet Alfred, I’ve already seen him other times and nothing happened”.
Amaia also explained that she’s finished recording her first album, and that she’ll start revealing songs “sooner than everyone thinks”.
Moreover, she was asked whether she feels pressured as all her OT mates like Aitana, Miriam or Ana Guerra have established a career and already have their albums out: “I try not to compare myself to the others, which is not always easy, but also I’m so happy for them”.
Advice to Miki: “Don’t take Eurovision as the most important thing in life”
After her explanations, Amaia was asked to give Miki some advice. She told the “La venda” singer “not to feel overwhelmed and not to take Eurovision as the most important thing in life, because it is not”.
If you understand Spanish, here's what Amaia had to say about Eurovision pic.twitter.com/QtsS0KR12z
— MohawkMarkus (@MohawkMarkus) March 13, 2019
“He shouldn’t take it as something superimportant, because it is not, it’s a festival and it’s another thing in life. That’s how I feel now. Back then (when she was participating) I took it as the most important thing in life, but it is not actually, it’s another thing you do in your career”, she explains.
SCAN-DAL, you may be yelling. We’ll tackle that under the next sub-head, as the Twittersphere has exploded.
Despite her strong statement, Amaia doesn’t have bad blood for Eurovision. She says: “It was something incredible, it happened so fast that I still haven’t had the time to process everything”.
The Twitter drama: Was Amaia being shady towards Eurovision?
Amaia’s words triggered a wide variety of reactions on social media. Perhaps she was talking about the Eurovision result? Was she trying to ease the tension on Miki’s shoulders? Or did she mean exactly what she said? People were very vocal about it on social media:
??Para Amaia #Eurovision NO es importante, ni siquiera para ir a cederle el testigo a Miki un año después ¿Es comprensible la actitud de la ganadora de OT 2017? ??https://t.co/2LEMjZC7Fk RT, Gracias ?? pic.twitter.com/7ANRnUTMeb
— Iván (@RandomSpain) March 14, 2019
La actitud de Miki y Alfred con Eurovisión >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> la actitud de Amaia. https://t.co/E4oelxffbj
— moodazo (@crxcio_cabreada) March 14, 2019
(Miki and Alfred’s attitude towards Eurovision >> Amaia’s attitude towards Eurovision)
"Después de lo mal que quedamos el año pasado siento que no soy nadie para ceder el testigo a Miki en Eurovisión"
Me reafirmo: Amaia sigue sin comprender la traacendencia del festival más allá de un puesto https://t.co/rsTn7WJHRb
— EuroSeijo (@seijochan) March 14, 2019
(I maintain, Amaia still doesn’t see the relevance of Eurovision despite the placing)
What’s your take on all the drama? Do you really think Amaia is throwing shade on Eurovision? Or was she right to try to ease the pressure on Miki? Do you believe she didn’t feel worthy of passing him the baton as Eurovision representative, or was it just that she didn’t want to see Alfred? Tell us in the comment section below!
I totally agree with her.
She is so cute and different from the other girls, this is just a random compliment to Amaia 🙂
Oh come on. Everyone who even bothered to use his/her brain knew that this “relationship” existed just because they’re singing love ballad on ESC.
Btw, “Ever since them RUNOUR has had it that”. Isn’t it a mistake? .-.
She isn’t the right one to give advice to Miki, either…
Why do some people have to create scandal out of nothing? I don’t see where the harm is in what she said. If anything, she’s giving good advice to Miki: go to Eurovision, do your best and enjoy yourself, but if it doesn’t work out, don’t let the result deter you and move on. She’s right, it IS just a song contest, and saying that doesn’t mean she’s throwing shade at the contest.
SPanish eurofans are loco. What she said was innocent enough (and I speak Spanish) and not overly negative at all.
She is totally right. A good advice for Miki. Just enjoy the experience. I love her voice, one of the sweetest I have ever heard. I hope one day she represents Spain again. And I understand the frustration: hyped in Spain and the Latin market, underated in Europe as usual. And this may be the reason why popular Spanish singers refuse to participate in ESC A pity.
To be honest, I like her careless attitude but she isn’t very smart. ESC isn’t about rankings and clearly she doesn’t get it at this moment. Spain gave her an ego the size of the Sun and now she’s talking as if her words have no consequences. I feel upset for her actions to ESC and indirectly to Miki. Even is it wasn’t her intention, she was really rude to him and ungrateful with RTVE.
Actually, I don’t see the scandal. It’s quite a reasonable and understandable statement. She always seemed to be more down-to-earth than her duet partner. They were clearly overhyped by the Spanish fans who were very enthusiastic about them. In Lisbon, most of the other fans were a little off-put bc the Spanish sang their own song as if it was the national anthem and then, in common, were quite ignorant towards the other countries’ songs. I’ve seen many of them turning their back to the stage and focusing during the whole show on their smart phones. So I can imagine… Read more »
I couldn’t agree more!
I think the Alfred thing is still one of the reasons. Little maybe but not the entire reason. It still feels strange to not show up even once with Alfred after a year.
Feeling sick of those Spanish “fans” twisting this and that. How on earth can they interpret “not to take Eurovision as the most important thing in life” as “Eurovision no es importante”
Salvador’s comments the other day were far more critical, and I don’t know the full extent of social media reactions towards both, but wiwibloggs is definitely focusing on the controversy more here and that is very unfair. This doesn’t seem very balanced reporting, she said she thought it was an incredible experience, but it’s just one event that she doesn’t want to define her entire life. Let’s not hold her to a higher standard than others okay.
Her attitude to the ESC is a very healthy one. Very good advice.
I 100% agree with everything Amaia said. Much success to her!
I don’t trust RTVE at all. I don’t trust everything on the internet but some people said the Spanish selection was “rigged” for the surfer boy to win, Manolo? because he was in a relationship with the daughter of a person connected to the selection, and that he was “forced” to do the song he did, although he wanted another song. I am not sure. Too bad. It’s not like they don’t have actual talent in Spain.
Whisker, can we just have a moment to praise Aitana
Yes we can, even two
Maybe it’s her wording that’s caused much of the drama. Yes Eurovision is a big thing and a major music festival. However Amaia does make a point that there *is* much more to life (and music careers) than Eurovision, which makes sense.
She’s honest, it’s not the most important thing if you fail or even win. I mean if you win it’s a big deal but the hype will die and you might not have a career (see Azeris 2011 or Emmelie’s career in Denmark) depending on the circumstances. If you flop, you might continue having a career (see Saara Aaalto). So it’s not the end of the world and I am sure it hurt her a lot that they failed to do well despite the hype. Apart from that, it was a big mistake to send a couple to the contest,… Read more »
Do people still believe the BS that they were a real couple?
They had zero chemistry. Let’s face, it’s unlikely they a real couple, just a PR exercise gone bad. Cringe.
Don’t get it confused. They were a real couple back then. A bad couple that didn’t last very long, but an actual couple nonetheless. They had met in OT before.
Guillle77 they were never a couple. I’ve never seen two people try and fake a relationship so badly in my life. Don’t be so gullible.
Nope, it was PR.
She’s right, honestly. Eurovision is a huge career moment, but it isn’t the most important. As an artist, you need to focus on growing as a performer and making new music. I’m sure She’s thankful to the contest, but I’m glad she isn’t thinking of it as “everything will be downhill after that”
lets be honest, you outta top 5 in eurovision and your career is over
I must say I prefer the revamp for the radio. And Live we will not notice the difference: it will be empowered by Miki’s performance. Let’s wait to see him live in the preparties and have a realistic opinion about the whole pack.
I bet Amaia will be remembered because of Eurovision. Not because of anything else. So, it is quite BIG thing. Alfred deserves better.
she deserves better than alfred, he dragged the preformance down
I guess, as Amaia is a Spanish singer, such opinion is fair enough because we all know Eurovision isn’t a big deal for Big 5. Many of their singers are famous enough in the area or even worldwide, so they are quite relaxed about their entries in general as there’s no need to show and promote someone.
Anyway I still feel sorry for her breakup with Alfred 🙁
self-conscious queen. she knows she flopped awfully n probably has ptsd when thinkin bout eurovision
With all the hype around them I expected a lot more from their performance. It’s not her fault though. A good ESC act needs the confidence to deliver to a very diverse audience.
She handles it pretty well. Eurovision isn’t the biggest career achievement a singer should have. There have been many great songs in the past that didn’t get their deserved spot. Instead of living with the past, try to move on and focus on your career, which she seems to be doing so. Clearly not following the footsteps of Alexander Rybak.
Spain has always been an underrated country in Eurovision, and it was further confirmed after Pastora Soler’s result. For their ill-fated story in the contest, her advice to Miki is on point.
Why the unnecessary attack on Rybak?
And that’s very sad considering Spain is a very Eurovision friendly country overall, but we are still doomed, thanks mostly to TVE, as you said. P
Well, she’s right though, Eurovision is not the most important you ever do. Yes, by performing in there people all over Europe will discover you and that could boost your career but it’s not the be-all, end-all and no artist should be defined by Eurovision, whether they flopped or not.
Can’t y’all find something real to get offended by like this is getting ridiculous.
About the ‘is Eurovision important’ thing: no, and yes. No, because not a big portion of your career is (mostly) determined by Eurovision. Yes, because who doesn’t want to participate in the biggest music competition in the world + lots of small countries can show their best musical exports.
She’s right, though. As much as I love it, Eurovision isn’t the most important thing in life and it’s best if Miki doesn’t put too much pressure on himself to get a good result.
Being on the ESC stage IS an achievement in itself. I really wish that all artists enjoy their Eurovision moment, whether they qualify or not and regardless of the result in the final. For example I loved Germany’s Black Smoke entry, then the Ghost song, even if they came last I think? I ABSOLUTELY LOVED Finland’s Black Bird, Svala with Paper, Aisel and Alekseev last year. I still listen to those songs and other songs that didn’t qualify. The issue with the Spanish entry this year is that it’s in Spanish, there is a wordplay on the venda, vender(se), it’s… Read more »