It’s the Spanish TV show which gathered the most Eurovision stars on a stage this year apart from the actual contest. And now, for the final show of Rocío, contar la verdad para seguir viva, Gjon’s Tears, Barbara Pravi and Blas Cantó have come together again.
On Wednesday evening the Eurovision 2021 representatives from Switzerland, France and Spain took part in the final show of the series, which has reviewed the tumultuous life of Rocío Carrasco, the daughter of the legendary copla singer Rocío Jurado. Sadly, Barbara had to join via a video call from Paris. As she revealed on the show, she recently tested positive for Covid.
Historia de España y de EUROVISIÓN #RocíoSeguirViva pic.twitter.com/0Qd8S7Gj6m
— Laura Ortiz Montero (@LauraOrtizMon) June 2, 2021
The night started with Gjon’s Tears performing “Tout l’univers” from the terrace of Mediaset. Gjon brought his signature dance moves from the Eurovision performance.
Desde las alturas ? pic.twitter.com/eFzAPB3n3y
— Mediaset España (@mediasetcom) June 2, 2021
Then it was Blas Cantó’s turn. The Spanish representative gave a heartfelt rendition of “Como una ola”, one of the greatest hits from Rocío’s mother.
Actuación @BlasCanto en #RocioSeguirViva pic.twitter.com/R9o3bFar6h
— ESCvideos (@ESCvideos) June 2, 2021
Blas, Gjon and Barbara shared the stage briefly at the beginning of the show. Both Barbara and Gjon told Rocío how they were moved by her story. Want to know more? Scroll down for a quick summary
It’s not the first time they’ve taken part in the show. Gjon’s Tears’ “Tout l’univers” served as the show’s soundtrack, while Barbara sang both “Voilà” and “Como una ola”, one of the most popular Spanish songs ever. Bulgaria’s Victoria also performed “Growing Up Is Getting Old”, but she wasn’t there this Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Blas had already visited the show twice — performing a song by Rocío Carrasco on one occasion, and his Eurovision number “Voy a quedarme” during the other. He provided one of the most emotional moments of the show. At the end of one of his performances, Blas told Rocío: “Yo sí te creo” (I do believe you).
The promotion seems to have helped the artists at Eurovision. In the Spanish televote, France got 12 points, Bulgaria got eight and Switzerland seven.
En el plató de #RocioVerdad @blascanto, @babpravi y @gjonstearsoff pic.twitter.com/9jkPM1Stpu
— ESCvideos (@ESCvideos) June 2, 2021
What is ‘Rocío, contar la verdad para seguir viva’?
Many of you reading from outside Spain might be scratching your head. Why is this show so popular? Why have they invited so many Eurovision artists?
Rocío Carrasco is one of Spain’s most popular media personalities. She’s the daughter of Rocío Jurado, one of the country’s most legendary singers. Her mother’s nickname was “La más grande” (The greatest). Go figure.
Previously known as Rociíto (Little Rocío), she’s always had a camera around. In the 90s, she married Antonio David Flores and they had two children: Rocío and David.
Rocío and Antonio David divorced in 1999 and her nightmare rose to the surface. First there was a long-term feud over the children’s legal guardianship. Antonio David went to court for physical and psychological abuse, but he was cleared of all charges. Now, after the documentary and the new information that emerged, Rocío has considered re-opening the case.
In a sad turn of events, in 2013, Rocío was attacked by her own daughter. Rocío Flores (the daughter) was later charged with abuse towards her mother, on top of threats and slander. Part of the documentary’s appeal has been this story, as many had suggested that Rocío had been a “bad mother”.
Rocío has been silent about her personal situation for a long time. However, in 2019 she attempted to commit suicide after her daughter appeared on live TV. She was defending her father, Antonio David, who was competing on Celebrity Big Brother at the time.
That led her to tell her side of the story. It was a very difficult decision, but it wasn’t the only one. During the show, she managed to visit her mother’s tomb for the first time ever since she passed away.
PM Pedro Sánchez called Rocío Carrasco
The story has made all the possible headlines in Spain throughout this Spring. It even reached the government: Minister of Equality Irene Montero publicly defended Rocío Carrasco, and later it was reported that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called her too.
The documentary has been socially significant. After the first show, calls to the public phone number 016 went up by 42.6%. This is Spain’s public phone number to flag violence against women. It received more than 2,000 calls in a week.
? El mensaje de apoyo y agradecimiento de la ministra de Igualdad, @IreneMontero, a Rocío Carrasco. #RocíoSeguirViva pic.twitter.com/5l5nWa6KBz
— PODEMOS (@PODEMOS) June 2, 2021
While the Spaniards are generally aware of physical violence against women, that’s not the case for psychological abuse. In fact, the show marked the first time that concepts such as “gaslighting” were mentioned on live TV.
There have been comparisons to the case of Ana Orantes, the first woman who explained on live TV how she was abused by her husband back in 1997. Orantes’ story changed the paradigm: violence against women had been seen as a joke even in the early 90s. Spain only started counting how many women were murdered by their husbands in 2003.
Nevertheless, the series has also stirred criticism. It’s worth noting how Antonio David, Rocío’s ex husband, worked for Telecinco until the day after the first episode. Many of the TV network’s journalists have apologised for their attitude towards him.
La simulación
On a lighter note, the heavy presence of Eurovision stars has inspired tons of memes. La simulación is so broken.
The last one happened on Wednesday, when media personality Belén Esteban (known as ‘La princesa del pueblo’ the People’s Princess) interviewed Gjon’s Tears.
Encuentro historico, Belen Esteban y Gjon's Tears. pic.twitter.com/1YYzZSh8im
— ? (@pachidermi) June 2, 2021
Barbara Pravi singing “Como una ola” was also quite a moment.
el pico del surrealismo, barbara pravi cantando como una ola de la jurado omg pic.twitter.com/vXQKuMyZC1
— dun ?? (@cuorexamaro) April 3, 2021
And then there was Victoria trying to understand what host Carlota Corredera was saying.
Pero cómo va a tener Victoria la victoria si no la votamos? ? pic.twitter.com/kUy9mOZ7jc
— Miguel Álvarez (@MiguelxAlvarez) May 20, 2021
On Wednesday, Carlota joked with Blas about the amount of points he received at Eurovision.
Daríamos todos los puntos del mundo a @BlasCanto pic.twitter.com/pgrBONouRR
— Mediaset España (@mediasetcom) June 2, 2021
It’s not only the show that has shaken the fandom, it’s also what happens afterwards. Particularly on Wednesday. After their performance, Blas and Gjon spent the night in a club in Madrid.
Gjon’s Tears y Blas Cantó en el local de Kiko Matamoros celebrando el reencuentro. Yo ya. pic.twitter.com/mfO4hm6OrF
— Lázaro ? (@Eurolazaro) June 2, 2021
Have you been following the show? Has your country aired a show like this? Which other Eurovision entries would you have liked to see feature? Let us know in the comment section below!
Judging by Barbara’s IG stories today she only quarantined for a couple of days.
it’s so random but great to see a very popular TV show in Spain (on a private channel) promoting Eurovision songs before and after Eurovision. They did a better job than RTVE.
It makes me think that private channels would’ve done a much better job dealing with Eurovision
So happy for Gjon and Barbara! But damn barbara why test positive??
Blas performed but had no impact on charts, honestly i think he was one of the ‘losers’ (sounds mean but i don’t mean it that way) as he saw zero impact on charts from Eurovision/
Gosh, as a spaniard is SO surreal to read about Rocio’s documentary on wiwibloggs, it gets even weird when I’m apparently the only spanish eurofan who hasn’t watched it lol. Anyway, despite my feelings towards celebrity culture and such I applaud Rocio for speaking up her truth and I’m glad that it inspired more women to fight. Btw, if you speak some spanish I wholeheartedly recommend you watching the Ana Orantes episode, granted is a really hard pill to swallow but it really does open your eyes to the reality of so many women, it’s on Youtube in case some… Read more »
OH MY GOD
You can take the Polish Delegation member, you can take the ginger from Gagnamagnið, you can even take Duncan BUT YOU CAN NEVER TAKE BARBARA (btw it’s a joke, ofc no one must be taken but I’m still devastated)
Oh No, I’m sorry about Barbara’s positive COVID diagnosis. I wonder if we’re going to see more cases going up because of Eurovision.
The chance is higher that she got it after Eurovision. They took the train from Rotterdam to Paris.
I think it is more likely that Barbra got COVID going back to Paris
If there was a cluster in Rotterdam we would be hearing WAY more stories than this. We’re two weeks after the contest, I think Barbara got Covid back in Paris.
Gjon and Blas are new Efentix. Change my mind.
Blas Cantjon.
Blasbara.
Gjonbara.
I’m sorry but queen Kateryna picked him first, back off everybody lmao!
I love how sweet sunshine Gjon turns out to be a heartbreaker, haha
what?! noway!
team Kate’s Tears lol
Kateryna would like a word
exactly 😛