There’s at least one Eurovision fan hiding out in the HQ of Spanish private broadcaster Telecinco, and it shows. Just as they turned to Eurovision songs for a moving documentary last year, they’re doing it again in 2022. S10‘s song “De Diepte” features on the soundtrack of Sin Perdón, a documentary on the life of Spanish singer Isabel Pantoja. Alsjeblieft, red mij!
That means “Please, save me” in Dutch. The catchphrase is the motto of “Sálvame”, one of Spain’s most viewed television shows, where the documentary has premiered.
La docuserie inspirada en Isabel Pantoja #SinPerdon tiene como banda sonora la canción con la que Países Bajos participará en Eurovisión pic.twitter.com/ojt9ZMFFQ2
— GOSSIP BOY (@JuanjoCotilla) March 27, 2022
S10’s song played during one of the country’s most popular programs, which has proven to be helpful for Eurovision artists in the past. May a lot of Spanish souls fall in love with the Dutch entry! (Yes, that’s a play on words with one of Isabel Pantoja‘s songs).
Telecinco is the same TV channel that played “Tout l’univers”, “Growing up is getting old” and “Voilà” during The Rocío Show last year and Spain awarded them 7, 8 and 12 points in the Eurovision final.
In 2021, Gjon’s Tears, Barbara Pravi, Blas Cantó and Victoria performed in Telecinco during the pre- and post-Eurovision season. All of those performances gifted us glorious moments on Twitter.
omg it's gjon's tears and the lady that appears everywhere when you get cancelled by the spanish pic.twitter.com/f8eUDVcZdW
— luuk ? | sentimentai ?? (@escluuk) June 3, 2021
But it also gave the artists some important recognition in Spain. After Eurovision, Gjon flew to Madrid to join Blas in the last show of Rocío’s documentary and Barbara joined via Zoom, as she was recovering from Covid.
Recently, Rigoberta Bandini’s “Ay Mamá” was heavily hyped by Telecinco ahead of Benidorm Fest.
However, she didn’t manage to beat neither Tanxugueiras in the televote, nor Chanel in the jury vote, and came third with the demoscopic jury.
Who is Isabel Pantoja?
I already see you scratching your head, but wait and read all of this. Isabel Pantoja is a figure you have to meet. And she has a sparse connection to Eurovision: she was considered for the contest in the 70s, but was never selected.
Born in Sevilla in 1956, Isabel Pantoja is probably one of Spain’s best known celebrities and quite a controversial figure — one both loved and hated. Her life has been under public scrutiny for years, and goes much beyond her music career.
She has several extremely popular songs like “Se me enamora el alma” and “Marinero de luces“. However, lately it’s been her personal life that made all the headlines. This is a story of mourning, family affairs, corruption and dramas on television.
Back in the 80s, Isabel Pantoja was one of the most talked about people in Spain after her husband, torero Francisco Rivera “Paquirri”, was killed by a bull during a corrida. Ever since, Isabel and her children have been in the spotlight.
In 2007, she was involved in a corruption case that affected her then boyfriend, ex-mayor of Marbella Julián Muñoz. As a result, she went to court for money laundering and was imprisoned for almost two years.
It’s not been Isabel’s only problem with the law. Just this month, she went to trial over some legal problems with the selling of one of her fincas. She faces three years in prison now, and it was one of the images of last week, as she burst into tears in court due to the heavy media attention.
Out of court, Isabel has also taken part in several TV shows. Recently, she was a judge on Idol Kids alongside Edurne and on Top Star. That’s the talent show that Brequette (she who faced Ruth Lorenzo in Spain’s selection in 2014) won. She also took part in Supervivientes.
Just last weekend, it was published that Isabel had disinherited her children. Her son, Kiko Rivera, has always been a public personality who tried to become a DJ, singer and song producer for a while, while her daughter, Chabelita, is a TV personality and has also released some music.
Sin Perdón, the documentary series, will go through Isabel Pantoja’s life. With such a biography, there should be enough episodes to fit in all 40 of the songs from this year’s show.
Do you think “De Diepte” fits the show? Did you know who Isabel Pantoja was? Is the Spanish televote bound to award the Netherlands 12 points? Let us know in the comment section below!
S10 ft. Isabel Pantoja “Lo Profundo” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Telecinco helped Barbara Pravi and Gjon’s Tears to receive most points from Spain. This will do wonders for S10.
I love gossip. Send Pantoja to #BenidormFest next year!
Didn’t expect all these cotilleos cañís (Spanish gossips) in wiwi lol.
I guess this will help a lot with televote, as this song grows as you listen it more.
The song is great, but I don’t know if this show is going to be as succesful as Rocío’s.
I don’t expect it to. Telecinco’s ratings are on the decline, as they have been since late last year, and many viewers have found odd that the channel is once again changing their narrative on Pantoja, as they have also been doing for years, dragging her to hell or praising her to heaven depending on what suited their interests the best at the moment.
I would not say this is good news for S10 to have your song used in such a crap.
Hey, it may not be the greatest show ever, but they’re playing her song and people are listening. Her song is higher on the Spanish Shazam chart than their own entry…
People who watch this are not the ones who might vote at Eurovision.