After extensive months of preparation, rehearsals, and dedicated efforts, Blanca Paloma has returned to Spain following her 17th-place finish at Eurovision 2023. The Spanish representative was ranked ninth according to the jury and last in the televote. While her achievement surpasses Spain’s recent results, except for Chanel’s bronze placement last year, it fell short of the bookmakers’ (and fans’) predictions.

Now, reunited with her friends and family, Blanca Paloma is taking the time to settle back into her routine while reflecting on her Eurovision journey.

Talking to Formula TV, Blanca Paloma expresses that she still feels like a winner due to the meticulous execution and profound respect for her profession that she displayed during her performance.

“We have to keep trying”

Blanca’s inability to secure a top ten placing has left many fans questioning what went wrong. In conversation with Formula TV, the Spanish artist defends her song “EaEa,” stating that it may not make an immediate impact on first-time listeners, which could have affected the overall reception and votes. Blanca notes: “People who watch Eurovision on the night may think ‘What is this?'” – she continues – “‘EaEa’ is a very special song, trancey and deep. Loreen’s song is also deep, but it’s pop and comes through in a different way.”

Worth the risk or not? Blanca Paloma has no doubts when it comes to this question. She also tells Formula TV, fans need to assess what to highlight: “If we want to go with a more commercial approach and take something safer, we will then miss out on the nuances and the indisputable richness that exists in our country, and that will never be exported because of the fear we have.” Blanca Paloma encourages fans to feel like winners for daring to be bold and presenting an authentic proposal at Eurovision.

What’s more, Blanca Paloma took to Twitter to express her gratitude for the overwhelming support she received and to uplift her fans, irrespective of the final outcome. She also encourages people not to fixate on finding a winning formula but that Eurovision should serve as a platform to celebrate the freedom of expression from every participating country — it is important that all styles are welcomed.

“Many of you have been writing to cheer me up. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, but with this message I’d like to cheer up all of you.

“To all of you who were excited and believed in the possible victory: cheer up! To those of you who supported such a uniquely personal proposal and appreciated its value: be brave! To all you, brave ones, who defended EAEA as a quality candidacy: stay strong!

“I am very proud of the performance in the grand final because of the unquestionable dedication of the entire team that made it possible.

“In my opinion, we shouldn’t get obsessed about finding the formula to win. I believe Eurovision should be a space to celebrate the freedom of expression of each country.

“Just like in a museum that brings together Picasso, Da Vinci and Delacroix, it is understood that each style is necessary to tell the story of a society.

“I won’t say much more. Let these words serve as a constructive conclusion to this incredible Eurovision journey that, for me, has been intangible. And I won’t say goodbye because we’ll go on! Thank you for all your love!”

“Algorithm beat authentic music”

However, the producer and composer of “EaEa,” José Pablo Polo, holds a more assertive viewpoint regarding Blanca’s final ranking. In his discussion with Formula TV, he expresses uncertainty about what transpired but emphasises that performing just before the winner did not work in Blanca’s favour.

According to José Pablo, this year witnessed algorithmic preferences surpassing authentic, root music. “Our proposal was very risky and competing with 26 other songs is complicated” – he tells Formula TV. “I have to accept that the algorithm has beaten us this year and that it is the song that artificial intelligence will end up creating.”

Interestingly, José Pablo is more disappointed with the jury vote, rather than the televote. “To some degree, I expected the televote, but not the jury vote” – he says. “I expected it soon after witnessing the semi-final 2 results and seeing Georgia not qualifying. Although the two songs have nothing to do with each other, in essence and in what they can awaken, they are similar. When I saw Georgia not making the final, I realised that proposal didn’t move the televote. From that day, I knew we would not get a nice televote. However, I didn’t expect Blanca not placing seventh or higher in the jury vote.”

Just like Blanca, José Pablo argues that people need to keep betting on creativity and honesty. “We have to give creativity a chance at Benidorm Fest with a closed pack” – he says. “I think Spain chose a proposal that had this pack to win Eurovision.”

Finally, José Pablo acknowledges the ongoing debate surrounding pre-recorded backing vocals. While recognising that no rules are being broken, he argues that it becomes challenging to evaluate an artist’s vocal abilities when a significant portion of their performance relies on pre-recorded backing vocals. “Honestly, I wouldn’t mind authorising autotune as a stylistic resource at this point.”

But what do you think? Do you share Blanca’s and José Pablo’s views? Let us know in the comment section below!

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Felix
Felix
9 months ago

Lots of risky acts have won Eurovision. Lots of “safe” acts have NQ’d. It’s not about that, and if you get a bad result and start playing it safe, you will keep getting bad results. Its about the performance, creating the right song for the right stage, et cetera. Never settle for boring. With a different running order, Eaea could do better with the public. But as it stands, it was surrounded by lots of very popular acts. If I were to be constructive, I would also say – Eaea is good, but I personally prefer the Benidorm version to… Read more »

Maya G
Maya G
9 months ago

She is so right.
Making bold and original choices pays in the long run. Trying to please everyone doesn’t.
You do you, Spain, and eventually it will pay off.

Michèle
Michèle
9 months ago

Stunning song and performance. Well done Blanca, from an Irish fan!

Oscar
Oscar
9 months ago

I really love Blanca’s perspective and agree. If everyone focused on just winning, there’d be 26 of the same song. It was so great to see a song of that style showcased on stage for such a big audience to see.

Eurotoxic
Eurotoxic
9 months ago
Reply to  Oscar

Nope, it wasn’t

habahaba
habahaba
9 months ago

nochentera

Guorga
Guorga
9 months ago
Reply to  habahaba

I love Nochentera but I fear it would have ended like Mae Muller, overshadowed by other upbeat songs (Unicorn, Queen of Kings). A bit like que me quiten lo bailao in 2011, or Barei with say yay.

Richardinho
Richardinho
9 months ago

it’s not necessarily the case that a song finishes low down in the rankings because it’s bad; it could mean that the songs above it were just better. even if every song was fantastic, one of them would have to finish at the bottom; and it’s rare that a Eurovision song is completely atrocious; most of them are professionally written and performed and are at least objectively of a reasonably high standard

Erick
Erick
9 months ago

I personally liked Blanca even though it was not a Love from first sight.. it must have taken some time for me to get used to „EaEa”, as it is not an easy song.. i like it’s ethnic/flamenco vibe, but i understand it didnt appeal to random ESC fans who listened to it first time during the show and found the sound too complicated and unstructured. I like diversity and promoting folclore and this Spain did well this year. But if they wanna improve their results and follow Chanel’s steps let them choose Agoney next year with some more audience… Read more »

Sanne
Sanne
9 months ago

He is right in terms of result, but he is being disrespectful towards other songs that he calls ‘artificial’ but are meaningful/creative like Finland, Italy, Lithuania.. they did better. Maybe ask yourself first instead of being salty

Lorena
Lorena
9 months ago
Reply to  Sanne

I don’t think she believes than Finland, Italy or Lithuania are artificial.

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
9 months ago

Just heard some TERRIBLE news. RTVE just sacked their head of delegation from 2022-23 and NOW they’ve replaced them with the delegation head from 2021 i.e. the bottom three Spain-era who chose Blas Canto!

Lorena
Lorena
9 months ago

I know, terrible. But well, let’s be positive. The new HoD is going to be the co-head. We will have another one, César Vallejo, who seems ok. Also, we will have Rayden in the committee choosing the songs participating at Benidorm Fest.

Colin
Colin
9 months ago

Oh my Lord…. why? 3rd and 17th after almost a decade of being in bottom 5. And they want to revert to that HOD? Is Benidorm Fest at least remaining as a method of selection?

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
9 months ago
Reply to  Colin

Looks like it is…for the time being…pray to God they don’t get rid of it for at least another few years!

Dida
Dida
9 months ago

Well, what can she say… She’s defending her song, it’s nothing bad. But Spain should reconsider their voting pattern for picking their representative. No one, except Spaniards are into this flamenco music. They should have picked Agoney, and could have notched another top 3. His song, performance and vocals were fire!

MoGu
MoGu
9 months ago
Reply to  Dida

If they like flamenco so much, let them, its their decision to make. I doubt they will go for the same as Portugal with similar folkloric entry did jot do well as well.

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
9 months ago
Reply to  Dida

EeAa wasn’t THAT much Flamenco. They can look for different types of flamenco songs.

Eurotoxic
Eurotoxic
9 months ago
Reply to  Dida

Absolutely agree, this song was BORING

Michel
Michel
9 months ago
Reply to  Dida

The flamenco is only popular in Andalucía (south of Spain).Many people in Spain did not like Eaea.

Thallo
Thallo
9 months ago

Blanca Paloma is the Miss Congeniality of the year.

It’s a shame that her song didn’t connect with the public, but she goes down as a legend within the Eurofandom. I hope she has a successful career in Spain in the future, she really deserves it.

Moonstar
Moonstar
9 months ago

“Eaea” belongs to a genre which is very niche…. it requires a couple of listenings to get used to it. I am not surprised it ended last with the public.

Emilio
Emilio
9 months ago

I can see that below there was a further discussion on the public/jury validity. Although i still usually side more with the public rather than the jury, let’s stay away from overestimating the objectivity of the televote. It is not only Spain which was penalised by the public: Austria and Serbia did not deserve 16 points; Slovenia did not deserve 45 points. And do not let me start on Ukraine placing above Israel.

Jonkonfui
Jonkonfui
9 months ago

You can downvote me all you want but i really Hope Spain, my country, realizes It is about time to withdraw from this Circus. No hard feelings. But this IS not our party so why do we have to pay the drinks?????

Jonkonfui
Jonkonfui
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonkonfui

This Eurovision crap.is not us at all. So why be a part of this?? We can still Pay but why being a part of this Circus?

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonkonfui

To educate and set an example for others to follow. Think of the children, Jonkonfui, think of the children.

Jonkonfui
Jonkonfui
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

We are all gays what children?? Other people’s children? Let their parents think of them.

Emilio
Emilio
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonkonfui

lmao

Paysbart
Paysbart
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonkonfui

Don.t be so sour. Read Blanca’s answer! Last year Spain almost won….

Jonkonfui
Jonkonfui
9 months ago
Reply to  Paysbart

It is not a Matter of winning or losing It is just a Matter of belonging. As someone said Eurovision cannot be criticized because It really represents Europe: international conflicts, countries hating each other, bad music and a false pretence of Unity and friendship.

Jonkonfui
Jonkonfui
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonkonfui

Man why downvote me for just wanting my country to withdraw?? U can still have ur cachachas N ur ladies crawling… But this Eurovision IS not us at all.

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonkonfui

I think you guys should stay in. I can really see Spain winning in the next five years depending on the competition.

Azuro
Azuro
9 months ago

3 minutes of my life I’ll never get back, hang on, 7 minutes if you count the national final and 1 min clip in the semi

fever
fever
9 months ago

I am glad the competition has finally been over and we can better appreciate the songs per se.
Ironically, after I calmed down from the competition fever, the two entries touching me most this year are not Loreen nor Käärijä, but the two lullabies, Blanca’s ‘EaEa’ and Sudden Lights’ ‘Aij?‘. Maybe they are doomed not as competition materials, but I feel so cured and so honoured to encounter them. Alas, that’s why I loved ESC back then!
My great gratitude to the artists and their teams, and all those to enable this beautiful encounter!

Lorena
Lorena
9 months ago
Reply to  fever

I love Aija also 🙂

Henry
Henry
9 months ago

From the beginning it was obvious that this song didn’t do well..and that’s because it’s an awful song! Very hard to digest, too much screaming, really annoying, i totally understand that the public did not like it.. So the problem was the song… Not Blanca.. actually she is a great perfomer and singer.

Dawid
Dawid
9 months ago

Now that’s a Lady

Baby
Baby
9 months ago

One thing about this that ive noticed is that Spain hasnt been bottom 5 in the last two years, most big five countries except italy cant do that. So at least Benidorm fest is working on getting them away from the bottom

Lorena
Lorena
9 months ago

Well, writing from Spain here: we, the Spanish eurofans, are superproud of Blanca and her performance. We chose what we liked the best from Benidorm Fest and she did great. We knew it was risky but we did not care. The problem here is the general public: after so many years of bad results, they just can see another bad result (not a top 10 in the jury, not a great performance… just a 17th position). It is true as somebody said below that Spain is kind of obsessed with winning, we haven’t won in the last 54 years, while… Read more »

Hector
Hector
9 months ago
Reply to  Lorena

Lorena te como la cara

Lorena
Lorena
9 months ago
Reply to  Hector

Es que lo de los locals españoles es insoportable… y quien dice locals dice prensa generalista también.

Fast Food Music Lover
Fast Food Music Lover
9 months ago

Love her attitude! I think her entry reached No.4 at some point in the odds rankings so regardless of the final result, everyone who is behind her should be proud.

Emilio
Emilio
9 months ago

From her words, and her mentioning many times “victory” and the “formula to win”, i can sense the pressure Spanish entries feel to win. And when they underperform in the ranking, they almost have to defend themselves. I appreciate the passion, but Benidorm has been sending very high quality songs in the past editions and Spain can and should be highly proud of it regardless of results.

Jonny
Jonny
9 months ago

I wonder how it was possible that so many fans could ever think this would have had a chance to win. For me it was 100% clear that the televote results will be low. I didn’t expect last place, but how could you ever think this would receive 100 points and more??

Escfan
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonny

I thought this wouldve had a chance tbh, I think weve seen more in the last number of years, Televoters appreciating more cultural, native language entries. I thought this would have a different result to France last year because of 1. Not as dominant of a score for the televote winner, 2. The running order was slightly more favourable (after all Sweden did come 2nd in the televote which was just after it) 3. The performance itself was quite striking and the vocal delivery was amazing, something Fullen struggled with. I’m still disgusted that the jury didn’t appreciate this more,… Read more »

Donkey
Donkey
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonny

It did it got 100 points lmao

WannaEatMySpaghetti
WannaEatMySpaghetti
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonny

I never thought of this song as a potential winner but I was expecting juries to do their job and give way much more points to this masterpiece (top 3 or at least top 5). I was expecting the song to finish between 15th and 20th place with public. 26th is really hard.

Baby
Baby
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonny

I guess us fans overrate the publics taste and dream that the cultural entries that are unique will do better than the basic english scandi pop songs

But Spain will propably send a reggaeton song next year with good choreography, so who cares

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonny

But what about the juries? Why was she ranked SO low with the juries, who SHOULD have appreciated her! In my opinion, SPAIN should have won the juries, not Sweden.

Colin
Colin
9 months ago

Absolutely, Blanca! You made your country proud, and you made me proud for voting for you! The juries did their part (part of them did, anyway) to recognize this beautiful song. The televoters weren’t as receptive, but fear not, those of us who are, are really grateful for this song. I’d encourage Benidorm Fest to bring us another year filled with quality, and probably a winner that resembled neither Slo Mo or Eaea, but brings another flavor to the mix.

Thanos
Thanos
9 months ago

Classy statement by Blanca. I am happy I voted for her in the final and I hope artistic performances continue existing at ESC.

Dave
Dave
9 months ago

Very sportive response from Spain. EAEA is a song I like when I’m in the mood, might not be the casual listener’s cup of tea though.

However kudos with coming up with this after the very commercial Latino bop by Chanel.

Blanca Paloma also seems like a nice and humble person indeed.

Alex
Alex
9 months ago

It’s interesting that the producer talked about the prerecorded backup vocals, because to me this was the part of Eaea’s performance that felt inauthentic. I feel like it would’ve delivered shivers to make all the vocals live, like the effect Portugal had last year with saudade, saudade. Instead, we had the dancers mouthing the backup vocals, which just came across as being strange, and at odds with Blanca’s stellar lead. And backup vocalists probably could have done the same dances with little trouble. Blanca was wonderful though, and she’s right. Sometimes this is just what happens when you take a… Read more »

MoGu
MoGu
9 months ago

I like her statement. Winning is not what ESC is about but for the fan clubs it turned into it as we have seen the hype they created for the 2012 winner. There needs to change something. Jurors to be told to vote impartial and no talking to other jurors. No more 20 votes for public, make it one vote but rank 1 to 5 or 1 to 10. Her song and performance did not strike a cord with me and I have listened to it various times beforehand, no wonder that the public who heard it the first time… Read more »

Fredrik
Fredrik
9 months ago
Reply to  MoGu

It was the jury who voted for Spain. And the public who wants green men who did not vote for this one. It was also the jury who acknowledged Estonias great ballad, while the televoters sanked that song.

Colin
Colin
9 months ago
Reply to  Fredrik

Estonia was fantastic, and even with televote alone, they’d finish 19/37. To speculate further, if they weren’t slotted right before ”the green man”, but around 20th place in the GF, they might’ve gotten at least 2-3 places higher. Sure, the juries recognized Estonia and Spain, which is why I still think we do need them in some capacity, but Sweden’s inflated score is still a matter of dispute.

Fredrik
Fredrik
9 months ago
Reply to  Colin

So is the taste of the televoters… giving the green man so many points. Ridiculous

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Colin

Sweden got 340 points from the jury.

Finland got 376 points from the televote, an extra 36.

Is it fair to regard Sweden’s jury score as “inflated”, but not Finland’s televote score?

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

Should Finland’s inflated televote score be a matter of dispute?

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

155 point difference between jury first and second.

133 point difference between televote first and second.

Guorga
Guorga
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

Looks like the jurys voted more extremely…

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Guorga

Only slightly. 22 points more extremely.

Dawid
Dawid
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

How many people vote in televote. How many juries vote? Sweden got ZERO 12s in televote

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Dawid

Juries can’t vote 20 times each.

Colin
Colin
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

People can vote 20 times for *every song*. Romania and San Marino were available to get as many 20x votes as Finland was. Some songs were just a bigger televoting magnet. Not necessarily in order I’d put them, but everyone had the same chance (unless we count in the set-up running order, which can somewhat help the result).

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Colin

The same is true of the juries. Every song had the same chance.

Colin
Colin
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

True (I upvoted you here) 🙂 But the difference is, in my opinion, that juries would have to argument their opinion with something. Televoters, for better or for worse, can even vote on whim. Juries that actually listen to all of the songs several times and dwell on their lists are juries worth having as a counterbalance to some whimsical and biased voters. Juries that don’t do that are just another whimsical and biased voters, only with proportionately more power in their hands.

Guorga
Guorga
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

And televoters cannot cancel out other televoters by putting a song last (Spain jurors I’m looking at you…)

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Guorga

Televoters can cancel out 19 other televoters by voting 20 times.

Guorga
Guorga
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

But they cannot “punish” specific songs. Jurys can. Easily fixed by letting juries rank only 10 songs.

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Guorga

They can “punish” songs by voting for their biggest rivals. Whether they like the song or not.

Guorga
Guorga
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

Suppose I’m a televoter. At the moment Sweden is first and Finland is second. I can vote for Serbia 20 times and overtake them both, but I cannot alter the ranking between Sweden and Finland. As a juror I can put Sweden last so that Finland overtakes Sweden (countries names are hypothetical).

Guorga
Guorga
9 months ago
Reply to  Guorga

Example assumes Sweden has 19 televote points…

Guorga
Guorga
9 months ago
Reply to  Guorga

In short, I agree that both televoters and jurors can be “tactical” and manipulate the result to some extent, but it seems to me that jurors are more able to undo what other jurors have voted since they are able to place a specific song last. Televoters would have to vote for all other 24 songs multiple times to achieve a similar effect, and they have only 20 votes available. Good night everyone 🙂

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Guorga

Can you point to any examples of this?

Goodnight.

Guorga
Guorga
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

Jurors A and C of Spain have put Finland last or second last. Without these two jurors, the average rank for Finland is 8th; with the two jurors it drops to 15th. I cannot calculate the exact number of votes Finland lost because, according to the Eurovision website “The ranks allocated to the individual songs by each Juror are converted into a specific score value from 12 downwards decreasing exponentially; the sum of all score values within a national Jury determines the final national jury ranking.” No exact formula is given but I would be curious to know; at this… Read more »

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Guorga

Spain’s jury results are only unfair if they were deliberately trying to sink Finland. In which case, it’s cheating. If Finland was genuinely the least favourite of jurors A and C, then it is fair and the jury is serving its function.

Guorga
Guorga
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

It is very difficult to know if a juror is actually cheating. For example, it may be the case that the two Icelandic jurors that put Israel last (Hatari?) genuinely didn’t like Unicorn. But my point is that the rules allow jurors to cheat in this way, and the rules should be changed to make it more difficult, just in case anyone is thinking of cheating, and just in case it makes a difference to the result.

Guorga
Guorga
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

I should also say, the Norwegian televote example is entirely hypothetical. There could be loads of people voting 20 times for Sweden for all we know.

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Guorga

“Jury” is a misnomer, because there is no debate or consultation between the jurors. Just five people voting individually.

Guorga
Guorga
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

Sorry I meant letting jurors rank only 10 songs. Juries are already ranking only 10 songs.

Colin
Colin
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

Unless delegations were buying bots, like a certain country allegedly did in 2011 and 2013, it’s an accurate televoting score. Stefania won with an even bigger margin in 2022. Do I agree with that? Not necessarily. Can I pin-point people with name and occupation who were *paid* to make their list from 1 to 25? No. I can be upset at the televote (which I am, regarding the result of Spain 2023 and France 2022, especially), but I can’t say that every voter in particular was obligated to think long and hard about who to vote for and the responsibility… Read more »

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Colin

I’m just not sure why the jury result should be considered “inflated”, while the televote is considered sacrosanct. Finland won the televote, of course they did, but getting the most points is not necessarily the same thing as being the public favourite. It just means you have the most passionate voters. It’s entirely possible that more people voted for Sweden, just not as many times. I also happen to believe that while most of Finland’s votes were “for” Finland, at least some of them were protest votes “against” Sweden. Maybe I am a little paranoid, and defensive, but the cloud… Read more »

Guorga
Guorga
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

One could have a demoscopic jury made of less passionate voters. But how would juries, televoters and demoscopic jury be weighted? 50-25-25? 33-33-33?

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Guorga

The best thing to do, as far as I see it, is keep it the way it is but with reform on both sides.

Guorga
Guorga
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

A possible reform for the televote could be the following. You can vote for up to 10 countries, but only once for each. The first country you vote for gets 12 votes. If you want to vote for a second one, it gets 10 votes, and so on until the 10th country gets just one vote.

Colin
Colin
9 months ago
Reply to  Guorga

The best reform for the televote would be a system that gives points from 1 to whatever the number of participants that year is. 1 to 25 in the GF, for instance. The system you are proposing would have *so many* wrongly given points, as people (especially older ones) wouldn’t get the order of preference. Even I often vote as the number appear in the running order recap, regardless if it’s my 1st or 3rd option.

Guorga
Guorga
9 months ago
Reply to  Colin

What you suggest would be fine but with only 10 countries or so being ranked. Ranking all 25 means negative votes again (just like jurors are able to do). And would casual viewers be able or willing to rank 25 songs?

Guorga
Guorga
9 months ago
Reply to  Guorga

I want people to vote for songs, not against them. Otherwise there would be a bunch of televoters putting Sweden last, and another bunch of televoters putting Finland last. If jurors do this sort of thing without shame knowing that their name is recorded just imagine what ordinary televoters would do…

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Colin

I think that is too complicated for the average viewer, and would decrease participation dramatically. Giving even more power to the bubble. Is this a good thing?

For me, the best way is still a straightforward “vote for your favourite”, with up to five favourites allowed. One vote per.

Colin
Colin
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

I didn’t mean it as in “the viewer ranks them from 1st favorite to 25th”. That would indeed be complicated and counterproductive. I meant as in “All of the votes count for something”. 25th most voted song in a certain country gets one point. The most voted one gets 25 points. Thus decreasing the possibility of countries with strong ties in one or two other countries to score more if other countries put them in bottom 3. Example: Country X has a strong diaspora in two of the other 15 semi participants. Country Y has none. Yet, for average viewer,… Read more »

Colin
Colin
9 months ago
Reply to  Colin

PS. But I am still not in the favor of only 5 votes, one per country system, sorry. This is in the end escapism, not something vital, like politics. The result affects ”the bubble” way more than it affects people who are casual viewers. Caring more equals investing more equals weighing more. And *everyone* has that option available, if they choose to care more.

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Colin

Well. Not necessarily everybody has that option. It depends on your disposable income, with prices varying across the countries. I also think it’s wrong to consider someone who votes 20 times as caring more than someone who votes only once. All opinons should carry the same weight.

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

Opinions

Colin
Colin
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

”All opinons should carry the same weight.” In things that matter equally to everyone, like politics does, yes. Is my opinion on football matches equally important as of someone who follows the league every day? Especially in a system where I can still use multiple votes if I wish, even if it was never a priority before? It’s not like it’s a strict divide between fans and casuals once the voting starts. Everyone who gets hooked is free to vote. In the end, hundreds of thousands of causal viewers do overpower the fans by quite a big margin, and that’s… Read more »

Colin
Colin
9 months ago
Reply to  Colin

I understand the argument about the democracy, and I’d say that you are right if a system like OGAE voters, or Wiwibloggs users, or whoever had a voting code to multiply their votes which is unbenownst to the rest of the people, but it’s not the case. Choosing to vote only once usually indicates that you care only to a certain degree. Yes, you want Country W to win, but if it doesn’t, you won’t get depressed. Someone who votes for Country W 20 times probably will, even if their votes will still likely be drowned among thousands of others.

Colin
Colin
9 months ago
Reply to  Colin

That said, I never voted for the same country 20 times. Last year, I did spend all of my 20 available calls, but on like 6 or 7 different countries.

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Colin

Escapism can be vital. Mental health is important, and “trivial” things can have real power… like sport. People revere sport and sportspeople as if they’re Greek Gods. There’s no reason for art not to get the same respect, and taken as seriously.

Colin
Colin
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

No argument here. Sports and arts should be taken seriously and given respect. I’m just saying that each sport and each art form has its fans that care more about them than others do, and that’s understandable.

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Colin

I do like your idea of giving all songs points, though. The famous “douze points” is already invisible with the results reveal the way it is now, but to keep it for the juries it might be a good idea to start with a .25 of a point for the 26th most popular song, .25 for the 25th, then moving up to .5 etc. until the most popular song at 1st still gets the 12. I don’t want to lose it!

P.S. It’s late and I’ve probably done my sums wrong.

Colin
Colin
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

Glad you like the idea, Jonas! 🙂

Alex
Alex
9 months ago
Reply to  Colin

A simpler system for televote is to allow voters one vote per country and tell them to vote for all the countries they’d be happy with winning. (no max limit on number of countries, and you’d pay only for submitting a ballot instead of the number of countries you support). Then the criterion for how to vote is clear and nobody has to puzzle about how many votes to allocate where, and no arbitrary limit of 20 votes. This is the same system Wiwibloggs uses for its polls (approval voting), and it works for a reason: you don’t have to… Read more »

ana
ana
9 months ago

Well she was not dressed like a clown, didn’t ran around the stage out of breath like an !diot and didn’t do the silly dance! What was she expecting? Televoters to notice her?

Fredrik
Fredrik
9 months ago
Reply to  ana

You must be describing Finland. Lol.

Milan
Milan
9 months ago
Reply to  Fredrik

Fits Verka Serduchka too.

ana
ana
9 months ago

Well she was not dressed like a clown, didn’t ran around the stage out of breath like an idiot and didn’t do the silly dance! What was she expecting? Televoters to notice her?

Lillac marlin
Lillac marlin
9 months ago

The Spanish public preferred Nochentera

Vivian
Vivian
9 months ago
Reply to  Lillac marlin

Well Spanish public also preferred Terra over SloMo 🙂

Alex
Alex
9 months ago
Reply to  Lillac marlin

Most Spanish locals yes Nochentera
That 17% in televote out of nowhere was impressive.
The problem was knowing Semifinal winners and how everything turned to Blanca Paloma vs Agoney.

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
9 months ago
Reply to  Alex

I heard the voting in 2022 was discombobulated by having SO many people from Galicia tuning in or voting just for Terra. That made it disproportionate to what the public actually wanted.

Hector
Hector
9 months ago
Reply to  Lillac marlin

Why did Blanca Paloma win the BF televote then?

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
9 months ago

Such a nice person! Spanish women are always SO nice!

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago

No two Spanish women are the same!

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

No two people anywhere are the same!

Lorena
Lorena
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

No, but in general we are nice 😉

Cbl
Cbl
9 months ago
Reply to  Lorena

You spaniard are nice?! You are the most toxic community on Eurovision.

Zanoni
Zanoni
9 months ago

I appreciate everything Blanca says here. I gave her the most of my votes Saturday, and I’ve been a fan since the Benidorm performances. But I wasn’t wild about the song before then; like a lot of my favorites this year it was a grower. The results were not kind to such songs. I’d like to think the jury would be better, but they had kind of a disappointing mainstream lean this year. So I hope that the jury stays but there is some reform. And in the meantime I hope everybody isn’t scared away from taking risks.

Laos
Laos
9 months ago

Im sure next year we will see spain at top 5 again they are coming from the right track

Alecs
Alecs
9 months ago

Gracias, Espana! The preparty in Madrid was the best. Wish you win very soon, because for sure you will have the best public in the arena. Bring authencity every year too!

Ellen
Ellen
9 months ago

The televoting was trash this year. Thanks to the jury that gave her the credit she deserved.

Milan
Milan
9 months ago

Congratulations to Spain for doing their own thing, my vote went to them on the evening! The song is completely out of this world. I’m really glad Spain seems fo have found their way back into ESC.

Unfortunately, under the current rules, it would have been suicidal for any country not in Big 5 to compete with a song such as “Eaea” – they wouldn’t survive the televote-only semifinals. I’m giving this rule another year or two before it is scrapped (and I hope it is scrapped sooner).

sebastian
sebastian
9 months ago

Love her response. She should give La Zarra a course on how to handle disappointment. 

The Voice of Reason
The Voice of Reason
9 months ago
Reply to  sebastian

She had her own uniqueness and ways of dealing with it. Where she comes from, people deal with it differently…

ANDREW BROWN
ANDREW BROWN
9 months ago

Well excuses excuses excuses. This is not about the artist but the song which i have been expressing concerns about when it was selected at the beginning of the year. It was selected as a way of saying we are sending something authentic not like Chanel formula song last year. Simple answer to the problem going forward. Lets compare Albania 2012. A song with a powerful performer but filled with emotion and melody. Top 5 finish. That same year Spain sent a beautiful song and performer Top 10 finish. Spain 2023 no rhythm no melody just noise of a vocalist… Read more »

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  ANDREW BROWN

No excuses are necessary, because no wrong has been done. I think you miss the point.

ANDREW BROWN
ANDREW BROWN
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonas

But what i said would happen did. The public only give her 5pts. The song did not capture the public like everyone on this site said it would and continue to do so. It’s like the Emperors new clothes everyone said wow until someone like me said actually this song is not very good.

Jonas
Jonas
9 months ago
Reply to  ANDREW BROWN

Results are not always a fair reflection of quality.

Guorga
Guorga
9 months ago
Reply to  ANDREW BROWN

I love Albania 2012 but your description “no rhythm no melody just noise of a vocalist screaming long drawn out notes” applies equally if not more to her.

ANDREW BROWN
ANDREW BROWN
9 months ago
Reply to  Guorga

There was real passion in Albania 2012 that caught the public and jury. There was not in Spain 2023.

Eurovision fan
Eurovision fan
9 months ago

I love her reaction in the final when she got 5 points from televoting, she did it great! Just like for France 2022, it wasn’t super good result, but I don’t regret at all that Fulenn and Eaea made it to Eurovision. And Blanca still got 100 points which still not so bad.

Alex
Alex
9 months ago

That’s the theory and what Eurovision should be about.
Sadly not in the practise, when we have SVT and the jury mafia killing the spirit of Eurovision.
Probably many broadcasters will go full calculative/formula/generic/safe next year cause it’s the easiest way. Sad.
That’not the Eurovision I growed up with and loved. I hope I will be proven wrong but it’s hard to trust EBU

Blue
Blue
9 months ago
Reply to  Alex

But the jury ranked her in the top ten and the televote ranked her last ?! So clearly the televote failed her in this case.

Alex
Alex
9 months ago
Reply to  Blue

Televote cannot fail as people don’t vote against a song or artist.
People didn’t connect or weren’t in that mood. It can happen and it’s fine.
And it happens every year. That’s the magic of Eurovision and why many people love it. We never know for sure what people will really like in a very particular moment and mood.

Alexander
Alexander
9 months ago
Reply to  Alex

That is not entirely true. The televoting is also sick, how can we explain then that the Finnish citizens gave 0 points in the televoting to Sweden? The jury vote and televoting is always sullied by the inherent evil in the human being. That is a great truth.

Emilio
Emilio
9 months ago

What a pitiful comment by the composer José. The public did not just like one “algorithmic” song, Tattoo, over Eaea: it liked 24 more, literally every other entry. Were they all algorithmic tracks and made by AI? Tearing down other contestants does not fix the weaknesses the Spanish song had this year, nor does blaming the music genre: neo-flamenco is NOT a niche genre, Rosalia currently being the most famous Spanish performer is the proof.

Alex
Alex
9 months ago
Reply to  Emilio

He was right. And kudos to him for saying that he was actually more disappointed with the jury rather than televote even tho Spain was last.

Emilio
Emilio
9 months ago
Reply to  Alex

There was already almost a 20 spots gap between Eaea’s jury and public rankings. Delusional and bad sportsmanship conduct.

Rambo Amadeus
Rambo Amadeus
9 months ago
Reply to  Emilio

A lot of the tracks on Rosalia’s latest album are reggaeton-influenced tho, which is obviously much more accessible. If Rosalia were unknown and she went to ESC with a track like “Bulerias”, people would still cry that it’s too “inaccessible” and she wouldn’t have done well with the televote either. The eurofans and the voters are conservative and lazy, so we will never miss the chance to call them out on that, whether you like it or not.

Emilio
Emilio
9 months ago
Reply to  Rambo Amadeus

If Rosalia was unknown and went to ESC, we don’t know what would have happened because she is known and she will not go to ESC. What we do know is that flamenco and neo-flamenco music is reasonably mainstream, and its artists have won numerous Latin (and non-Latin) Grammies. The genre is traditional, but it is not a niche genre like Balkan folk music, Romani music, Celtic music. I understand your point that Eurofans are conservative, I totally agree.

Rambo Amadeus
Rambo Amadeus
9 months ago
Reply to  Emilio

What I do know is that the biggest hits off of Rosalia’s latest have all got reggaeton-style beats, so I don’t understand what that has to do with EaEa not doing so well at ESC when EaEa is obviously much more uncompromising and “inaccessible”, this particular entry was actually too niche hence the disappointing result despite being an all-time great entry.

Emilio
Emilio
9 months ago
Reply to  Rambo Amadeus

I am not comparing Rosalia’s songs with Eaea, nor i mentioned Rosalia in relation to ESC. In my first comment, i brought up Rosalia only as an example of how flamenco and neo-flamenco are not a niche genre, since this factor has been mentioned in the interview as a reason for Blanca’s underperformance. And i specified that no, neo-flamenco is indeed accessible and it is internationally recognized, having even a Grammy category on its own. It cannot be put on the same niche level as other folk pop songs, such as Echo in Georgia. Finally, i reiterate that it is… Read more »

Rambo Amadeus
Rambo Amadeus
9 months ago
Reply to  Emilio

Okay, I get it, you feel that the composer personally called you out on this so you got your knickers in a twist about it, but I actually agree with him here, this particular song, this particular brand of nu flamenco was too niche, so the fact it wasn’t very successful does not take anything away from the song, and I’m not even going to allude but I’ll just say it outright, some of the other songs that placed much better could indeed be described as soulless, algorithm tracks. What can you really do about it…

Emilio
Emilio
9 months ago
Reply to  Rambo Amadeus

How are my knickers in a twist: i voted, among others, for Blanca… He did not call me out, he called out other artists for no sake but to self praise his song. I don’t believe every entry at ESC should be judged by their ranking, and there are artists who are conscious about their unpopularity and participate only to unbrotherly showcast their art. However, if you belittle other composers’ for their higher placement (and not one song specifically, but 24 other songs), maybe you did care about rankings, and therefore you should be judged in function of them. Indeed,… Read more »

Oy oy
Oy oy
9 months ago

I’m deeply impressed with Blanka Paloma both as an artist and as a person!

Poul Rissen
Poul Rissen
9 months ago

Although I did not like the song at all, I recognize it has artistic value. And I highly value Paloma’s words. We need to encourage art and experimentation, no matter the outcome. That is so well said, Paloma!

Zisk
Zisk
9 months ago

I 100% support authenticity at Eurovision. I support thinking outside the box, creativity, and something that stands out to be timeless at the contest. To use Spain as an example, Bandido came out with a far greater legacy with Eurovision fans in 1990 than Insieme.

BeepBoop
BeepBoop
9 months ago

We love you Blanca <3

Lillac marlin
Lillac marlin
9 months ago
Reply to  BeepBoop

Solo

Jonkonfui
Jonkonfui
9 months ago

As Spaniard I think Spanish Eurofans are too passionate about winning the contest. It is funny that on YouTube you can find 10 reaction videos for any given song but for the Spanish entry there are 50 and all of them “LOVE” our song (and dont forget to subscribe, like, comment and €€€€). I think we should start sending to Eurovision what we really like without thinking about how well It Will do at Esc. And specially we need to NOT pay attention to any kind of internet activity which may get some economic profit by saying that our song… Read more »

ana
ana
9 months ago
Reply to  Jonkonfui

Guys, you bully the fu*k out of any youtuber who dares to say something negative on your entries. Call it “passion” I call it being cu*ts. So no wonder no youtuber won’t speak their mind, they don’t want their channel to be bombarded by an angry mob.

Alexander
Alexander
9 months ago
Reply to  ana

I see that same attitude in Italians, French, Armenians, Swedes, Finns and all other nationalities when some Youtuber reacts to their songs saying that they don’t like it. You only have to visit some videos and you will see it. Thats the reality.

Ria NL
Ria NL
9 months ago

I agree with Blanca Paloma
She was amazing and deserves more than the 15 th place. Her voice and song were very beautiful
Spain can be very proud of her

Ria NL
Ria NL
9 months ago
Reply to  Ria NL

She is a very lovely person

Corey
Corey
9 months ago

Winning formula is having a group of people doing songs expecially for Eurovision, and then slapping the singer’s name to those credits so it can be sold as a personal song, even if they didn’t do anything.

This is why Melodifestivalen songs have the artist’s name in the credits, even if a song has been around for years and has been rejected from all sort of artists.

Jesper Hjellnes
Jesper Hjellnes
9 months ago

So nice to read that Blanca is happy with her Eurovision effort. I thought she deserved more than just five televote points