Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

 Now as Spain has withdrawn from Eurovision song contest at least in 2026, let's have a look of some Spanish favorites of mine over the year. Starting with totally undeserved null pointer.  Enjoy! 1983 Remedios Amaya - Quien maneja mi barca (last, zero points) 1991 Sergio Dalma - Bailar pegados (4th) 1990 Aucar Moreno - Bandido (5th) 1985 Paloma San Basilio - La fiesta termino (14th) 1980 Trigo Limpio - Quedate esta noche (12th) 2004 Ramón - Para llenarme de ti (10th) 2003 Beth - Dime (8th) 2012 Pastora Soler - Quédate conmigo (10th) 2022 Chanel - SloMo (3rd) There would have been quite a few to pick up as well but these sounded the ones at this time and space.  Special mentions go to: 1995 Anabel Conde - Vuelve conmigo (2nd) 1982 Lucia - El (10th) 1997 Marcos Llunas - Sin rencor (6th) 1973 Mocedades - Eres tu (2nd) 2024 Nebulossa - La zorra (22nd)

  Spain is turning into Operación Triunfo to find their Eurovision entrant for Lisbon 2018. But there's a twist: there will be a specially staged Eurovision final for the five finalists - before the OT is over! The five finalists will have songs written by experienced composers to compete and televoters will choose the winning compination. After that OT continues to its end so the OT winner may not be the one going to Eurovision.  Nine out of original 18 singers are still in the competition, but four more has to go before we get to the Eurovision stages. The next episode will air after New Year's so February looks likely for the OT/ESC final. Then again, this isn't something new either: Beth who represented Spain in those OT years didn't win OT either. She only came 3rd in OT behind Ainhoa and Manuel Carrasco but beat them in the special Eurovision selection. The year before when the first OT was used as Eurovision selection the winner Rosa took her runner u...

News from Spain concerning their participation in 2018. The good old Operación Trumfo, that brought the country to top-10 three times in a row 2002-2004 and so far the last time anywhere near it with the exception of Ruth Lorenzo's 2014 and Pastora Soler's 2012 - both barely 10th - could be making a comeback as country's national selection next year. It seems TVE is prepairing another 20omething finish next week... BUT OT has given us a lot of Spanish flavour and good placings, hopefully this could change the Spanish Eurovision faith again! In light of that ti makes sense, even if TVE has prompty denied it is so.... In 2002 Operación Triunfo was launched and caused a real hysteria in the Iberian peninsula launching the careers of Rosa Lopez, David Bisbal, David Bustamante, Chenoa, Gisela and some others. Rosa took all the runners up with her to Eurovision and Europe's living a celebration finished 7th while the whole of Spain lived with them the somewhat disappo...

Remember I wrote about Ramon  (ESC 2004) some time ago? He has been featured several times in this Finnish reality TV-series Riemuloma Kanarialla since and actually he was the programme's location manager, his task being to find one or two locations for each day during the 7 months of filming in Canarias. " Best in the job was the people. I learned a new culture " he told Ilta-Sanomat earlier this summer when visiting Helsinki. He became friends with people of the reality and came to visit them enjoying a real Finnish summer with sauna, local drinks (Lonkero) and visiting Helsinki but also Lahti, Porvoo and Messilä.  "I loved sauna and I really enjoyed my stay. I could actually move here. I have always wanted to live in some Nordic country." He also makes his comeback as a singer in the series as he sings Frank Sinatra's I got you under my skin in the final episode and he says returning to music isn't totally out of the question.....

Valentina Monetta's trip to north started today with a flight from Bologna via Frankfurt to Helsinki. After settling into her hotel it was time for some dinner in restaurant Kaarna where she got her first taste of reindeer! And she loved it, btw. She told she used to be vegetarian for a long time but now she's back to eating meat and feeling much stronger!  The very enjoyable evening in company with Kelly and Maria continued in Hercules nightclub where DJ Ohrmeister was in charge with the Eurovision loaded music. Of course Crisalide was on as soon as she entered the club and in moments she was meeting fans and friends made over the past two editions of Eurovision. Some looked rather stunned to see her there, most where only happy and delighted! And so was she! When The social network song was on she entertained the crowd with some great moves on the dance floor. Oh oh uh uh oh oh.... The evening continued with some latin dancing to Ramón's Para llenarme...

Well, he popped up in a Finnish reality show where tourist are being extra stupid in Canary islands. He was showing them around Teror and its Sunday market (this blogger all of sudden wants to go there next time as I have skipped it like 5 times as utter waste of time...) and gets to explain what "coño" means ("coño is the woman thing") and calling one of the ladies a cow while getting lost in the woods....  That's what Ramón is up to these days. Watch yourself here (in Finnish only. Beware a limitless stupidity. By Finns, not Ramón) You may rather want to see this: Para llenarme de ti and the same live in Eurovision 2004

Blogilkar guest writer Daniel Motiño Camúñez reports: Spain RTVE starts the search today November 15 for Eurovision 2011. After Roberto's Chikilicuatre bad joke and the live on air  John Cobra scandal, Spain is finally changing the rules in order to select the artist and the song for Eurovision Song Contest. RTVE will not be hosting an open internet selection like in the past years; the artist will have to go through a jury filter before appearing in the Galas. In addition the song and the artist will be choosen separately like in the Spanish national selection in 2007, when D'Nash were chosen and performed I love you mi vida composed by Rebecca who did not qualifiy to the big final. (Quite frankly I prefer Rebeca's version! BlogIlkar) In order to access the galas candidates have to submit a video performing a song which has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest and can be performed in any language. Here is the biggest innovation of the selection ...

My household has discovered Ramón Del Castillo a bit late, but better late than never, right? He shook his hips to Para llenarme de ti in Istanbul 2004 with respectable results for Spain but I paid attention to him only now when his second album is out and discovered also his debut. Nice latin music indeed. Is he aiming to become the new Luis Miguel or Marc Anthony?