Spain in Eurovision
Spain debuted in Eurovision all the way back at the sixth edition of the contest in 1961 and, as one of the largest financial contributors to the contest, has been guaranteed an automatic pass to the final since the introduction of the semifinals back in 2004.
Spain has provided Eurovision with two wins in their history: back-to-back wins in Massiel’s ‘La, la, la’ in 1968, and Salomé’s ‘Vivo cantando’ in 1969.
2021 entry: Blas Cantó – ‘Voy a quedarme’
Semifinal: RTVE will broadcast and vote in the second semifinal
My Eurovision Scoreboard fan ranking: 29th out of 39 entries
Odds to win ranking: 37th out of 39 entries
(rankings as of 11 April 2021)
About the artist
29-year-old Blas Cantó Moreno, known professionally as Blas Cantó, was born in the small municipality of Ricote in the south-east of the country, who first came to national attention when he took part in ‘EuroJunior’ in 2004.
That’s right – Blas’ first attempt to represent Spain at a Eurovision event came when he was just twelve years old. He competed in the competition with two songs – ‘Cantaré’ and ‘Sentir’ – of which ‘Sentir’ qualified for the final. In the final, he came second to María Isabel’s ‘Antes muerta que sencilla’, which eventually went on to win the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
Five years after his appearance at the Junior Eurovision national final, Blas joined the boyband Auryn. Auryn was a major success throughout Spain. The group released four album, including three chart-topping albums and seven top ten singles. In 2013, they won “Best Spanish Act” at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
The boyband also tried out for Eurovision when they appeared on ‘Destino Eurovisión’ in 2011. The group came second with the song ‘Volver’, but with 20% of the public vote they were unable to beat the unstoppable Lucía Pérez’s ‘Que me quiten lo bailao’, which had received 68% of the vote.
Since the breakup of Auryn in 2016, Blas has become a famed singer in his own right, releasing multiple songs and collaborating with world-famous artists such as Kelly Clarkson, Anastacia, and Eurovision 2012 star Pastora Soler.
He was internally chosen for Eurovision 2020 with his song ‘Universo’, and was internally selected again for the 2021 contest, with his song chosen through ‘Destino Eurovisión’.
About the song
‘Voy a quedarme’ is written by Blas Cantó, Dan Hammond, Leroy Sanchez, and Dangelo Ortega, and produced by Blas Cantó and Ricky Furiati.
A powerful ballad with a modern arrangement behind it, ‘Voy a quedarme’ won 58% of the global vote during the national final, which was staged with a few lights and a full moon that brightened throughout the performance.
Dangelo Ortega and Dan Hammond both worked on Blas’s Eurovision entry for 2020, ‘Universo’.
Aussievision podcast Spain episode
Check out the Aussievision podcast review and rank episode including comments from the team. Listen via:
Apple
Spotify
Podcast addict: https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/1958380