Introduction 

• Participant(s): Chanel
• Song: SloMo
  
• Writer(s): Ibere Fortes, Leroy Sánchez, Maggie Szabo
  
• Composer(s): Arjen Thonen, Ibere Fortes, Keith Harris, Leroy Sánchez, Maggie Szabo
• Broadcaster: TVE
• Social media:      
  
• Team review: 

This year Spain had a national final again. The old show format of the Benidorm festival has been taken to determine the Spanish representative. Even the legendary singers of Azucar Moreno took part this year. At the end Chanel was able to accomplish a great victory with the Latino dancefloor song “SloMo”.

Chanel Terrero was born in Havana, Cuba in 1991. In the age of three she moved to Barcelona with her mother. It was the mother, who was the biggest fan of Coco Chanel, that’s why she name her daughter like her. In the age of seven Chanel already studied singing, step dance and acting. That’s probably the reason, why Chanel’s live performance at the Benidorm Festival has been so impressive. Chanel has been singing and dancing in various musicals such as The Lion King, Flashdance, The Bodyguard and Mamma Mia. Beside of her singing career she can be watched in four movies and several television series.

The hugely talented singer has already been on stage with Shakira during the MTV music awards 2010. With the empowered song “SloMo”, a great thrilling choreography can be noticed. The song is about a confident woman, living in a world in “Slow motion”:

Ladies and gentlemen
I‘m always ready
To break hips, break hearts
There‘s only one
There are no imitations (Na, na)
And if you don‘t believe me, I‘ll have to show you
Take a video
Watch it slo mo, mo, mo, mo, mo
Booty hypnotic

With the help of the songwriters Arjen Thonen, Ibere Fortes, Keith Harris, Leroy Sánchez, Maggie Szabois who have been composing for stars like Madonna, Britney Spears, Ricky Martin and Mariah Carey, a good placing should be realistic. Chanel is a very attractive woman, showing her sexy gymnastic exercises that will definitely fascinate a lot of people. But even if all the pre-conditions are set and seem to be perfect, those kind of over-choreographed entries can also fail, remember “Say Yay!”  by Barei (22nd place), “La Noche Es Para Mí”  by Soraya (24th place). On the other hand it can lead to a top position like Eleni Foureira with “Fuego” for Cyprus, 2nd place.

History

• Debut: 1961
• Participations: 61
• Victories: 2
• Finals: 61
• Top 10: 28

Spain joined the Eurovision family in 1961 with the debut song “Estando Contigo” by Conchita Bautista, which reached the 9th place in Cannes. From that time Spain has never missed an ESC. So this year it is going to be the 61st time to see Spain participating in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Like France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, Spain belongs the Big 5 countries. That means these countries are directly qualified for the Grand Final and they don’t have pass the semi-finals, like all the other countries. The reason for this is the financial contribution to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

The most successful period for Spain was in the late 60’s and early 70’s when there were two victories and some second places. Spain was also the first country having these two victories directly after another one in 1968 “La, La, La…” by Massiel and 1969 with “Vivo Cantando” by Salomé.


The chance to reach the Top10 is 46%, as in the history Spain reached the Top10 for 28 times, out of 61 participations. Even if the Big 5 countries did not shape up that well in former years, Spain could at least make the 10th place for three times since 2004: Ramón with “Para Llenarme De Ti” in 2004, Pastora Soler with “Quédate Conmigo” in 2012 and Ruth Lorenzo with “Dancing In The Rain” in Copenhagen 2014. There were many great songs with outrageous quality both in songs and singers. But there is also a trend in recent years that the entries from the Big 5 countries place on the bottom of the scoreboard. A lot of people criticize that the Big 5 countries do not make a big effort to send songs of high quality.

In the long history of Spanish entries there are a lot of gems. Most of the songs were sung in Spanish, while English is getting more and more used. But it’s a pity that such a country like Spain, which is often bringing high quality entries into the festival, does not win again. It’s 53 years now, since the last Spanish victory. It would be time for Spain to win the contest again. But other countries like Austria or Portugal could also be taken as a good example that everything is possible nowadays.

Biggest successes

• 2x 1st place
  “La, La, La…” | Massiel (London 1968) 
  “Vivo Cantando” | Salomé (Madrid 1969) 
• 4x 2nd place
  “En Un Mundo Nuevo“ | Karina (Dublin 1971) 
  “Eres Tú” | Mocedades (Luxembourg 1973) 
  “Su Canción” | Betty Missiego (Jerusalem 1979) 
  “Vuelve Conmigo” | Anabel Conde (Dublin 1995) 
• 1x 3rd place
  “Lady, Lady” | Bravo (Luxembourg 1984) 

Video Nostalgia

• “Enseñame A Cantar” | Micky
  Rank 9, London 1977
  
• “La Chica Que Yo Quiero (made In Spain)” | La Década
  Rank 11, Dublin 1988
  
• “Todo Esto Es La Música” | Serafin
  Rank 14, Malmö 1992
  
  

First Rehearsal