It has been announced that TVE will host a national final to decide the Spanish Eurovision entry for Blas Cantó to take to the 2021 contest.
In a tweet from Eurovision-Spain we have learnt that Spain will be using a national final, rather than an internal selection, to decide upon their entry for Rotterdam.
[EXCLUSIVA] 🔴 TVE (@eurovision_tve) hará una preselección para elegir la canción de @BlasCanto para Róterdam 2021
✔️Varias canciones.
✔️Papel fundamental de la audiencia.
✔️Artistas invitados.
✔️Fecha aún por determinar. Entre enero y febrero.https://t.co/3XHvg57MbM pic.twitter.com/pOhjz7xqK7— Eurovision-Spain.com | PrePartyES (@eurospaincom) December 29, 2020
While not much information about the selection has been revealed, we do understand that it will be a gala event. There will be various songs presented by Blas Cantó and the audience will play a ‘crucial role’ in the decision of Spain’s 2021 Eurovision entry. It has previously been speculated that there will be 4 songs performed, including one written with the 2019 winner Duncan Laurence, but this is yet to be confirmed.
It will not only be Blas performing on the night, but several other artists have been invited to perform on the show. Amongst them are Spain’s 2012 representitive Pastora Soler and the celebrated Spanish artist Vanesa Martín, who has written songs for and collaborated with Pastora Soler and many others in the past.
The show will take place in January or February, with TVE expected to give more information in the coming days. Blas Cantó himself has posted a message via Telegram expressing his excitement and saying that “Nothing is as you imagine it.”
Spain has used a variety of methods in recent years to select their Eurovision entries. In 2017/18 they used a Gala format from the popular show Operación Triunfo to select their contestant and song. In 2019 TVE elected to choose both their artist and song internally with Blas Cantó and Universo being selected for the cancelled competition.
Image Source: elecodevaldepenas / Source: Eurovision Spain
Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest
Spain debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961 and has competed annually since. Spain has won the contest on two occasions the first being in 1968 and the second time in 1969. 1969 is the only year where more than one song has won the contest. The 1969 contest saw a four-way tie between Spain, France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Since 2000 Spain has only managed to finish in the top 10 on five occasions, the last time being in 2014 with Ruth Lorenzo. However, the country has finished 20th or below on ten occasions, the worst placement being 26th in 2017.
