Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017

Eurovision Song Contest 2017
Participating broadcaster	Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE)
Country	Spain
National selection
Selection process	Objetivo Eurovisión 2017
Selection date(s)	11 February 2017
Selected artist(s)	Manel Navarro
Selected song	"Do It for Your Lover"
Selected songwriter(s)	Manel Navarro Antonio Rayo "Rayito"
Finals performance
Final result	26th, 5 points
Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2016 • 2017 • 2018►

Spain was represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Do It for Your Lover" written by Manel Navarro and Antonio Rayo "Rayito", and performed by Manel Navarro himself. The Spanish participating broadcaster, Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE), organised the national final Objetivo Eurovisión 2017 in order to select its entry for the contest. Six artists and songs, one of which was selected through the wildcard round Eurocasting, competed in the televised show where an in-studio jury and a public vote selected "Do It for Your Lover" performed by Manel Navarro as the winner.

As a member of the "Big Five", Spain automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 16, Spain placed twenty-sixth (last) out of the 26 participating countries with 5 points.

Prior to the 2017 contest, Televisión Española (TVE) until 2006, and Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) since 2007, had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Spain fifty-six times since TVE's first entry in 1961.^[1] They have won the contest on two occasions: in 1968 with the song "La, la, la" performed by Massiel and in 1969 with the song "Vivo cantando" performed by Salomé, the latter having won in a four-way tie with France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. They have also finished second four times, with "En un mundo nuevo" by Karina in 1971, "Eres tú" by Mocedades in 1973, "Su canción" by Betty Missiego in 1979, and "Vuelve conmigo" by Anabel Conde in 1995. In 2016, RTVE placed twenty-second with the song "Say Yay!" performed by Barei.

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, RTVE organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. RTVE confirmed its intentions to participate at the 2017 contest on 14 September 2016.^[2] In 2016, RTVE organised the national final Objetivo Eurovisión featuring a competition among several artists and songs to select both the artist and song that would represent Spain, a procedure which was continued for its 2017 entry.^[3]

Eurocasting was the wildcard round of the national final organised by RTVE that selected its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. A submission period was open from 27 October 2016 until 27 November 2016, and 392 entries were received at the conclusion of the submission period.^[4] Professionals at RTVE Digital, the digital branch of the broadcaster, evaluated the entries received and selected thirty entries.^[5] The selected entries were revealed via RTVE's official website on 1 December 2016 and among the competing artists was Javi Soleil who represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 as part of D'Nash.^[6]

In the first stage, Internet users had between 2 and 12 December 2016 to vote for their favourite song on RTVE's official website. Votes from 55,264 users were received at the conclusion of the voting, and the top ten entries that qualified for the next stage were announced on 15 December 2016 on the special webcast show Spain Calling, presented by Irene Mahía and Paloma G. Quirós and broadcast on RTVE's official website.^[7][8] In the second stage, a seven-member jury evaluated the ten entries and selected three entries for the final stage which were announced on 20 December 2016 on Spain Calling.^[9][10] The members of the jury were Juan Magán (jury chairperson, singer-songwriter and music producer), Sheila Blanco [es] (singer-songwriter and vocal coach), Sebas E. Alonso (journalist and co-director of Jenesaispop), David Feito (singer-songwriter and musician, represented Spain in the 2013 contest as part of El Sueño de Morfeo), Pepe Herrero (composer and conductor), Guille Milkyway [es] (singer-songwriter and producer, creator and frontman of La Casa Azul) and Pascual Osa [es] (composer and conductor).^[11]

The final stage took place in the form of a webcast concert show on 12 January 2017 at the Ciudad de la Imagen in Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid), hosted by Irene Mahía and Paloma G. Quirós and broadcast on RTVE's official website.^[9] The three entries that qualified from the second stage competed and "Ouch!!" performed by LeKlein qualified for the national final exclusively through a public vote via RTVE's official website and Eurovision app. More than 7,000 votes were received, with a majority coming from the app.^[12][13][14] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers included David Rees and former Eurovision contestant Azúcar Moreno which represented Spain in 1990.^[15] The concert show was watched by more than 20,000 unique users, with the hashtag #Eurocastingfinal becoming the #1 worldwide trending topic on social media.^[14]

Objetivo Eurovisión 2017 was the national final organised by RTVE that took place on 11 February 2017 at the VAV studios in Leganés (Madrid), hosted by Jaime Cantizano.^[16][17] The show was broadcast on La 1 as well as online via RTVE's official website rtve.es.^[18] Six artists and songs competed with the winner being decided upon through a combination of public televoting and an in-studio expert jury.^[3] The national final was watched by 1.449 million viewers in Spain with a market share of 8.9%.^[19]

The three members of the in-studio jury that evaluated the entries during the final were:^[20]

• Xavi Martínez [es] – Radio program director and presenter at Los 40
• Javier Cárdenas – Radio program director and presenter at Europa FM, television program director and host at La 1
• Virginia Díaz [es] – Radio program director and presenter at Radio 3, television program director and presenter at La 2

The six competing acts were announced on 12 January 2017 during the concert show of Eurocasting.^[21] One of the artists, LeKlein, was selected through Eurocasting, while the remaining five artists were professional and established acts invited by RTVE for the national final.^[22][23]

The televised final took place on 11 February 2017. The running order for the six participating entries was announced on 2 February 2017.^[24] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers included Roko, Edu Soto and former Eurovision contestants Karina, David Civera, and Barei which represented Spain in 1971, 2001, and 2016, respectively.^[25] The winner, "Do It for Your Lover" performed by Manel Navarro, was selected through the combination of the votes of an in-studio jury (50%) and a public vote via telephone, SMS and RTVE's official Eurovision app (50%).^[26] Since Manel Navarro and Mirela were tied at 58 points, a jury tie-break was held which declared Navarro as the winner: Xavi Martínez and Virginia Díaz voted for Manel Navarro, while Javier Cárdenas voted for Mirela.^[27][28]

During the tie-break voting round of Objetivo Eurovisión 2017, when the jury selected Manel Navarro over the public vote's favourite Mirela, and before his reprise performance, loud boos and accusations of rigging could be heard, which resulted in uneasy moments: Manel Navarro responded with a bras d'honneur as he was being booed while on stage.^[29] He would apologise for the gesture two days later during a RTVE press conference.^[30] The selection of Xavi Martínez as a jury member, who voted for Navarro during the tie-break voting round, was later challenged over potential conflict of interest since he had promoted Navarro and his song on his radio program on Los 40.^[31] In February 2017, members of the Spanish Parliament José Miguel Camacho and Ricardo Sixto placed motions to request RTVE for clarification on the details of the selection process for Eurovision and on the possibility of nullifying the results of the national final.^[32][33] On 22 February 2017, TVE's Head of Entertainment and organiser of the national final Toñi Prieto was summoned to appear before RTVE's Audit Committee to clarify allegations of mishandling.^[34]

RTVE issued a statement on 26 February 2017, stating that the selection process had been conducted following the regulations set by the European Broadcasting Union and that all candidates had accepted the rules at every stage of the process. The statement also defended the criteria of the jury members, stating that, as music radio hosts from the three main media groups in the country, it is "evident" that they "usually have contact with artists, singers and music producers for professional reasons".^[35]

The official video of the song, directed by Mauri D. Galiano, was filmed in February 2017 on the north coast of Tenerife, Canary Islands.^[36] The video premiered on 9 March 2017, which served as the official preview video for the Spanish entry.^[37]

Manel Navarro made appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Do It for Your Lover" as the Spanish Eurovision entry. On 18 February and 5 March, Manel Navarro performed "Do It for Your Lover" during the third semi-final of the Ukrainian Eurovision national final and the final of the Romanian Eurovision national final, respectively.^[38][39] On 2 April, he performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell.^[40] Between 3 and 6 April, Navarro took part in promotional activities in Tel Aviv, Israel and performed during the Israel Calling event held at the Ha'teatron venue.^[39] On 8 April, he performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Selma Björnsdóttir.^[41] Navarro also took part in promotional activities in Portugal on 26 and 27 April where he appeared during the RTP1 talk show 5 Para A Meia-Noite.^[42][43]

In addition to his international appearances, he performed the song on the talk show ¡Qué tiempo tan feliz! on Telecinco on 25 February.^[44] On 15 April, Navarro performed during the Eurovision Spain Pre-Party, which was held at the Sala La Riviera venue in Madrid.^[45] On 25 April, a farewell party was held for Navarro before he travelled to Kyiv for the contest, which took place at the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, hosted by Ambassador Anatoly Scherba.^[46]

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. As a member of the "Big Five", Spain automatically qualified to compete in the final on 13 May 2017.^[47] In addition to their participation in the final, Spain is also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals. During the semi-final allocation draw on 31 January 2017, Spain was assigned to broadcast and vote in the first semi-final on 9 May 2017.

In Spain, the semi-finals were broadcast on La 2 and the final was broadcast on La 1 with commentary by José María Íñigo and Julia Varela.^[48] RTVE appointed Nieves Álvarez as its spokesperson to announce during the final the top 12-point score awarded by the Spanish jury.^[49]

Manel Navarro took part in technical rehearsals on 5 and 7 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 8, 12 and 13 May. This included the semi-final jury show on 8 May where an extended clip of the Spanish performance was filmed for broadcast during the live show on 9 May and the jury final on 12 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries. After technical rehearsals were held on 7 May, the "Big Five" countries and host country Ukraine held a press conference. As part of this press conference, the artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. Spain was drawn to compete in the second half.^[50] Following the conclusion of the second semi-final, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final. The running order for the semi-finals and final was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Spain was subsequently placed to perform in position 16, following the entry from Greece and before the entry from Norway.^[51]

The Spanish performance featured Manel Navarro on stage wearing a Hawaiian shirt, joined by two backing vocalists, two guitarists and a drummer dressed in surfer outfits. The background LED screens displayed a red and white recreational vehicle, surf boards, palm trees, and yellow and red beach umbrellas.^[52][53] The stage director for the performance was Hans Pannecoucke.^[54] The two backing vocalists that joined Manel Navarro were Álex González and Alejandro de los Santos, while the musicians were Edgar Regincos, Marc Montserrat and Pol Niubó.^[55] Spain placed twenty-sixth (last) in the final, scoring 5 points, 5 points from the televoting and 0 points from the juries.^[56] RTVE indirectly blamed Navarro's voice crack during the performance as the reason for the nation's last place, which was criticized by Spanish media.^[57]

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each participating broadcaster assembles a five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Spain and awarded by Spain in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

In the final, Spain received five points in the televote from Portugal; they received no points from the jury.^[58]

Points awarded by Spain (Semi-final 1)[59] Score Televote Jury 12 points  Portugal  Portugal 10 points  Moldova  Czech Republic 8 points  Belgium  Australia 7 points  Iceland  Moldova 6 points  Sweden  Greece 5 points  Finland  Azerbaijan 4 points  Armenia  Slovenia 3 points  Poland  Sweden 2 points  Latvia  Belgium 1 point  Montenegro  Iceland

Points awarded by Spain (Final)[58] Score Televote Jury 12 points  Portugal  Portugal 10 points  Bulgaria  Italy 8 points  Italy  Australia 7 points  Romania  Moldova 6 points  Moldova  Bulgaria 5 points  Sweden  Sweden 4 points  Belgium  Belgium 3 points  France  Austria 2 points  Netherlands  Greece 1 point  United Kingdom  Netherlands

The following members comprised the Spanish jury:^[60]

• David Civera (jury chairperson) – singer, represented Spain in the 2001 contest
• Paula Fernández Vázquez (Paula Rojo) – singer
• Rubén Villanueva – composer, producer
• Antonio Hueso [es] – radio DJ
• Natalia Rodríguez Gallego (Natalia) – singer

Detailed voting results from Spain (Semi-final 1)^[59]

Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		D. Civera	P. Rojo	R. Villanueva	A. Hueso	Natalia	Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Sweden	13	10	6	4	7	8	3	5	6
02	Georgia	8	8	14	11	13	11		18
03	Australia	6	5	3	3	3	3	8	17
04	Albania	16	16	15	12	15	16		16
05	Belgium	15	13	4	10	10	9	2	3	8
06	Montenegro	18	18	18	17	18	18		10	1
07	Finland	14	17	10	14	14	14		6	5
08	Azerbaijan	7	4	7	7	5	6	5	15
09	Portugal	3	2	1	1	2	1	12	1	12
10	Greece	4	6	12	6	1	5	6	11
11	Poland	11	11	9	13	11	12		8	3
12	Moldova	2	7	5	5	4	4	7	2	10
13	Iceland	10	9	13	9	12	10	1	4	7
14	Czech Republic	1	1	2	2	8	2	10	14
15	Cyprus	12	12	16	15	16	15		12
16	Armenia	9	14	8	16	9	13		7	4
17	Slovenia	5	3	11	8	6	7	4	13
18	Latvia	17	15	17	18	17	17		9	2

Detailed voting results from Spain (Final)^[58]

Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		D. Civera	P. Rojo	R. Villanueva	A. Hueso	Natalia	Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Israel	20	19	23	19	19	22		14
02	Poland	19	21	20	17	21	21		18
03	Belarus	23	17	17	15	22	19		20
04	Austria	8	7	8	7	10	8	3	22
05	Armenia	13	24	19	21	9	17		15
06	Netherlands	10	3	13	13	11	10	1	9	2
07	Moldova	2	12	5	6	6	4	7	5	6
08	Hungary	25	25	24	14	25	24		17
09	Italy	3	1	2	2	1	2	10	3	8
10	Denmark	11	10	14	12	12	12		24
11	Portugal	1	2	1	1	3	1	12	1	12
12	Azerbaijan	12	15	11	11	13	13		25
13	Croatia	9	18	12	23	17	15		11
14	Australia	7	8	4	4	4	3	8	23
15	Greece	5	13	18	10	2	9	2	21
16	Spain
17	Norway	22	22	21	25	24	25		19
18	United Kingdom	14	9	22	18	14	14		10	1
19	Cyprus	17	20	25	16	20	20		16
20	Romania	24	14	9	20	16	16		4	7
21	Germany	18	16	16	22	18	18		12
22	Ukraine	21	23	15	24	23	23		13
23	Belgium	15	5	3	9	8	7	4	7	4
24	Sweden	4	11	7	3	7	6	5	6	5
25	Bulgaria	6	6	6	8	5	5	6	2	10
26	France	16	4	10	5	15	11		8	3

• Official RTVE Eurovision site