As far as I know Spain now selects artist from one of TV talent shows like Idol or The Voice. They used to let people vote but this happened: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfeCIvOxXBo After that the artist is selected by some jury. Established artists like Rosalen don’t go to Eurovision since many years.
Baila el Chiki Chiki got 16th out of 25, which isn’t terrible. It’s a joke song, and there’s a long history of them at Eurovision. They occasionally do well, though not usually.
Did last year’s swedish song count as a joke song? It’s not very serious but it came in 4th. Third was very much a joke song, by an apparently well known Estonian artist Tommy Cash.
I dunno if we can make too many definitive statements. There are some biggish artists, some new ones without a single released song. Some dumb songs do well, some great songs do poorly.
Oh, I just remembered two of my favorite Spanish music videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n76yRU9y32I&list=RDn76yRU9y32I&start_radio=1 - this is from a TV show where they travel around Spain, visit different cities and record songs with local artists. Everything about it great, the artists, the places, the versions of the songs…
As far as I know Spain now selects artist from one of TV talent shows like Idol or The Voice. They used to let people vote but this happened: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfeCIvOxXBo After that the artist is selected by some jury. Established artists like Rosalen don’t go to Eurovision since many years.
Their history with selection processes is fun reading for an ESC head.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain_in_the_Eurovision_Song_Contest#Selection_process
Baila el Chiki Chiki got 16th out of 25, which isn’t terrible. It’s a joke song, and there’s a long history of them at Eurovision. They occasionally do well, though not usually.
2022 - Norway - Subwolfer - Give that Wolf a Banana https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_AvUlCQ_Cc comes to mind.
Did last year’s swedish song count as a joke song? It’s not very serious but it came in 4th. Third was very much a joke song, by an apparently well known Estonian artist Tommy Cash.
2025 - Sweden - KAJ - Bada Bada Bastu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK3HOMhAeQY
2025 - Estonia - Tommy Cash - Espresso Macchiato https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MS_Fczs_98
I dunno if we can make too many definitive statements. There are some biggish artists, some new ones without a single released song. Some dumb songs do well, some great songs do poorly.
I watched the entire final once and most of it was very forgettable. I like Iceland’s entry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSMhu-PrLME but I don’t remember anything else.
Oh, I just remembered two of my favorite Spanish music videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n76yRU9y32I&list=RDn76yRU9y32I&start_radio=1 - this is from a TV show where they travel around Spain, visit different cities and record songs with local artists. Everything about it great, the artists, the places, the versions of the songs…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW6L_lTrIFg&list=RDSW6L_lTrIFg&start_radio=1 - one of the best NPR tiny desk concerts ever
If you liked Rosalen you should like those.
I’ll check these out, thanks for the recommendations!