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Contests 2018 If it’s Monday, it must be the Spanish national final

If it’s Monday, it must be the Spanish national final

Spanish finalists

When it comes to picking winning Eurovision songs, what better time to do it than very late on a Monday night at the end of January.

Tonight TVE transmits “Gala Eurovisión”, a special live edition of marathon talent show Operación Triunfo 2017 .

In all, nine songs have made the final cut. Some performed solo by the finalists, some as duets. One with all five pitching in. Scroll down now for a bit of sound and vision.

The whole thing kicks off at 22:35 CET on TVE 1, it ends at some point on Tuesday. Here’s a link to watch online.

How will they decide the winner?

There’s none of that professional jury nonsense in Spain this year. Even though a panel of ‘experts’ get to talk about what they just heard, the only way they get to influence things is by picking up their mobiles.

After a first round of voting, the three entries with the most votes from the public – via telephone, SMS and the official Operación Triunfo 2017 app – advance to a second round of voting.

What else is going on tonight?

As if the show doesn’t already sound a tad on the lengthy side, padding comes courtesy of Luísa Sobral who will perform “Cupido”, Conchita Wurst reprising “Rise like a Phoenix“, and  J Balvin ith an intriguing medley of “Machika” and “Mi Gente“. If that’s not enough, we’ll welcome back the eliminated contestants of Operación Triunfo 2017 to perform a medley of the Eurovision winning songs for SpainLa, la, la” and “Vivo cantando“.

Where can I hear them?

TVE has released all nine songs in studio version and made them available through Spotify

The nine songs, along with their composers, are:

  • Amaia: Al cantar “While singing” – (Rozalen)
  • Alfred: Que nos sigan las luces “May the lights follow us” – (Nil Moliner)
  • Aitana: Arde “It Burns” – (Alba Reig)
  • Miriam: Lejos de tu piel “Far from your skin” – (Steve Robson/Diego Cantero)
  • Ana Guerra: El remedio “The Remedy”  (Nabalez)
  • Agnoney and Miriam: Magia “Magic” – (Funambulista y David Otero)
  • Aitana and Ana Guerra: Chico malo “Bad boy” – (Morgan & Simms)
  • Amaia and Alfred: Tu canción “Your Song” – (Raul Gomez)
  • All 5 Finalists: Camina “Walk” – (OT 2017 participants/Manu Guix)