Spain was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1961 with the song "", composed by Augusto Algueró, with lyrics by , and performed by Conchita Bautista. The Spanish participating broadcaster, (TVE), selected its entry through a national final. The song, performed in position 1, placed ninth out of sixteen competing entries with 8 votes. This was the first-ever entry from Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest, and the first-ever entry performed fully in Spanish in the contest.
Before Eurovision National selection The national selection took place at the studios of (RNE) in Barcelona on 13–14 February 1961, hosted by , , and María del Carmen García Lecha, and was aired through . Ten songs competed over two shows, with the winning song being decided upon through jury voting.
Competing entries ArtistSongSongwriter(s) Angelita Baidez "Tempranito" Conchita Bautista "Estando contigo" Coralito de Jaén "Con los ojos, no" Máximo Baratas Jorge Miranda "Betsabé" José Cercós "Serenata" Mario Sellés "Carita morena" Jorge Domingo "Eva María" Rafael RamírezSanty "La tormenta" "Sigo caminando" Víctor Balaguer "Ba be bi bu bá" José Pal Latorre
Semi-final The semi-final took place on 13 February 1961. The ten competing songs were presented, and six of these songs went forward to the national final. The jury consisted of ten members, five music experts and five ordinary citizens. The music experts were:
– Journalist at RNE, writer, art critic – Journalist, president of the Barcelona Press Association – Producer at TVE Alfonso Banda Moras – Director of current affairs at RNE for Barcelona Carlos Moltó Arniches – Delegate of the Sociedad General de Autores de España in Barcelona
The plain citizens were Alberto Rovira, María Amparo Gascón, Carmen Navarro, Joaquina Navarro, and Pilar Agudo Villegas.
+ Semi-final – 13 February 1961ArtistSongResult 1Coralito de Jaén"Con los ojos, no" 2José Cercós"Serenata" 3Víctor Balaguer"Ba be bi bu bá" Qualified 4Santy"La tormenta" 5Santy"Sigo caminando" 6Jorge Miranda"Betsabé" Qualified 7Conchita Bautista"Estando contigo" Qualified 8Angelita Baidez"Tempranito" Qualified 9"Carita morena" Qualified 10"Eva María" Qualified
Final The final took place on 14 February 1961, with the same hosts and jury members. The winner was "", composed by Augusto Algueró, with lyrics by , and performed by Conchita Bautista.
+ Final – 14 February 1961 Artist Song Points Result 1"Eva María"324 2Angelita Baidez"Tempranito" 136 3Conchita Bautista"Estando contigo"491 4Jorge Miranda"Betsabé"255 5Víctor Balaguer"Ba be bi bu bá"482 6"Carita morena"433
At Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 was held on 18 March 1961 at the in Cannes, France. Conchita Bautista performed "" first in the running order, preceding . Rafael Ferrer conducted the event's orchestra performance of the Spanish entry. At the close of voting the song had received eight votes, placing ninth of the sixteen entries.
TVE broadcast the contest in Spain on its television service with commentary by Federico Gallo. RNE also aired the contest on .
Voting TVE assembled a jury panel with ten members, with each member giving one vote to their favourite song. The following members comprised the Spanish jury: Diego Ramírez Pastor – journalist (chairperson) Ms. Velayos Ms. Agramunt Ms. Castell Mr. Mendoza Gil Mr. Montó Mr. Gasa Mr. Banda Mr. Cuñat Artur Kaps – Producer at TVE
The jury awarded its highest mark (3) to the .
+ Votes awarded to Spain Score Country 2 votes 1 vote
+ Votes awarded by Spain Score Country 3 votes 2 votes 1 vote
References