Spain was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "Que me quiten lo bailao", written by Rafael Artesero, and performed by Lucía Pérez. The Spanish participating broadcaster, (RTVE), organised the national final in order to select its entry for the contest. The national final consisted of two heats, a semi-final and a final and involved 24 competing acts. Three acts ultimately qualified to compete in the televised final where an in-studio jury and a public televote selected "Que me quiten lo bailao" performed by Lucía Pérez 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 22, Spain placed twenty-third out of the 25 participating countries with 50 points.
Background
Prior to the 2011 contest, (TVE) until 2006, and (RTVE) since 2007, had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Spain fifty times since TVE's first entry in . They have won the contest on two occasions: in with the song "La, la, la" performed by Massiel and in with the song "" performed by Salomé, the latter having won in a four-way tie with , the , and the . They have also finished second four times, with "" by Karina in , "" by Mocedades in , "" by Betty Missiego in , and "" by Anabel Conde in . In , RTVE placed fifteenth with the song "Algo pequeñito" performed by Daniel Diges.
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 2011 contest on 1 October 2010. Between 2007 and 2010, RTVE organised a national final to select both the artist and song that would represent Spain. The procedure was continued in order to select their 2011 entry.
Before Eurovision
was the national final organised by RTVE that took place from 28 January 2011 to 18 February 2011 at the TVE studios in Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona), hosted by Anne Igartiburu with Daniel Diges, who represented , acting as the green room host. All shows were broadcast on La 1, TVE Internacional, and online via RTVE's official website rtve.es.
Format consisted of 24 candidates competing over four shows: two heats on 28 January 2011 and 4 February 2011, a semi-final on 11 February 2011 and the final on 18 February 2011. Each heat featured twelve contestants performing cover versions of former Spanish Eurovision songs or winning Eurovision songs of their choice and five qualified for the semi-final. The semi-final featured the ten qualifiers from the heats performing cover versions of former Spanish Eurovision songs or winning Eurovision songs of their choice and three qualified for the final. In the final, each of the remaining three contestants performed three candidate Eurovision songs with the winner being decided upon over two rounds of voting. In the first round, one song per contestant qualified for a second round of voting, during which the winning entry was determined.
The results during all four shows were decided upon through public televoting and an in-studio expert jury. In each heat, the twelve contestants were divided into four groups of three and the jury first eliminated one contestant from each group. The remaining eight contestants then faced a public televote where the top three qualified and the jury selected an additional two contestants to advance to the semi-final. In the semi-final, the ten contestants first faced a public televote where the top two qualified. The jury then selected an additional contestant from the remaining eight acts to advance. In the final, the first round results were decided upon by the jury and the second round results were decided upon through public televoting.
Competing entries Two separate submission periods were opened from 15 November 2010 until 12 December 2010 for artists and songwriters to submit their applications and songs. Artists were also able to apply by attending auditions that were held in Madrid and Barcelona on 25 and 29 November 2010, respectively. At the conclusion of the submission period, 1,142 songs and 627 artist applications were received. Professionals at RTVE selected 24 contestants for the national final from 30 shortlisted following a second audition in Barcelona on 15 December 2010, and nine songs from 20 shortlisted which were then allocated to the three finalists of . The contestants were announced on 11 January 2011, while the allocation of the competing songs were announced on 12 February 2011 and previewed by RTVE on their official website later on 16 February. Among the competing artists was Dani Fernández (member of Auryn) who represented Spain in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2006. + Artists selection – 15 December 2010 Alazán Alba Lucía Auryn Baltanás Da Igual Dani Alemán David Sancho Divas Don Johnsons Esmeralda Grao Fernando H. Gio Guadiana Las Miranda Lorena Rosales Lucía Pérez Lussi Bom María López Melissa Mónica Guech Pau Quero Paula Marengo Roima Durán Sebas Sergi Albert Sometimes Sonia and Selena Sunami Valeria Antonella We + Songs selection Song Songwriter(s) Result "Abrázame" Qualified "C'est la vie! It's Alright!" Qualified "Diamonds" Qualified "El sol brillará" Rafael de Alba Qualified "Eos" Qualified "Eres tan cool" Jesús Cañadilla, Alejandro de Pinedo "Eres todo lo que quiero" "Evangeline" Qualified "Golden Cadillac" "Llueve" Juan Guillénn "Música" Vanessa Serrano "Only Break My Heart?" Rafael Artesero "Peligroso" "Que me quiten lo bailao" Rafael Artesero Qualified "Sospechas" Gustavo Castañeda "Sueño y sueñas" "Sueños rotos" Qualified "Teasing You" Rafael Artesero "Tic, Tac" Rocío Romero Grau "Volver" Qualified
Shows
Heats The two heats took place on 28 January and 4 February 2011. The five members of the in-studio jury that evaluated the contestants during the shows were Albert Hammond (singer-songwriter, music producer), Merche (singer-songwriter), Reyes del Amor (expert specializing in the Eurovision Song Contest), David Ascanio (singer-songwriter) and Boris Izaguirre (television presenter, screenwriter, journalist).
In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers in the first semi-final included Soraya Arnelas, and jury member Albert Hammond, while guest performers in the second semi-final included David Civera, Malú and jury member Merche.
+ Heat 1 (First Round)28 January 2011 Group Artist Song (Original artists) Result I 1 David Sancho "Estando contigo" (Conchita Bautista) Advanced 2 Roima Durán "Wild Dances" (Ruslana) 3 Da Igual "Bailar pegados" (Sergio Dalma) Advanced II 4 Lucía Pérez "Non ho l'età" (Gigliola Cinquetti) Advanced 5 Auryn "Fly on the Wings of Love" (Olsen Brothers) Advanced 6 Las Miranda "Ding-a-dong" (Teach-In) III 7 Sunami "Gwendolyne" (Julio Iglesias) 8 Gio "Satellite" (Lena Meyer-Landrut) Advanced 9 Guadiana "Ne partez pas sans moi" (Céline Dion) Advanced IV 10 María López "Vuelve conmigo" (Anabel Conde) Advanced 11 Baltanás "Fairytale" (Alexander Rybak) Advanced 12 Paula Marengo "Tu te reconnaîtras" (Anne-Marie David) + Heat 1 (Second Round)28 January 2011 Artist Song (Original artists) Result Auryn "Fly on the Wings of Love" (Olsen Brothers) Qualified Baltanás "Fairytale" (Alexander Rybak) Da Igual "Bailar pegados" (Sergio Dalma) Qualified David Sancho "Estando contigo" (Conchita Bautista) Qualified Gio "Satellite" (Lena Meyer-Landrut) Qualified Guadiana "Ne partez pas sans moi" (Céline Dion) Lucía Pérez "Non ho l'età" (Gigliola Cinquetti) Qualified María López "Vuelve conmigo" (Anabel Conde) + Heat 2 (First Round)4 February 2011 Group Artist Song (Original artists) Result I 1 Pau Quero "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" (Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta) 2 Lorena Rosales "My Number One" (Helena Paparizou) Advanced 3 Don Johnson's "Yo soy aquél" (Raphael) Advanced II 4 Sergi Albert "Hold Me Now" (Johnny Logan) Advanced 5 Mónica Guech "Believe" (Dima Bilan) Advanced 6 Alazán "Bandido" (Azúcar Moreno) III 7 Sebas "Molitva" (Marija Šerifović) Advanced 8 Melissa "Après toi" (Vicky Leandros) Advanced 9 Sometimes "Waterloo" (ABBA) IV 10 Valeria Antonella "Save Your Kisses for Me" (Brotherhood of Man) 11 We "Enséñame a cantar" (Micky) Advanced 12 Esmeralda Grao "Nacida para amar" (Nina) Advanced + Heat 2 (Second Round)4 February 2011 Artist Song (Original artists) Result Don Johnson's "Yo soy aquél" (Raphael) Qualified Esmeralda Grao "Nacida para amar" (Nina) Qualified Lorena Rosales "My Number One" (Helena Paparizou) Melissa "Après toi" (Vicky Leandros) Qualified Mónica Guech "Believe" (Dima Bilan) Qualified Sebas "Molitva" (Marija Šerifović) Qualified Sergi Albert "Hold Me Now" (Johnny Logan) We "Enséñame a cantar" (Micky)
Semi-final The semi-final took place on 11 February 2011. The five members of the in-studio jury that evaluated the contestants during the show were Albert Hammond (singer-songwriter, music producer), Merche (singer-songwriter), Reyes del Amor (expert specializing in the Eurovision Song Contest), David Ascanio (singer-songwriter) and Boris Izaguirre (television presenter, screenwriter, journalist). In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers included Sergio Dalma, Pastora Soler and jury member David Ascanio.
+ Semi-final11 February 2011 Artist Song (Original artists) Result 1 Da Igual "Puppet on a String" (Sandie Shaw) 2 Esmeralda Grao "La fiesta terminó" (Paloma San Basilio) 3 Sebas "What's Another Year" (Johnny Logan) 4 Lucía Pérez "Boom Bang-a-Bang" (Lulu) Qualified 5 Auryn "Eres tú" (Mocedades) Qualified 6 Melissa "Diva" (Dana International) Qualified 7 Gio "Dime" (Beth) 8 Mónica Guech "Love Shine a Light" (Katrina and the Waves) 9 Don Johnson's "Hard Rock Hallelujah" (Lordi) 10 David Sancho "Volare" (Domenico Modugno)
Final The final took place on 18 February 2011. The winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, each finalist performed their three candidate Eurovision songs and the in-studio jury selected one to advance to the second round. In the vote to select Lucía Pérez's song, "Que me quiten lo bailao" and "Abrázame" were tied at 12 points each but since "Que me quiten lo bailao" received the most top marks from the jury the song advanced to the second round. The five members of the in-studio jury that evaluated the entries during the show were Albert Hammond (singer-songwriter, music producer), Sole Giménez (singer), Reyes del Amor (expert specializing in the Eurovision Song Contest), David Ascanio (singer-songwriter) and Boris Izaguirre (television presenter, screenwriter, journalist). In the second round, the winner, "Que me quiten lo bailao" performed by Lucía Pérez, was selected exclusively through a public televote.
In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers included Blue, which would represent the , co-host Daniel Diges, and jury members Sole Giménez and Albert Hammond. + Final – 18 February 2011 Artist Song Points Place Result 1 Melissa "Eos" 14 2 Advanced 2 Auryn "Evangeline" 9 6 3 Lucía Pérez "Que me quiten lo bailao" 12 3 Advanced 4 Melissa "Sueños rotos" 11 5 5 Auryn "El sol brillará" 6 7 6 Lucía Pérez "Abrázame" 12 4 7 Melissa "Diamonds" 5 9 8 Auryn "Volver" 15 1 Advanced 9 Lucía Pérez "C'est la vie! It's Alright!" 6 7 + Song Total 1 "Eos" 3 2 3 3 3 14 2 "Evangeline" 2 2 2 2 1 9 3 "Que me quiten lo bailao" 2 3 1 3 3 12 4 "Sueños rotos" 2 3 2 2 2 11 5 "El sol brillará" 1 1 1 1 2 6 6 "Abrázame" 3 2 3 2 2 12 7 "Diamonds" 1 1 1 1 1 5 8 "Volver" 3 3 3 3 3 15 9 "C'est la vie! It's Alright!" 1 1 2 1 1 6 + Second Round – 18 February 2011 Artist Song Televote Place 1 Melissa "Eos" 12% 3 2 Auryn "Volver" 20% 2 3 Lucía Pérez "Que me quiten lo bailao" 68% 1
At Eurovision