The 2017 Spanish Eurovision hopeful Manel Navarro visited the Operacion Triunfo 2017 academy and got a chance to speak to this year’s participants.

Manel Navarro got the chance to visit the OT 2017 Academy, where her shared anecdotes about his Eurovision experience and spoke about his musical career with the young and talented OT 2017 hopefuls.

The Spanish artist gave the OT 2017 participants advice on singing, performing and tackling criticism.

Advice on representing Spain in Eurovision

Manel told the OT participants that his Eurovision experience was wonderful and that he has great memories. He added that he had nothing negative to say about it: representing Spain at Eurovision entailed a lot of  had to work and rehearsals, he was 9 days in Kyiv during the contest where it was very cold!

The Spanish 2017 Eurovision representative told the young hopefuls that Eurovision is a great experience and if they end up going to the contest they should live the experience to the maximum, as it is something unique.

He advised the participants that if they go to Eurovision they should brush up their English as all the interviews at Eurovision are in English!

Operacion Triunfo and Eurovision

Operacion Triunfo kicked off in Spain in 2001 and TVE used it as the mechanism to select the 2002 Spanish Eurovision entry and act.

The first edition of the talent show was a massive hit in Spain, thus getting much exposure and mediatic coverage. Rosa Lopez was crowned the winner of  OT 2001 and won the golden ticket to Tallinn with her song Europe’s living a celebration.

TVE used the same format for the following 2 years in order to select the Spanish Eurovision entry and act: Beth (2003) and Ramon (2004).

TVE axed the show after its third edition. In 2005 Spanish private television channel Tele Cinco revived the talent show and aired a total of 5 seasons and had no link to Eurovision.

We must not forget that 2 of the participants of the 4th edition of Operacion Triunfo went on to represent years after their participation: Soraya Arnelas (2009) and Edurne (2015).

Will Spain select their Eurovision 2018 act via OT 2017?

Operacion Triunfo has returned to TVE after 13 years. The Spanish national broadcaster kicked off the new edition of the show 2 weeks ago.

It is yet unclear if Spain will opt for OT 2017 in order to select its hopeful for Lisbon. TVE is tight lipped regarding its plans for Eurovision 2018, but has not ruled out this option.

We believe that  if this edition of OT is a hit and attracts many viewers the Spanish broadcaster will select its Eurovision entry and act via Operacion Triunfo.

Spain in Eurovision

Spain debuted in Eurovision in 1961 and has won the competition twice (1968, 1969). The country enjoyed much success in its early days, but now seems to have had a reverse in fortunes. We must not forget the country has not made it to the Top 5 since 1995.

The Iberian country has only made it twice to the Top 10 in the last decade, namely in 2012 and 2014 with Pastora Soler and Ruth Lorenzo respectively.

In 2017, Spain selected its Eurovision entry via a national final leading to Manel Navarro‘s victory and winning the golden ticket to Kyiv with Do it for your lover. Unfortunately Spain came last in the Grand Final continuing the bad spell of poor results in the competition. We must not forget the country has not made it to the Top 5 since 1995.