The 1991 Spanish Eurovision representative, Sergio Dalma, will be gracing the Operación Triunfo 2017 Academy tonight.

About Sergio Dalma

Sergio Dalma, one of Spain’s most sought after male singers, has been invited to perform at tonight’s Operación Triunfo gala.

He represented Spain at the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest, achieving an honorable 4th place in the Grand Final in Rome with his evergreen entry Bailar pegados.

His career has gone places since his Eurovision days; the Catalan born singer has published numerous albums whilst his fame has crossed frontiers and continents.

Sergio will be treating everyone with his latest single Este amor no se toca, during tonight’s OT 17 show.

Operación Triunfo will air tonight on TVE 1 and TVE International at 22:35 CET. The galas are aired live on TVE every Monday from Barcelona.

Sergio Dalma thus joins Soraya Arnelas (Spain 2009), Pastora Soler (Spain 2012) Rosa Lopez (Spain 2002), Barei (Spain 2016), Nina (Spain 1988), Manel Navarro (Spain 2017), Beth (Spain 2003) and Ruth Lorenzo (Spain 2014), all former Spanish Eurovision hopefuls who have graced the OT 2017 Academy and shows.

OT 2017 to determine 2018 Eurovision representative

The show has slowly but swiftly gained back much fame and name in Spain and has set the social media platforms on fire. Circa 2 million viewers tuned in to see last Monday’s show.

One of the 16 participants will be awarded the golden ticket to fly to Lisbon in order to defend the Spanish colours at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. More details on the selection process will be released in due course.

Operación Triunfo and Eurovision

Operación 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 Operación Triunfo went on to represent years after their participation: Soraya Arnelas (2009) and Edurne (2015).

Spain in Eurovision

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