Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 1969

Before Eurovision

Artist internal selection

Televisión Española (TVE) internally selected Salomé as its representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 1969. Her appointment was made public on 17 December 1968. Julio Iglesias and Marisol had also been under consideration.

Song national selection

TVE organised a national selection to choose the song Salomé would sing at Eurovision. The deadline for submitting songs was 30 January 1969. Of the 210 songs received, the broadcaster selected ten for the televised phase which was staged at the in Palma de Mallorca. The competition consisted of two semi-finals on 20 and 21 February and a final on 22 February, hosted by Marisa Medina and Joaquín Prat, and aired on TVE 1. The ten candidate songs were performed twice, once by another performer and once by Salomé.

Competing entries

Semi-finals

In addition to the song selection, a vote was held to award the "other" singers: the gold medal went to Adriángela with 31 votes, the silver to Ivana with 15 votes, and the bronze to Ana Kiro and Gloria, who tied on five votes.

Final

The final was held on 22 February 1969. In addition to the competing songs, the show featured a star guest performance by Manolo Escobar. The votes of the fourteen juries located at twelve Radio Nacional de España stations throughout Spain and at both TVE studios in Madrid and Barcelona made "Vivo cantando", composed by María José de Ceratto, with lyrics by Aniano Alcalde, the winning song.

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 1969 was hosted by TVE on 29 March 1969 at the Teatro Real in Madrid. Salomé performed "Vivo cantando" third in the running order, following and preceding . She was accompanied by Los Valldemossa –brothers Rafael, Tomeu, and Bernat Estaràs– as backing singers. Augusto Algueró –the event's musical director– conducted the event's orchestra performance of the Spanish entry. The song received 18 votes, tying for first place with , the , and the . All four countries were declared joint winners. This was the first time that there was a tie in the Eurovision Song Contest and the first time that a country, Spain, won two years in a row.

The contest was broadcast on TVE 1, TVE 2, and TVE Canarias, with commentary by José Luis Uribarri. It was also aired on Radio Nacional, , Radio Popular, and on select Cadena SER radio stations. Before the event, TVE aired a talk show hosted by Jesús Álvarez introducing the Spanish jury from Prado del Rey, which continued after the contest commenting on the results.

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:

• Álvaro de Laiglesia – writer, humorist, and director of La Codorniz (chairperson)
• Paquita Crespo – student
• Pilar Suárez – student
• Román Alcalá – student
• José Luis García Montero – student
• Andrés Sobrevalls Piró – agricultural worker
• José Ramón Barrera Hevia – metalworker
• Luis Sánchez Arguindey – college director
• Carmen Debén – journalist
• Manuel Gil – actor

References

References

1. (18 December 1968). "Salomé, a Eurovisión". [[Pueblo (newspaper).
2. Álvarez, Jesús. (1 February 1969). "Rueda de prensa sobre el Eurofestival 69". [[Pueblo (newspaper).
3. (20 February 1969). "Canción Española para el Eurofestival". [[Pueblo (newspaper).
4. (21 February 1969). "Las cinco primeras canciones del Festival de Palma de Mallorca son muy flojas". [[Pueblo (newspaper).
5. (22 February 1969). "Salomé, ayer, algo apagada". [[Pueblo (newspaper).
6. (22 February 1969). "Vea hoy en TVE". {{ill.
7. (23 February 1969). "'Vivo cantando', canción española para el próximo Festival de Eurovisión". [[Diario de Burgos]].
8. (24 February 1969). ""Vivo cantando" será arreglada". [[Pueblo (newspaper).
9. (March 4, 2020). "Madrid 1969".
10. (29 March 1969). "Programas para hoy". {{ill.
11. (30 March 1969). "Programa para hoy". {{ill.
12. (28 March 2018). "Todos los comentaristas de la historia de España en Eurovisión (y una única mujer en solitario)". [[Los 40]].
13. (29 March 1969). "Radiodifusion". [[Diario de Barcelona]].
14. (29 March 1969). "Radio y Televisión". {{ill.
15. (29 March 1969). "Programas de Televisión y Radio". {{ill.
16. (29 March 1969). "Jurado Español". [[Pueblo (newspaper).
17. "Results of the Final of Madrid 1969". Eurovision Song Contest.