Spain goes Full English for Eurovision in first time in its history

Barei has been chosen to represent Spain at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, and will do so singing in English for the first time in Spain’s history.

The Eurovision Song Contest is an odd enough spectacle at the best of times, but chuck in the added oddity of a group of second-rate boybanders rapping in terribly clichéd and broken English and it becomes – for native English speakers at least – an even more perplexing, some might say endearing, occasion…

That many of the less prominent nations choose to sing in English is not all that surprising, really. But the larger countries – Spain, France, Italy, Germany – usually stick to their own language (although Germany’s last win in 2010, Satellite, was an English-language affair).

This year, however, Spain is going full English in a bid to halt its dire recent history. The traditional selection show, which aired on Monday February 1, saw female vocalist Barei get the nod for her performance of ‘Say Yay!’ – a bouncy number sung entirely in English.

Indeed, of the six songs shortlisted for the show, three were initially presented to Spanish broadcaster RTVE as largely English-language songs. However, TV producers informed the artists that they had to include at least a smattering of Spanish phrases in parts of their song.

Barei’s winning number was originally recorded in the studio with Spanish backing vocals, but the live performance that aired and won on Monday was sung entirely in English.

Spain’s last and only victory in the Eurovision song contest came way back in 1969, while 15 of the last 16 winning entries have been English-language songs. Evidently, the Spanish public and its record industry feel that the time to change and embrace the inevitable is now.

Whether Spain’s song will actually win this year, however, is debatable. While upbeat and reassuringly kitsch, ‘Say Yay!’ doesn’t appear to have the catchy hook required to get Europe’s Eurovision lovers’ heads-a-bopping and fingers-a-voting. Winning Eurovision is something of a political minefield, too, and although Spain has very few antagonists in Europe, it lacks the kind of cosy relations with its neighbours that many of the recent winners have enjoyed.