03/03/12 SPAIN

The Spanish Final was held on March 3rd at Prado del Rey Studios in Madrid, hosted by Anne Irgatiburu. Pastora Soler sang 3 songs and the winner was chosen by a 50-50 mix of televoting and "expert" jury. Pastora chose 2 songs herself whilst the other 2 songs were voted for on the internet to be here third choice for the final. Unusually the teletoving started way before the televised final - on February 22nd - and finished during the show.

The winning song with both jury and televote was “Quédate conmigo” meaning Stay with me. Quédate conmigo is a very atmospheric and emotional ballad is Spanish, co written by one of the most prolific Eurovision writers of late, Thomas G:son. Because of its international writing team, I would not say it is typically Spanish and could probably work in any language, although this is very unlikely to change for Baku. The song is not exactly singable but the repetition of the same words and same melody in the chorus makes it really stick in your mind.

Pastora is a fantastic singer and performer. She looks really into the song and had a very good emotional performance. Although she was alone on stage (backing singers will be need to be added though) she really did own the stage and looked very professional. The song really showed off her vocal range and strength especially during the high and long notes in the chorus.

Obviously being part of the Big 5 means that the song automatically qualifies for the final. This song will do really well, especially with the juries, as well as those countries who appreciate the more dramatic ballads. I have no worries about Pastor being able to pull this off in Back. Another possible contender…

SONG – Quédate conmigo (Stay with me)

ARTIST – Pastora Soler

COMPOSERS – Thomas G:son, Tony Sánchez-Ohlsson, Erik Bernholm

LANGUAGE – Spanish