SPAIN 2025

The Spanish Final song and act was selected on February 1st through "Benidorm Fest 2025". The week before the final there were 2 semi finals. The winner was chosen by an equal mix of app voting & televoting and jury score. Going to Basel is Melody with the song "Esa Diva" (That Diva) 

Melodía Ruiz Gutiérrez is from a musical Andalusian family, her father being a member of Los Quillos, Aged 10 she was discovered by producer El Fary and released her debut album which received a Latin Grammy nomination. The big song from this collaboration was "El baile del gorila" (The Gorilla Dance) reaching number 1 on the Spanish chart. She has been in the music industry ever since racking up Billboard Latin Music nominations, numerous movie soundtracks and collaborations. She attempted Eurovision glory in 2009, however in the final she was in a tie for first place and as Soraya had the higher televote she went through to represent Spain. Her sound has flamenco and Latino pop undertones but also has released reggaetón and hip hop inspired songs. 

Melody begins high above the stage on a swing, dressed in black, with a very long train and topped off with a wide brimmed black hat. Once lowered the hat is removed, the train is detached and the dress is whipped off revealing a skin-tone cat suit embellished with rhinestones. She is joined by 5 male dancers during the very heavily choreographed performance. At the back of the stage there is Gothic inspired centrepiece which Melody performs from at times while the floor is covered in smoke and the colour palette is pinks and purples. The song has a verse-pre chorus- chorus structure which repeats through twice. There is then a bridge and dance break instrumental before a final blast of the chorus to the big finish.  The song is a bit of a roller coaster and there are plenty of tempo and musical changes to keep the viewer guessing what will happen next.

I barely watched any of the festival as none of the songs outwardly impressed me before the show. The winning song obviously sounds Spanish with its flamenco touches but at its backbone this is effectively a pop-schlager song and, having seen the songwriters, this should be no surprise. The song has a positive female message but unfortunately this doesn't really show in the presentation. The many tricks, stunts and staging ideas makes this come across a little bit desperate. Melody is a passionate performer and handles this 3 minute rollercoaster with aplomb but this recipe has too many ingredients. This is the kind of bombastic performance that creates energy in the hall but down the camera feels messy. The crouching looks ungainly and the helicopter hair got a cheer but I don't know why. I feel like the narrative of the song needs to be made clearer throughout for the international audience. This very much feels like a local song for local people. This entry seemed to satisfy and enthral the target demographic in the crowd but that cohort makes up a small percentage of the voting public - and jury make up - who I feel may not be quite so impressed as the Spanish public were.

ARTIST - Melody

SONG - Esa Diva

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS -  Peter Boström, Joy Deb, Thomas G:son, Alberto Lorite, Melodía Ruíz, Juan Sueiro