Wikipedia

Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968

Spain was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 with the song "La, la, la", written by Manuel de la Calva [es] and Ramón Arcusa [es] of Dúo Dinámico, and performed by Massiel. The Spanish participating broadcaster, Televisión Española (TVE), internally selected its entry for the contest. The song eventually won the competition, becoming the first song from Spain to achieve this.

Spain in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1968
Eurovision Song Contest 1968
Participating broadcasterTelevisión Española (TVE)
Country Spain
Selection processInternal selection
Competing entry
Song"La, la, la"
ArtistMassiel
Songwriters
Placement
Final result1st, 29 points
Participation chronology
◄1967 • 1968 • 1969►

Massiel was not the song's original performer as the initial Spanish representative Joan Manuel Serrat was removed after recording, releasing, and promoting the entry for his demand to sing it in Catalan in the contest.

Before Eurovision

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In late 1967, Televisión Española (TVE) contacted several record labels requesting original songs to participate in the 13th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in London. Zafiro-Novola sent them a tape with three songs: "Nos falta fe" by Juan y Junior, "Tirititero" by Joan Manuel Serrat, and "La, la, la" by Dúo Dinámico. TVE internally selected "La, la, la" but preferred Serrat as performer. In January 1968, Serrat agreed to be their representative singing "La, la, la" written by Manuel de la Calva [es] and Ramón Arcusa [es]. In addition to the Spanish language version arranged by Bert Kaempfert and produced by Juan Carlos Calderón, he recorded the song in Catalan (with lyrics by Serrat himself), English (with lyrics by Michael Julien), Portuguese, and Italian promoting it throughout Europe.[1][2]

Serrat was under pressure from a number of Catalanists who labeled him a traitor if he did not sing the entire song in Catalan (a language repressed under the Francoist dictatorship until shortly before). On 25 March 1968, he demanded TVE in an open letter to sing the song in Catalan at the contest as he considering himself above all a Catalan singer, and that, in the event that this was not possible, required TVE to accept his irrevocable resignation.[a] TVE released an answering press note denying any discrimination against Catalan in the network, considering Serrat's decision incorrect and unacceptable since he sought to give a political meaning to his participation, and removed him as their representative.[1][2][4]

Therefore, Massiel, who was under contract with Zafiro-Novola and was on tour in Mexico, was brought in as a late replacement. In just a few days, she had to travel back to Spain, learn the song, record it in several languages (Spanish, English, French, and German), travel to several European cities for promotion (starting in Paris), and go to London for the contest rehearsals. During her short stay in Paris she bought a Courrèges dress which she would wear to the contest.[5][6]

At Eurovision

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On 6 April 1968, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London hosted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and broadcast live throughout the continent.[7] Massiel performed "La, la, la", the 15th song that evening, accompanied by Trío La La La [es] (María Jesús Aguirre, María Dolores Arenas, and Mercedes Valimaña) as backing singers,[8] following Ireland's "Chance of a Lifetime" by Pat McGeegan and preceding Germany's "Ein Hoch der Liebe" by Wencke Myhre. Rafael Ibarbia made the orchestral arrangement of the Spanish entry and conducted the event's orchestra in its performance.[9]

At the close of voting, the song had received 29 points winning the competition, beating the favorite, the United Kingdom's "Congratulations" by Cliff Richard, by just a single point. Bill Martin (cowriter of the British entry) called the Spanish song "a piece of rubbish".[10][11] In Spain, Massiel's triumph against the British was compared to that of Agustina de Aragón against the French Army.[2] This triumph was the first of Spain's two Eurovision wins to date. In her winning reprise, Massiel performed part of the song in English, in addition to the original version, becoming the first winner to do so.[12][13]

The contest was broadcast on TVE 1 and TVE Canarias,[b] with commentary by Federico Gallo [es].[14][15] It was also aired on Radio Peninsular de Barcelona [es] with commentary by José María Íñigo.[16][17] 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. Although the contest was broadcast in Spain in black and white, since TVE was not yet ready to broadcast in colour, the jury was able to watch it in colour directly from the Eurovision network signal that reached the TVE studios.[18]

Voting

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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:[18]

The secretary of the jury and the spokesperson who announced the Spanish votes was Ramón Rivera.

After Eurovision

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Massiel at the KRO studios in the Netherlands on 19 April 1968.

Immediately after the contest, Massiel went on tour to several European television and radio stations where she sang the song. It was not until two weeks later that she arrived in Madrid where a large crowd welcomed her in Madrid–Barajas Airport. TVE honored her at Prado del Rey where she gave a crowded press conference with the authors of the song and appeared on several shows on the network.[20] The regime awarded her the Ribbon of Dame of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, but she refused to be decorated by Franco himself, so they sent it to her by mail.[21]

All the events related to this participation were dramatized in the Movistar Plus+ television miniseries La canción, starring Carolina Yuste as Massiel and Marcel Borràs [es] as Joan Manuel Serrat, which premiered on 8 May 2025.[22][23] The Eurovision performances and rehearsals were recreated in a full-scale replica of the Eurovision stage at the Royal Albert Hall, which was built in a studio specifically for the filming.[24][25]

References

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  1. ↑ Singing the song in Catalan in the contest was unfeasible since Zafiro-Novola, which made all the financial contribution, would lose its investment because it had sold the rights of the Catalan version to another company. To please both parties, Serrat's agent had the idea of Serrat singing the song in Spanish but with a verse in Catalan. To pressure TVE to accept the introduction of the verse in Catalan, they issued this ultimatum. But TVE canceled Serrat's participation without even negotiating.[3]
    Furthermore, the contest rules specified that the songs had to be performed in an official language of the country they represented, and the right for regional languages to become co-official was not achieved in Spain until the promulgation of the Constitution of 1978.
  2. ↑ Deferred broadcast on TVE Canarias the following day at 22:35 WET

References

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  1. 1 2 "Serrat exige cantar el 'La, la, la' en catalán y TVE lo descarta para Eurovisión". Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 26 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "Momento Massiel con su La, la, la". eurovision-spain (in Spanish). 3 December 2020.
  3. ↑ Vila-San-Juan, Juan Felipe (1981). La "trastienda" de TVE (in Spanish). Plaza & Janés. ISBN 84-01-37098-1.
  4. ↑ Fortea, Diego (16 May 2022). "Historias de la radio: La "espantá" de Serrat en Eurovisión". Onda Cero (in Spanish). Text and Audio. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  5. ↑ "Rebels Massiel and Salvador Sobral on winning Eurovision". eurovision.tv. 31 December 2018.
  6. ↑ Suero, Enrique (12 May 2023). "Massiel, Salomé...así contó ¡HOLA! los dos triunfos de España en Eurovisión". ¡Hola! (in Spanish).
  7. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 1968". Eurovision Song Contest. 6 April 1968. BBC / EBU.
  8. ↑ "Info on "La, la, la"". The Diggiloo Thrush. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  9. ↑ "Massiel y el "La, la, la", 40 años de éxito". eurovision-spain (in Spanish). 6 April 2008.
  10. ↑ Hayes, Jim (10 April 2021). "The top ten chart this week in 1968: A famous Eurovision song that was pipped at the post". Independent.ie. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  11. ↑ TV Hell. "Nul Points?! A Brief History of the Eurovision Song Contest". BBC documentary. (1992)
  12. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 1968". Eurovision Song Contest. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  13. ↑ "Winners of the 1960s - What happened to them?". Eurovision Song Contest. 23 July 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  14. ↑ "Programa para hoy" [Today's programme]. El Eco de Canarias [es] (in Spanish). Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain. 7 April 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 10 July 2024 – via University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
  15. ↑ "Televisión" (PDF). Odiel [es] (in Spanish). Huelva, Spain. 6 April 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 21 August 2024 – via Provincial Deputation of Huelva.
  16. ↑ "Radio y television" [Radio and television]. Diario de Barcelona (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. 6 April 1968. p. 22. Retrieved 21 August 2024 – via Historical Archive of the City of Barcelona [ca].
  17. ↑ "Spanish Eurovision commentator José María Iñigo passed away". European Broadcasting Union. 5 May 2018. Archived from the original on 5 May 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  18. 1 2 "Festival de Eurovisión 1968 - Comentarios del jurado español tras la victoria de Massiel". RTVE (in Spanish). 6 April 1968.
  19. 1 2 "Results of the Final of London 1968". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  20. ↑ "Hace 50 años, Apoteósico recibimiento a Massiel en Barajas". Diario de Cádiz (in Spanish). 23 April 2018.
  21. ↑ Zamora, Susana (7 April 2018). "Medio siglo de la revolución del 'La, la, la'". Diario Sur (in Spanish).
  22. ↑ "La canción". Málaga Film Festival.
  23. ↑ La canción: Tráiler oficial - Movistar Plus+ on YouTube
  24. ↑ Sarrión, Sara (28 October 2024). "¡Nos colamos en el rodaje de La canción!". Eurovision-Spain (in Spanish).
  25. ↑ Carolina Yuste as Massiel - "La, la, la" - La canción - Movistar Plus+ on YouTube
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