Introduction 

• Participant(s): Barei
• Song: Say Yay!
• Writer(s): Barei, Ruben Villanueva & Victor Pua
  
• Composer(s): Barei, Ruben Villanueva & Victor Pua
• Broadcaster: TVE
• Social media:  
• Team review: 

The Spanish broadcaster TVE has arranged a national final this year. They have tried to make the show more modern and youthful. This concept has probably paid off, as Barei has been declared as the lucky winner. She is very popular among the younger internet savvy people and has a lot of success on YouTube. Have a look at Barei’s other songs “Another’s life" and “Wildest Horses” or “Throw The Dice” .

Barei is a 33 years old singer and songwriter, born in Madrid. She studied musical language, singing, guitar and piano. In her career she has released two albums. Barei also moved to Miami where she recorded her first demos. She participated in several festivals such as Festival Internacional de la Canción de Benidorm and Starlite Festival in Marbella. Her big break through came with her ESC song “Say Yay” which reached #1 in the iTunes charts in Spain. In her career she is mainly composing and singing in English and has also written songs for other singers e.g. Edurne (last year’s singer for Spain).

The song “Say Yay”is contemporary dance song in English with some Spanish snatches. It has a strong rhythm and a catchy melody which hopefully brings the Globen Arena to dance. The unique dance step of Barei is not as easy to imitate. In the video clip, which has been filmed in Stockholm, the protagonists have some difficulties with this! The song is about courage, to fight to the end with no fear.
This is a great song from Spain which will definitely catch young people’s interest.

History 

• Debut: 1961
• Participations: 56
• Victories: 2
• Finals: 56
• Top 10: 28
• Chance for Top 10: 50 %

Spain joined the Eurovision family in 1961 with the debut song “Estando Contigo” by Conchita Bautista, which reached the 9th place in Cannes. From that time Spain has participated regularly, so it will be the 56th entry this year in Stockholm.
Like France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, Spain belongs the Big 5 countries. That means these countries are directly qualified for the Grand Final and they don’t have pass the Semi Finals. The reason for this is the financial support to the EBU. The host country Sweden will also have the right to directly start in the Grand Final.

The most successful time for Spain was in the late 60’s and early 70’s when there were two victories and some second places. The chance to reach the Top10 is 44%, as in the history Spain reached the Top10 for 24 times, out of 55 participations. Even if the Big 5 countries did not shape up that well in former years, Spain could at least make the 10th place for three times since 2004: Ramón with “Para Llenarme De Ti” in 2004, Pastora Soler with “Quédate Conmigo” in 2012 and Ruth Lorenzo with “Dancing In The Rain” in Copenhagen 2014.

In the long history of Spanish entries there are a lot of gems. Most of the songs were sung in Spanish, while English is getting more and more used so as this year. But it’s a pity that such a country like Spain, which is often bringing high quality entries into the festival, does not win again. It’s 47 years now, since the last Spanish victory. But other countries like Austria could also be taken as a proof that everything is possible.