Manel Navarro to fly the Spanish flag!

After months of preparation, the Spanish national final has now taken place, where a total of six acts were competing for the opportunity to represent Spain in Kyiv. The show was hosted by Jamie Cantizano and also featured Barei (2016), David Civera (2001) and Karina (1971).

Here was the line-up:

1. Manel Navarro – Do It For Your Lover

2. LeKlein – Ouch!!

3. Paula Rojo – Lo Que Nunca Fue (What it never was)

4. Mario Jefferson – Spin My Head

5. Maika Barbero – Momento Crítico (Critical Moment)

6. Mirela – Contigo (With You)

The voting was made up of a combination of jury and public voting. The jury was made up of Xavi Martinez, Javier Cárdenas and Virginia Díaz. The voting for the show proved to be one of the most controversial moments in this Eurovision national final season thus far, and here’s why…

Here is the ranking after the jury votes:

1. Manel Navarro 34 points

2. Mario Jefferson 25 points

3. Mirela 22 points

4. LeKlein 22 points

5. Paula Rojo 21 points

6. Maika 20 points

Now here are the results from the Spanish public:

1. Mirela 36 points

2. LeKlein 30 points

3. Manel Navarro 24 points

4. Maika 21 points

5. Paula Rojo 18 points

6. Mario Jefferson 15 points

This meant that the combined vote was:

1. Manel Navarro 58 points

2. Mirela 58 points

3. LeKlein 52 points

4. Maika 41 points

5. Mario Jefferson 40 points

6. Paula Rojo 39 points

In this year’s competition, in the case of a tie, the winner is chosen by the jury, not the public. Two of the three judges backed Manel, which means that he will be taking his song Do It For Your Lover to Eurovision.

Manel Navarro is only 20 years old, and his song was a self-written creation (alongside Antonio Rayo). He originates from Sabadell, Barcelona and writes music in English in a acoustic pop style. He began in the music world by uploading cover songs on social media, with his breakthrough cover being Hold On, We’re Going Home by Drake. He has since recorded two songs under Sony Music titled Brand New Day and Candle.

So far the Spanish national final result has been far from impressive, with a general opinion leaning towards the negative side rather than the positive one. The rules have been questioned, as many feel that the Spanish public should have the final say, rather than a jury of 3 individual people, two of which voted in a very similar matter. It’s a suspicious enough vote to bring attention to it, as both Virginia and Xavi both rated Mirela in last place, and their ranks were virtually exactly the same, only with Paula Rojo and LeKlein reversed. How could this have been so different from Javier’s vote, which put Mirela at the top, matching the public vote. Javier had a vote more in line with what the Spanish public wanted, so it begs the question, what happened here?

Here are the individual jury votes for you to make your own judgement:

• Xavi Martinez: 5 Mirela, 6 Maika, 7 LeKlein, 8 Paula Rojo, 10 Mario Jefferson, 12 Manel Navarro

• Javier Cárdenas: 5 Mario Jefferson, 6 Paula Rojo, 7 LeKlein, 8 Maika, 10 Manel Navarro, 12 Mirela

• Virginia Díaz: 5 Mirela, 6 Maika, 7 Paula Rojo, 8 LeKlein, 10 Mario Jefferson, 12 Manel Navarro

Regardless of the commotion around the decision, 20 year old Manel will be representing Spain in the Grand Final of Eurovision this year in Kyiv.

What do you think of the result?