Eurovision Song Contest 2011
Country	Spain
National selection
Selection process	Destino Eurovisión
Selection date(s)	Heats: 28 January 2011 4 February 2011 Semi-final: 11 February 2011 Final: 18 February 2011
Selected entrant	Lucía Pérez
Selected song	"Que me quiten lo bailao"
Selected songwriter(s)	Rafael Artesero
Finals performance
Final result	23rd, 50 points
Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2010 • 2011 • 2012►

Spain participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "Que me quiten lo bailao" written by Rafael Artesero. The song was performed by Lucía Pérez. The Spanish broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE) organised the national final Destino Eurovisión in order to select the Spanish entry for the 2011 contest in Düsseldorf, Germany. The national final consisted of two heats, a semi-final and a final and involved 24 competing acts. Three acts ultimately qualified to compete in the televised final where an in-studio jury and a public televote selected "Que me quiten lo bailao" performed by Lucía Pérez as the winner.

As a member of the "Big Five", Spain automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 22, Spain placed twenty-third out of the 25 participating countries with 50 points.

Background

Prior to the 2011 contest, Spain had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty times since its first entry in 1961.^[1] The nation has won the contest on two occasions: in 1968 with the song "La, la, la" performed by Massiel and in 1969 with the song "Vivo cantando" performed by Salomé, the latter having won in a four-way tie with France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Spain has also finished second four times, with Karina in 1971, Mocedades in 1973, Betty Missiego in 1979 and Anabel Conde in 1995. In 2010, Spain placed fifteenth with the song "Algo pequeñito" performed by Daniel Diges.

The Spanish national broadcaster, Televisión Española (TVE), broadcasts the event within Spain and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. TVE confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest on 1 October 2010.^[2] Between 2007 and 2010, TVE organised a national final to select both the artist and song that would represent Spain. The procedure was continued in order to select their 2011 entry.^[3]

Before Eurovision

Destino Eurovisión

Destino Eurovisión was the national final organised by TVE that took place from 28 January 2011 to 18 February 2011 at the TVE studios in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, hosted by Anne Igartiburu with Daniel Diges who represented Spain in the 2010 contest acting as the green room host.^[4][5] All shows were broadcast on La 1, TVE Internacional and online via TVE's official website rtve.es.^[6]

Format

Destino Eurovisión consisted of 24 candidates competing over four shows: two heats on 28 January 2011 and 4 February 2011, a semi-final on 11 February 2011 and the final on 18 February 2011. Each heat featured twelve contestants performing cover versions of former Spanish Eurovision songs or winning Eurovision songs of their choice and five qualified for the semi-final. The semi-final featured the ten qualifiers from the heats performing cover versions of former Spanish Eurovision songs or winning Eurovision songs of their choice and three qualified for the final. In the final, each of the remaining three contestants performed three candidate Eurovision songs with the winner being decided upon over two rounds of voting. In the first round, one song per contestant qualified for a second round of voting, during which the winning entry was determined.^[7]

The results during all four shows were decided upon through public televoting and an in-studio expert jury. In each heat, the twelve contestants were divided into four groups of three and the jury first eliminated one contestant from each group. The remaining eight contestants then faced a public televote where the top three qualified and the jury selected an additional two contestants to advance to the semi-final.^[8] In the semi-final, the ten contestants first faced a public televote where the top two qualified. The jury then selected an additional contestant from the remaining eight acts to advance.^[9] In the final, the first round results were decided upon by the jury and the second round results were decided upon through public televoting.^[10]

Competing entries

Two separate submission periods were opened from 15 November 2010 until 12 December 2010 for artists and songwriters to submit their applications and songs. Artists were also able to apply by attending auditions that were held in Madrid and Barcelona on 25 and 29 November 2010, respectively.^[11] At the conclusion of the submission period, 1,142 songs and 627 artist applications were received.^[12] Professionals at TVE selected 24 contestants for the national final from 30 shortlisted following a second audition in Barcelona on 15 December 2010, and nine songs from 20 shortlisted which were then allocated to the three finalists of Destino Eurovisión.^[13][14] The contestants were announced on 11 January 2011, while the allocation of the competing songs were announced on 12 February 2011 and previewed by TVE on their official website later on 16 February.^[15][16][17] Among the competing artists was Dani Fernández (member of Auryn) who represented Spain in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2006.^[18]

Shows

Heats

The two heats took place on 28 January and 4 February 2011. The five members of the in-studio jury that evaluated the contestants during the shows were Albert Hammond (singer-songwriter, music producer), Merche (singer-songwriter), Reyes del Amor (expert specializing in the Eurovision Song Contest), David Ascanio (singer-songwriter) and Boris Izaguirre (television presenter, screenwriter, journalist).^[8]

In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers in the first semi-final included Soraya Arnelas, Pitingo [es] and jury member Albert Hammond, while guest performers in the second semi-final included David Civera, Malú and jury member Merche.^[8][20]

Semi-final

The semi-final took place on 11 February 2011. The five members of the in-studio jury that evaluated the contestants during the show were Albert Hammond (singer-songwriter, music producer), Merche (singer-songwriter), Reyes del Amor (expert specializing in the Eurovision Song Contest), David Ascanio (singer-songwriter) and Boris Izaguirre (television presenter, screenwriter, journalist). In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers included Sergio Dalma, Pastora Soler and jury member David Ascanio.^[9][21]