Spain is promoting its culture and art through flamenco in Eurovision, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the representation of Remedios Amaya. Blanca Paloma will seek Spain’s third victory in the European competition by performing ‘Ea Ea’, a song composed by José Pablo Polo, Álvaro Tato, and the performer herself, Blanca Paloma.
Get to know Blanca Paloma
Blanca Paloma is an artist and scenographer from Elche, born in 1989 with a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Elche, Barcelona, and Complutense University of Madrid. Furthermore, her vast experience in scenography and costume design, which she displayed in 2022 with a self-planned and executed performance with a large veil serving as a background for the performance, is noteworthy.
Coming from a family passionate about music, with her sister Sara Ramos having participated in the first edition of Eurojunior, the Junior Eurovision National final back in the 2003-2006 period, Blanca Paloma also enjoys music passionately. During the pandemic, she even gifted her neighbors with a different song every evening to help them overcome the confinement.
Blanca Paloma made her debut in the music world last year with “Secreto de Agua”. The song was the main theme of the RTVE documentary series “Lucía y la telaraña”. Later, she was selected to participate in the first edition of Benidorm Fest in 2022, where she achieved fifth place with 61 points.
On stage, Blanca Paloma demonstrated her experience behind the scenes with an almost perfect performance, blending all available elements to emphasize her voice. Critics hailed her as “clear and clean as spring water, reminiscent of root music with great versatility that evokes flamenco, Arab, and Latin sounds at the same time”.
After finishing in a great fifth place in the Benidorm Fest 2022, Blanca Paloma released her second song “Niña de Fuego”, in which she continues to explore her sound by combining avant-garde and tradition, two pillars that will sustain her to keep composing, creating and sharing her art.
Blanca Paloma decided to participate again in the Benidorm Fest 2023 and was selected as one of the 18 contestants in the current edition. This time, Blanca not only presents a piece of her heart but also mixes flamenco tradition with technical avant-garde, resulting in ‘Ea Ea’, a proposal that manages to win the competition, becoming the favorite of the jury and the televoting, and scoring a total of 169 points.
After winning the Benidorm Fest, Blanca embarked on an extensive promotional tour to promote her Eurovision candidacy, which is one of the favorites to win the Eurovision Song Contest. She has visited Lisbon, Barcelona, Tel Aviv, Madrid, Amsterdam, and London, among other cities, performing at different Eurovision pre-parties and pre-selections, such as Festival Da Cançao. In these events, she has performed different versions of her candidacy, including the acoustic and the original ones, seeking to surprise the audience in each of her performances.
In terms of national events, she has attended various events such as the Goya Awards, the TV show ‘El Hormiguero’, she has visited ‘Los 40’, and has performed in front of the Spanish Royals. In upcoming dates, she will be present at the Platino Awards for Ibero-American cinema on April 22 and at the Sant Jordi Awards.
LYRICS OF ‘EA EA’
Original lyrics
YA EA EA
YA EA EA
(Ole!)
Ay ven a mí niño mío.
Ay ven a mí niño mío,
Duerme a mi vera.
Que en mi pecho hay abrigo,
Abriguito pa´ tus penas.
YA EA EA YA EA EA,
YA EA EA YA EA EA,
YA EA EA YA EA EA.
Lagrimitas del nilo
Noches en vela
Mi niño, cuando me muera
Que me entierren en la luna
Y toas las noches te vea
Y toas las noches te vea
Y toas las noches te vea
Toas las noches menos una (Ole!)
Ay ven a mí niño mío.
Ay niño mío, chiquito mío
Chiquito de mis amores.
Que en la noche me iluminan
Tus ojos soles.
YA EA EA YA EA EA,
YA EA EA YA EA EA,
YA EA EA YA EA EA.
Lagrimitas del nilo
Noches en vela
Mi niño, cuando me muera
Que me entierren en la luna
Y toas las noches te vea
Y toas las noches te vea
Y toas las noches te vea
(Vamos allá la Blanca Paloma!)
Mi niño, cuando me muera
Que me entierren en la luna
Y toas las noches te vea
Toas las noches menos una
YA EA EA YA EA EA,
YA EA EA YA EA EA,
Lagrimitas del nilo
Noches en vela
YA EA EA YA EA EA,
YA EA EA YA EA EA,
YA EA EA YA EA EA.
English lyrics
Ya ea
Ya ea
(Ole!)
Oh, come to me, child of mine
Oh, come to me, child of mine
Sleep by my side
Because in my chest there’s a shelter
A little shelter for your grief
Ya ea ea, Ya ea ea
Ya ea ea, Ya ea ea
Ya ea ea, Ya ea ea
Little tears from the Nile, sleepless nights
My child, when I die
May they bury me in the moon
So that I’ll see you every night
So that I’ll see you every night
So that I’ll see you every night
Every night but one
(Ole!)
Oh, come to me, child of mine (oh child of mine, kid of mine)
Kid of my loves
Whose eyes like a Sun
Illuminate me at night
Ya ea ea, Ya ea ea
Ya ea ea, Ya ea ea
Ya ea ea, Ya ea ea
Little tears from the Nile, sleepless nights
My child, when I die
May they bury me in the moon
So that I’ll see you every night
So that I’ll see you every night
So that I’ll see you every night
My child, when I die
May they bury me in the moon
So that I’ll see you every night
Every night but one
Ya ea ea, Ya ea ea
Ya ea ea, Ya ea ea
Ya ea ea, Ya ea ea
Little tears from the Nile, sleepless nights
Ya ea ea, Ya ea ea
Ya ea ea, Ya ea ea
Ya ea ea, Ya ea ea
Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest
Spain has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 61 times, winning twice and finishing in the top ten 28 times since its debut in 1961. Since then, Spain has participated continuously, being a member of the “big four” (with Germany, the United Kingdom, and France) from 1999 and later of the “big five” after Italy joined in 2011.
Spain’s two victories in the Eurovision Song Contest were consecutive, the first in 1968 with Massiel’s “La la la” and the second in 1969 with Salomé’s “Vivo cantando,” which shared the prize with France, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.
In the 21st century, Spain has had difficulties in the Eurovision Song Contest. However, in 2022, the country achieved its best result in the history of the competition, placing third with a total of 459 points. Chanel Terrero was the artist responsible for taking Spain to the podium with her song “SloMo,” in the edition held in Turin.
Prior to this success, Spain’s best results in Eurovision in this century were a sixth place achieved by David Civera in 2001 in Copenhagen, and a seventh and eighth place reached by Rosa López with her song “Europe’s living a celebration” and Beth Rodergas with her song “Dime,” respectively.
However, between 2005 and 2021, Spain had a series of poor results in the contest, with some exceptions like those achieved by Pastora Soler and Ruth Lorenzo. In response to this situation, the Spanish delegation decided to make a change in the orientation of the candidacy and the selection model.
In 2022, a different team was entrusted with presenting the Spanish candidacy, which resulted in a new selection model. Thanks to this reorientation, Spain achieved a great result in the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest, which represents a significant change in the country’s trajectory in this European music competition.
Last year, Chanel represented Spain in Turin with the song ‘SloMo’, which restored their hopes for victory, taking us to the bronze medal position. The song was the third most voted by the public and the jury, accumulating a total of 459 points, the highest score for Spain, ahead of Mocedades’ 125 points in 1973.