Eurovision Song Contest 2004
Country	Spain
National selection
Selection process	Operación Triunfo
Selection date(s)	28 January 2004
Selected entrant	Ramón
Selected song	"Para llenarme de ti"
Selected songwriter(s)	Kike Santander
Finals performance
Final result	10th, 87 points
Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2003 • 2004 • 2005►

Spain participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "Para llenarme de ti" written by Kike Santander. The song was performed by Ramón. The Spanish entry for the 2004 contest in Istanbul, Turkey was selected through the third series of the reality television music competition Operación Triunfo, organised by the Spanish broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE). Four artists and songs ultimately qualified to compete in the final of the competition's Eurovision selection show where a public televote exclusively selected "Para llenarme de ti" performed by Ramón as the winner, receiving 38.8% of the votes.

As a member of the "Big Four", Spain automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing as the opening entry for the show in position 1, Spain placed tenth out of the 24 participating countries with 87 points.

Background

Prior to the 2004 contest, Spain had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-three 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 2003, Spain placed eighth with the song "Dime" performed by Beth.

The Spanish national broadcaster, Televisión Española (TVE), broadcasts the event within Spain and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. In 2002 and 2003, TVE used the reality television singing competition Operación Triunfo (the Spanish version of Star Academy) to select both the artist and song that would represent Spain. The procedure was continued in order to select their 2004 entry.^[2]

Before Eurovision

At Eurovision

Ramón during a rehearsal before the final

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from the semi-final in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final. As a member of the "Big Four", Spain automatically qualified to compete in the final on 15 May 2004. In addition to their participation in the final, Spain is also required to broadcast and vote in the semi-final. The running order for the final in addition to the semi-final was decided through an allocation draw and Spain was subsequently drawn to open the final and perform in position 1, before the entry from Austria. Spain placed tenth in the final scoring 87 points.^[9]

In Spain, the semi-finals were broadcast on La 2 and the final was broadcast on La Primera with commentary by Beatriz Pécker.^[10][11] The Spanish spokesperson, who announced the results of the Spanish televote during the final, was Anne Igartiburu.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Spain and awarded by Spain in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. Spain awarded its 12 points to Andorra in the semi-final and to Germany in the grand final of the contest.

Points awarded to Spain

Points awarded to Spain (Final)^[12]

Score	Country
12 points	Andorra  Portugal
10 points
8 points	France  Israel
7 points	Belgium  Cyprus
6 points	Switzerland
5 points	Romania
4 points	Netherlands
3 points	Greece  Malta  Monaco
2 points	Belarus  Germany  Turkey
1 point	Iceland  Macedonia  Poland

Points awarded by Spain

Points awarded by Spain (Semi-final)[13] Score Country 12 points  Andorra 10 points  Ukraine 8 points  Serbia and Montenegro 7 points  Greece 6 points  Portugal 5 points  Netherlands 4 points  Israel 3 points  Finland 2 points  Albania 1 point  Cyprus

Points awarded by Spain (Final)[12] Score Country 12 points  Germany 10 points  Romania 8 points  Ukraine 7 points  Greece 6 points  Serbia and Montenegro 5 points  Sweden 4 points  France 3 points  Cyprus 2 points  Turkey 1 point  Poland

References