Image Credit: TVE
Spain was one of the first countries to choose its song & artist for Eurovision 2022. Benidorm Fest saw a host of names compete for the opportunity to represent the nation in Turin this May.
It was newcomer Chanel that took not only Spain but also European viewers by surprise with her impressive performance of ‘SloMo’ beating pre-contest favourites to take the trophy.
Find out more about Chanel & her potential at ESC below!
Who Is Chanel?
Chanel Terrero MartÃnez was born in Havana, Cuba, before moving to Barcelona at the age of 3. She is of Spanish origin.
Her career began after she moved to Madrid, where she starred in a number of stage productions such as Mamma Mia! & Flashdance. She also has acted on TV shows in both Spain & across the world and was also one of the finalists to star as Anita in the West Side Story Film.
Alongside her acting she is also a trained dancer, performing with artists such as Shakira on TV & award shows.
Benidorm Fest 2022
Chanel was announced as one of the 14 artists for Benidorm Fest 2022, Spain’s new national final for their Eurovision selection. After a disappointing 24th for ‘Voy A Quedarme’ by Blas Cantó (and 0 points from the televote), it was time for Spain to prove to Europe that they could do well at ESC.
Chanel performed in the first semi-final & it’s safe to say, she blew everyone away. Her dance break during the second chorus quickly went viral, and she suddenly appeared to be the one to watch.
Despite this, the success of both Tanxugueiras & Rigoberta Bandini’s songs within Spain seemed to be her main competition & Chanel seemed to be the underdog of the three. However, after a perfect performance, she was declared the winner at the end of the show, with ‘SloMo’ heading to Turin.
After Benidorm Fest, it’s safe to say the Spanish in particular were not happy. Even though international viewers were thrilled with the result – and with them being the ones to vote, this should’ve shown Spanish fans that they had something good with Chanel – the loss of Tanxugueiras in particular (who’d won the televote) caused outrage. There were accusations of jury favouritism & criticism over the weight of the jury (50%) compared to the televote (25%). There were also attempts to disqualify her over the use of English in her song being against the language rules, which meant songs could have up to 35% of the lyrics in a language other than Spanish or an official language of Spain. RTVE released a statement in which they stated that they’d be more transparent for future editions of the national final.
This ended up causing huge distress to Chanel, whose social media was flooded with hate comments. She appeared on national television in tears after her win, which caused both international fans & Spanish fans of ‘SloMo’ to counter the hate with positivity & call for the result to be accepted. Other Benidorm Fest artists also called for the outrage to die down, specifically Tanxugueiras & Rigoberta Bandidni asking for fans to respect the result. Now, 4 months on, opinion has thankfully switched & Chanel seems to be getting more love than ever from Spain.
How Well Will ‘SloMo’ Do At Eurovision?
As a member of the Big 5, we have to wait for Chanel to reach Turin before we find out which half of the final she’ll perform in. However, she will absolutely provide a great performance with no matter where she is in the running order. If Albania misses out on the final (which they’re unlikely to as far as the odds are concerned), it paves the way for Spain to really absorb all the votes from viewers who love a classic female pop song with choreography.
Spain is slowly climbing the odds, currently sitting at 5th behind the UK, Sweden, Italy & Ukraine. There are concerns about Chanel scoring high with the jury, as there is *some* usage of pre-recorded vocals in her past performances, but she’s proven at pre-parties she can vocally carry ‘SloMo’ live even with the intense choreography. There has also been criticism over the lyrics being ‘basic’, but not all songs have to have a deep meaning & sometimes we need to just enjoy them without looking for something meaningful within them.
Take a video, watch it slow mo, mo, mo, mo, mo
Booty hypnotic, make you want more, more, more, more, more
Voy a bajarlo hasta el suelo-lo-lo-lo-lo
If the way I shake it to this dembow
Drives you loco
Take a video, watch it slow mo
Lyrics to the chorus of ‘SloMo’
It has been compared to ‘Fuego’ by Eleni Foureira, which came 2nd overall in 2018, & with ‘SloMo’ being arguably slicker & more complex in both vocals and performance, could Spain go all the way? I don’t think we should rule it out at all.
Listen to the Spanish entry for Eurovision 2022 below!
What do you think of ‘SloMo’? Let us know in the comments below!
