Tonight, Barei, Spain’s entry to the Eurovision contest, will sing in English for the first time ever. English is the most successful language to win in the history of Eurovision.
Spain’s Eurovision 2016 Entry
On 1st February 2016, after Spanish TV viewers voted for her song Say Yay, Barbara Reyzabal Gonzalaz-Aller, also known as Barei, will be representing Spain in tonight’s Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, singing in English for the first time, and many Spanish are not happy about it. Barei, who was born in Madrid in 1982, said recently that English comes naturally to her when she writes her songs “It is much more an international language,” she said. But Dario Villanueva, Director of the Royal Spanish Academy has said that her decision to sing in English is proof of an “inferiority complex.” Jose Merino, of the same Academy said: “Given that Spanish is a language spoken by 500 million people, singing a song in English is surprisingly stupid. I understand that a country with a language that has a limited number of speakers would try to use a language known by many, but this is unacceptable.”
Spain Eurovision 2016 – Barei
However, Spain has not won the Eurovision Song Contest since 1969 and by Barei singing in English, they are hoping to join the 26 other countries who have won by doing so. Spain´s past entrants are also divided over Barei’s decision to sign in English. 2015 Eurovision Spanish contestant Edurne, who finished 21st, said the move was innovative and necessary to turn around Spain´s losing record. However Remedios Amaya, who came last in Eurovision in 1983, said the idea of singing in English “doesn´t even get into my head”, and that Barei should be representing Spain not England.
English is the most successful winning language in Eurovision’s history with 26 victories, and in 2016 only 3 of the 43 countries will have no English lyrics.
See what you think of Barei’s entry – I think it’s quite catchy!
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