In the midst of Eurovision week, a new voice joins the debate on the festival: Massiel, one of the only two Spanish winners (along with Salomé) in Eurovision, shared her experience in ‘La noche D’ (La 1), commented on her wish that Ukraine won and harshly criticized that his time at the festival did not improve his career but made it difficult.
“They don’t forgive you”
Massiel won Eurovision in 1968 with the remembered ‘La, la, la’, for which he was not even the first option. At the time, Serrat was chosen to interpret it but was finally discarded for wanting to sing it in Catalan. The singer was contacted 11 days before the festival and her victory was completely unexpected (even for Massiel herself, who went for a walk so as not to get nervous and they had to come to tell her that she had to sing again).
In the La 1 program, along with other television faces such as Rosa López, Azúcar Moreno or David Fernández “Chikilicuatre”, Massiel spoke openly about the negative repercussions it had on his professional life: “my career would have been better. Eleven months after Eurovision I did Bertol Brech, then I did Shakespeare… If I hadn’t come to Eurovision, I’d be in America right nowbecause he wouldn’t have come back. And no one would have messed with me.”
Although the singer he does not regret having competed for Spain in Eurovision, denounces that, after its victory, it was censored by TVE: “Winning Eurovision is fucked up, because then they never forgive you. What you can’t do here is win.”
The final gala of Eurovision will be broadcast on La 1 this Saturday 14, where it will be seen if Chanel takes the victory and goes down in history as another of the few Spanish winners.