Analysis of Spain’s 2023 performance at Eurovision and connection to Spanish national identity
Spain's chosen song for the 2023 Eurovision is “EaEa”. The song was authored by Blanca Paloma, José Pablo
Polo, and Álvaro Tato. The choreography is conceived by Paula Quintana, and the
wardrobe is designed by Paola de Diego. Blanca Paloma is accompanied in her
performance by backing vocalists Saray Frutos and Desiré Paredes and
dancers Paula Valbuena, Angélica Moyano,
and Paloma Fernández (Llanos, 2023). Blanca Paloma is a singer born in Elche
which is part of the valencian community, one of the
many autonomous communities of Spain. Later on, after
she grew up, she moved to Madrid which is the capital of Spain.
The genre to which the song belongs fuses a flamenco style
(specifically, the bulería) with electronic music,
resulting in an innovative and avant-garde proposal. The song's tempo is 116
bpm, and it is in the key of F minor. Although within a genre - flamenco -
closely associated with the Spanish roots of the candidacy, it lacks the
commercial appeal of other musical genres among the youth audience, such as pop
or urban music. However, the musical production adopts a contemporary and more
accessible approach with the introduction of electronic elements. As was done
by other highly innovative artistic proposals in Spanish traditional music in
the 1970s, the update came from the fusion with popular music styles and the
introduction of electronic elements.
According to statements made by the performer and author
herself in the press, the lyrics "address the everyday, the basic. The
moon, the chest, the coat," as some of the universal concepts it refers to
(Europa Press, 2023). The immediate content can be identified with that of a
traditional lullaby sung to a child to lull them to sleep. The less obvious
reference to the famous Spanish poet, Federico García Lorca's Romance de la luna,
luna also underlies both in the lyrics, immediate and
simple, and in the staging (Europa Press, 2023). The idea of motherhood, linked
to the lullaby and the care of the child being put to sleep, and the powerful
female group surrounding it reinforce the memory of Lorca's motifs. According
to Panea (2023), "the lyrics tell the story of a
mother who wishes to watch over her son from the moon every night of his life,
every night except one: that is, the night of the child's death."
Next, we move on to the actual performance. After the wide
shot of the dark stage with textual graphics indicating the title and
authorship, it transitions to a blurry shot that progressively focuses to show
a backlit silhouette, that of the performer, starting the song. Her costume
consists of high-waisted white leather pants and a red top that resembles a
breastplate. Hands appear on both sides of Blanca Paloma, those of the three
dancers and the two backing vocalists accompanying her throughout the
performance. Always in this same shot, the camera pulls back to reveal a
corridor formed by what appears to be the red fringes of a gigantic mantón de manila (a traditional Spanish shawl), before
zooming in on the singer and following the movement of her head as she leans to
the left. Once through this corridor, the singer enters a circle formed by the
fringes of the shawl, surrounded by the dancers (performing a contemporary
dance inspired by flamenco) and the backing vocalists .
In this circle of women, dressed in red and with lighting at the base of the
center illuminating the singer from below, the chorus of the song is first
performed. Maintaining the shot, the camera exits the circle to pan around it
and show the group amidst the fringes, with a background of screens either darkened
or illuminated in white.
After this very long shot, lasting almost a minute, Blanca
Paloma kneels in the center of the circle to be captured from a zenithal
perspective with floor lighting that recedes until showing her in a wide shot
and at a small size, like the representation of a distant moon upon which she
is situated. The backing vocalists and dancers have exited the circle, which
fills with smoke at its base to create a space of diffused lighting. The singer
also leaves the space of the fringe circle and smoke to continue with the
performance. Blanca Paloma moves away and approaches the group of women
accompanying her, with careful group composition. The acceleration in the
change of shots increases on some occasions. In the background, the screens
display black backgrounds over which a red pattern or flashes of white color
pass.
Blanca Paloma moves away from the group, which remains
united in the background, to begin kneeling a vocal solo acapella in a shot
that goes from the close-up of her hand to a medium shot, transitioning from a
high angle to a normal one. In a few seconds when she does not sing (see
below), "Blanca Paloma transforms into the archer, a character born
inspired by the most iconic gesture of her staging of 'Water Secret'" (Europa
Press, 2023), a song with which she competed at the Benidorm
Fest in the 2022 edition. The archer's gesture and the breastplate-shaped top
make her an empowered Amazon, but also an updated version of Diana the
Huntress, as a sculptural reference in Roman mythology.
In my previous blog post I talked about the many elements
that make up Spanish national identity mainly history, language, and
regionalism. We can see the use of these elements in this performance the most
obvious being the song sung in Spanish. Despite, the performer growing up in
part of the Valentin community of Spain, it is not a surprise that the song is
not sung in her own native language but rather
national language is. Previous performances such as in 1968 performance of
Eurovision where the arranged singer was banned after she spoke of her choice
to sing in Catalan. Despite this, the fact that it is still sung in Spanish is
an improvement compared to the many other nations who sing in English. Other
elements of Spanish national identity are present with many references to
Spanish cultures some being less obvious.
The allusion to Lorca and the prominence of flamenco women
empowering "the mother" who sings the lullaby has been mentioned, as
well as the subtle references in the choreography to the yeli,
a tradition linked to gypsy weddings. From the perspective of staging
articulation, the abstraction of the minimalist scenography and the use of
background screens, initially as a lighting element rather than the recreation
of spaces or atmospheres, evoke avant-garde theatrical spaces. In terms of
audiovisuals, the influence of the scenic concept of works by the recently
deceased Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura could be
recognized. First in "Sevillanas" (Carlos Saura,
1992) and then in "Flamenco" (Carlos Saura,
1995), the Aragonese director recorded live musical
performances on "empty" sets recreated with backlit panels of
different colors and few decorative elements. The chromatic use of white, red,
and black is already present in these stagings. The
result renewed the iconography of flamenco and Andalusian folklore and almost
immediately became a necessary reference for stagings
that chose to innovate in the representation of flamenco shows.
Spain’s 2023 ESC performance is also a show of how it goes
against essentialism and simulation especially in the concept of the “tourist
gaze” (Baker, 2008, p. 181). According to Baker (2008), the tourist gaze is
“where tourists’ expectations about the foreign destination are ‘constructed
through difference’ to their everyday routines” (p. 181). Additionally,
“Eurovision entries from Spain... often draw on the representational strategies
of commercially successful Latin pop music, such as “bright colors, rhythmic
music, and brown or olive skin” (Baker, 2008, p. 181). However, in contrast to
this, Palama's performance seldom uses bright lights
or rhythmic performances rather emphasizing more on the traditional Spanish art
styles like the flamenco. This is also in contrast to previous years
performances such as 2019 where bright lights and rhythmic music is often used.
From this we can see the artist choice of trying to distance itself from the
notion of the “tourist gaze” and other stereotypes. In spite
of this, the song itself still is able to incorporate many components of
Spanish national identity.
Word count: 1360
References
Baker, C. (2008). Wild dances and dying wolves: simulation,
essentialization, and national identity at the
Eurovision Song Contest. Popular Communication, 6(3), 173-189. https://doi.org/10.1080/15405700802198113
Blanca Paloma (2023). “Eaea” (Spain). Eurovision Song Contest 2023 Liverpool. [DVD]. Universal Music Group.
Europa Press (2023, February 4). Blanca Paloma defends hers as “new folklore mixed with electronics” with Lorca in her heart and eyes at Eurovision. Europa Press. https://www.europapress.es/comunitat-valenciana/noticia-blanca-paloma-defiende-nuevo-folklore-mezclado-electronica-lorca-corazon-eurovision-objetivo-20230204103449.html
Llanos Martínez, H. (2023, February 3). Blanca Paloma and the Lorca circle of feminine power of 'EAEA', one of the favorites of the Benidorm Fest 2023. El País .
Panea, J.L. (2023, March 27). The Benidorm Fest, Blanca Paloma and the commitment to the 'Spain brand'. The Conversation . https://theconversation.com/el-benidorm-fest-blanca-paloma-y-la-apuesta-por-la-marca-espana-199610