SPAIN'S next contestant for the Eurovision Junior Song Contest has been announced, although it is not yet known what the entry track will be.
Levi Díaz, 13, from Cornellà de Llobregat (Barcelona province), won The Voice Kids two months ago with what judges described as his 'velvety and emotional' vocals.
Eurovision Junior 2021 representative for Spain, Levi Díaz, won The Voice Kids this summer (photo by Spain's ‘channel one’, TVE)
Anyone who follows the children's version of the Eurovision as well as the 'mainstream' show, and wants to get an idea of how Spain is likely to fare, can find a video of Levi's winning Voice performance of the highly-complex song Never Enough on YouTube.
This year's Eurovision Junior will take place in Paris at the La Seine Musicale auditorium on December 19, after last year's was won by France's entry, Valentina, 11, with J'Imagine.
How Levi's act compares remains to be seen – the song he will perform is set to be revealed on Monday (October 18) on the channel one show Mejor Contigo ('Better With You') presented by Ion Aramendi between 13.00 and 13.30.
But to date, Spain has not done badly at all in the Eurovision Junior – its disappointing results in the 'main' Eurovision Song Contest, despite numerous quality entries by established national pop artists, bear little resemblance to the country's kids' career history.
Last year, nine-year-old Soleá Fernández Moreno, the latest generation in the nationally-famous Farruco flamenco family from Sevilla, came third with her catchy Palante, matching the 2019 entry for Spain, by Melani García from L'Eliana (Valencia province), who was then aged 12 and the first contestant for her country since 2006.
The long gap, after a Spanish Radio Television (RTVE) boss decided to pull the nation out of the competition as he felt it was 'child exploitation', came after a series of successes since its début in 2003.
Two second places and one fourth – and now, two third places – out of a typical field of around 12 to 20 entries is very creditable, and Spain actually won outright in 2004 with a feel-good, cute flamenco number that became an instant chart-topper.
María Isabel, from Ayamonte (Huelva province), was just nine when her voice became the most-heard on national radio, and now aged 26, she has several studio albums to her name as well as a career in TV presenting and modelling.
