Spain took part in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 1961. The country was represented by

Conchita Bautista María Concepción Bautista Fernández (born 27 October 1936), better known as Conchita Bautista (), is a Spanish singer and actress, best known for her participation in the Eurovision Song Contests of and . Bautista moved from her native And ...

with the song "Estando contigo", written by Antonio Guijarro and

Augusto Algueró Augusto Algueró Dasca (23 February 1934 – 16 January 2011) was a Spanish composer, arranger and music director. He wrote more than 500 songs and about 200 musical scores for films and television. Career Algueró was born in Barcelona, and s ...

. The song was chosen through a national final.

Before Eurovision

National final

The national final took place at RNE's studios in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

from February 13 to 14, hosted by Federico Gallo, Jorge Arandes and María del Carmen García Lecha, and was aired through radio. Ten songs competed over two shows, with the winner song being decided upon through jury voting.

Competing entries

Semi-final

The semi-final took place on 13 February 1961. The ten competing songs were presented, and six of these songs went forward to the national final. The jury consisted of 10 members, 5 music experts and 5 plain citizens. The music experts were: * Sebastià Gasch – Journalist at RNE, writer, art critic * Diego Ramírez Pastor – Journalist, president at Asociación de la Prensa de Barcelona * Arthur Kaps – Producer at TVE * Alfonso Banda Moras – Director of current afairs at RNE for Barcelona * Carlos Moltó Arniches – Delegate at Sociedad General de Autores y Editores for Barcelona The plain citizens were Alberto Rovira, María Amparo Gascón, Carmen Navarro, Joaquina Navarro and Pilar Agudo Villegas.

Final

The final took place on 14 February 1961, with the same hosts and jury members. The winner, "Estando contigo" performed by Conchita Bautista, was selected through jury voting, which she won by just one point.

At Eurovision

On the night of the final, 18 March 1961,

performed first in the running order, preceding

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word ...

. At the close of voting "Estando contigo" had received 8 points, placing Spain 9th of the 16 entries. The Spanish jury awarded its highest mark (3) to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

.ESC History - Spain 1961
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Voting

Every country had a jury of ten people. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spain In The Eurovision Song Contest 1961

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pri ...