Recap: First Semifinal in Spain

Better late than never...This weekend, we also saw the first semifinal in the Spanish quest for Eurovision Domination.  "Destino: Eurovisión" kicked off with twelve acts (either solo singers, duos, or groups) vying for three audience-picked tickets to the next round, or two jury-selected wildcards.  In a fun twist, singers were asked to sing Eurovision classics from yesterday and today.  Some stuck to tradition, while others put modern twists on old favorites.  Acts performed in groups of three, and then the jury immediately eliminated one of the group, and left the rest up to the mercy of the audience.  (The actual pool of songs that might go to Düsseldorf have also been selected, but we won't get to hear any of them until the finals on February 18th.)

Moving on via the audience's televote:
David Sancho (who sung a big-band cover of "Estando Contigo", Spain's debut entry from 1961.)
Lucía Pérez (who sung the Spanish-language translation of Gigliola Cinquetti's winning 1964 song, "Non ho l'eta")
Auryn (who sang a harmonious version of the Olsen Brother's winning 2000 Danish entry "Fly on the Wings of Love")

Moving on via the Jury's Wildcard:
Da Igual (who rocked out a new version of Sergio Dalma's 1991 song for Spain, "Bailar Pegados")
Gio (who, in my personal opinion, destroyed Lena's "Satellite", and not in the good way...)

The jury eliminated acts covering "Wild Dances", "Ding-a-Dong", "Gwendolyne", and "Tu te reconnaîtras", and the audience passed on covers of "Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi", "Fairytale", and "Vuelve Conmigo". 

We'll hear a dozen more covers next week!