OT 2018 | Gala 1 - Find out what happened last night

Operación Triunfo 2018 Gala 1 was broadcast last night. Sixteen contestants that reached the academy after surviving many auditions and last weeks Gala 0, gave their first performance.

The first week in the Operación Triunfo academy is behind us and our 16 contestants performed on Gala 1 last night. We have many reasons to be excited!

The 16 contestants opened the show all together with the song „This is me“, a soundtrack from the musical „The Grand Showman“.

After the opening song, our contestants performed their duets which they've rehearsed together through the last week.

1. The first duet of the night was Carlos Right and Miki with the song El ataque de las chicas cocodrilo by Hombres G, released in 1986. It's funny and uptempo song which is joking about the harassment by „crocodile girls“ i.e. fans of the band. This song was well chosen for both Carlos Right and Miki, who delivered really funny performance. The crowd was excited about the performance and it's no doubt boys will soon also have their own horde of „crocodile girls“.

2. A show followed with Damion and África performing the song Perfect by Ed Sheeran. Damion again showed bits of insecurity and nervousness during the appearance, with his voice becoming shaky at the moments. It seemed Damion and Africa both gave their best to show their singing abilities that they focused too much on themselves and their fears and forgot to enjoy their performance and deliver the song emotionally. Although, they both proved to have a great amount of talent and interesting voice, and much more to show us in the coming galas.

3. After that, came the ultimate summer hit by Luis Fonsi and Demi Lovato, performed by Alfonso and Sabela - Échame la culpa. Alfonso again showed that this kind of songs suit his musical style and he seemed more confident that his colleague Sabela, who struggled a bit with this type of song and with her pronunciation of the English parts of the song.

4. Dave and Marilia got the demanding challenge with the song chosen for them in this week. They performed Alfonsina y el mar by Mercedes Sosa. They both showed great talent and musical maturity, which was seen in the way they delivered the song emotionally and vocally. Dave also showed us his new hairstyle. The song was estimated by the jury and professors as one of the most difficult songs to interpret.

5. One of the most energetic and powerful performances of the night surely is a duet by Alba Reche and Noelia. They sang Respect by the recently deceased queen of soul Aretha Franklin and deserved the respect of both juries and television audience. Noelia has a superb voice and this song allowed her to show the wide range of her talent. On the other hand, Alba Reche has a very interesting voice colour but also dancing skills and stage appearance of a true star. Their performance was definitely one of the most exciting moments of tonight's show!

6. Marta and María followed with Ella by Bebe. The song seemed to suit much better to María at first, but Marta showed us that she is ready to take and master any challenge. Although two girls have a different style in both music and their appearance, María and Marta managed to complement each other and to present the powerful message of this women-empowering song by Bebe.

7. Next duet of the night was Joan Garrido and Julia with Vuelvo a verte by Malú and Pablo Alborán. It's a touching and emotional ballad. Julia carried the performance and showed that we have to count on her as a potential contender for the title. Joan Garrido, on the other hand, was a bit insecure in his delivery of the song, though his delivery became much better towards the end of the song.

8. Natalia and Famous have performed last with their version of the song Feel it still by Portugal. The Man. This performance was worth waiting for. Natalia, one of the fan favourites, secured the nickname „diva“, awarded by the jury. She showed that she is amongst the most complete artists right now – with interesting and mysterious vocals, a determined appearance on the stage and superb dancing skills. Famous showed us wide range of his vocals and reminded Tony Aguilar (the guest member of the jury) of this year's Austria's representative on Eurovision, César Sampson. Natalia and Famous showed great attitude and produced „wow-effect“ with both the jury and the live audience.

Musical guests

Musical guests were Malú, singing her song Todos los secretos, and last year's contestant on the show – Aitana. She performed her big hit Telefono and gave advice to the contestants on what would they gain from the contest and what could they accomplish in a year if working hard enough to accomplish their dreams.

Favourites of the audience

After all the performances our host Roberto Leal announced three contestants with the most audience votes. In no particular order they were: Natalia, Miki and Noelia. Soon afterwards he announced that Noelia is the fan favourite of the night and thus is the first one to qualify for the next stage of the contest.

Jury's nominees

After that, the jury have spoken with each of the contestants, and propose four contestants for nomination: Joan Garrido, Alfonso, Sabela and África.

Who did academy staff and contestants save?

The professors from the academy saved África, recognizing her potential and great voice, but also hightlighted the need to work ad practice her vocal skills and her emotional expression.

With three contestants left to choose from, the 13 contestants who already qualified did get a chance to save one more of their colleagues from nomination. Sabela got three votes, Alfonso got four votes, and the most of votes of his colleagues were awarded to Joan Garrido.

Alfonso and Sabela nominated for elimination

That left us with our Echame la culpa duo both nominated for leaving the show and the academy. It is now in the hands of the television audience to choose between the two, on who deserves the chance to stay in the show and try to become the future Spanish star and the potential contender for the Eurovision title.

Are you following OT 2018? Who would you rather save from elimination - Sabela or Alfonso? Do you have your favourites for representing Spain in Tel Aviv? Tell us in a comments and on our social media.

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