Spain | Road to Eurovision 2019: OT Gala 5

Earlier this week, on the 22nd of October, Operación Triunfo has marked 17 years since its first edition, which brought us Rosa López as the winner and the Spanish representative in Eurovision 2002 with the song Europe's living a celebration. Spain had the reason to celebrate back then, reaching 7th place.

The show now broadcasts its tenth edition, and we hope this season will bring another contestant who'll reach the top 10 for Spain.

After last week's gala brought us exciting moments and some Eurovision ready performances (check it out here), last night we watched Gala 5.

As always, contestants opened the night with the group song. This time, they performed Me encanta (I love it) by Nancys Rubias, the Spanish rock band. That is the Spanish version of the song I don't care, by Swedish DJ duo Icona Pop featuring Charli XCX.

After the group song, our nominees, Carlos Right and Dave performed their songs.

1. Carlos Right: Tip Toe by Jason Derulo (feat. French Montana)

First to sing his solo and try to defend his stay at the academy was Carlos Right. He decided to step out of his comfort zone and show something completely different – singing a song in English with the challenging choreography. He put a lot of effort during the whole week in practising the choreography, but still didn't seem to be comfortable with it, and those falsettos didn't bring him luck either.

2. Dave: Créeme by Vicente Feliú and Silvio Rodríguez

On the other hand, Dave decided not to experiment this week and he chose to perform a song in his musical style - Créeme by Vicente Feliú and Silvio Rodríguez. In this emotional performance, Dave showed once again that he has charisma and stage presence that captivates the attention and make the audience want more.

3. Alba and Famous: Fast car by Tracy Chapman (version by Jonas Blue ft Dakota)

A girl with one of the most interesting voice colours and a boy with one of the strongest voices of this season collided in a duet. Alba and Famous got to sing Fast car by Tracy Chapman (version by Jonas Blue feat. Dakota). They had to perform this up-tempo song in English, including breath-consuming choreography. In the end, it resulted in a tremendous performance! The jury complimented Alba for her „magnetism“ on stage and gave credit to Famous for his evolving and progress and his „spectacular voice.“ I can see both of them as the finalists of the show.

4. Miki: El patio by Pablo López

A tough challenge for Miki this week, singing probably vocally most demanding song of the week - El Patio, by Pablo López. He had the additional pressure in the fact that Pablo López was the guest of the gala and Miki had to defend his song in front of him. Miki is one of the contestants who manages to deliver the most emotional performances, so was the case last night with his cover of El Patio, which he sang accompanied by the academy professor Manu Guix on the piano.

5. María and Noelia: Ex's & Oh's by Elle King

María may not be one of the vocally strongest voices of the edition, but she simply does not stop evolving. Last night we have witnessed her best performance so far. The song Ex's & Oh's by Elle King suited perfect to her smooth voice, and in her performance, we've seen the confidence and seductive attitude. On the other hand, Noelia definitely is vocally impressive, but when it comes to dancing and bringing the energy on the stage, she feels uncomfortable to act and pursue her role. Considering the format of the show, she'll have to gear up on that matter.

6. Marta: Y nos dieron las diez by Joaquín Sabina

Marta has brought Mexican ambience, singing Y nos dieron las diez by Joaquín Sabina, accompanied by mariachi. This song was not really something we expected to see on this show, but Marta approached the song in a way that she surprised positively once again with her adaptability to different kinds of songs given to her so far.

7. Damion and Sabela: Volar by Macaco

Damion and Sabela were not lucky with the song they got to sing, as they were not familiar with the song before. The fans decided to give support to Sabela and try to make her favourite this week in order to save her from being nominated once again and to make pressure to the production to give her song that suits her better. Damion's confidence was boosted due to his last week's performance, but this song didn't really give him chance to stand out and show his talent.

8. Natalia and Julia: Pienso en tu mirá by Rosalía

We may be looking at one of the winners of this season here. Natalia and Julia's duet was promising since their first rehearsal in front of the professors on Saturday. In addition, both of them seem to be the most complete artists in the academy – singing in various styles, dancing, transmitting the emotions, and composing music. Natalia and Julia have put the most of effort in composing the hymn od this edition, called Somos. Winner alert!

9. Marilia: Rather be by Clean Bandit and Jess Glyne

The sweetest voice of this season of the show, Marillia, got to sing Rather be, enormous hit by Clean Bandit and Jess Glyne. It's not the song we would associate with Marillia and it was interesting to see how she would defend it. Marillia was nervous and during some parts she lost her breath, concentrating too much on the choreography, which affected her vocal delivery.

What happened on the show?

Eliminated: Dave

With 62 % of the public votes, Carlos Right was saved and can stay on at the academy. The risk with his song choice was obviously worth taking. Dave said his goodbyes to his colleagues but promised that after the additional two months of the show that will separate him from the rest, they will have a whole lifetime to spend together.

The fan favourite of Gala 5: Miki

This week, three contestants who won the most audience votes through the app of the show were: Alba, Miki and Sabela. Finally, the most voted contestant and this week's favourite is Miki.

The nominees and saved contestants

Four contestants proposed for nomination by the jury were: Marta, Carlos Right, Marillia and Damion.

The academy staff decided to save Marillia, because of her hard work, positive attitude, and willingness to learn without complaining and giving excuses.

The contestants were left with Damion, Marta, and Carlos Right to save. Carlos Right got the most votes, five of them, Marta got three votes, and Damion got one vote.

Nominated: Marta and Damion

That has left us with the two nominees in the following week: Damion, who is nominated for the second time and Marta, who faces her first nomination. We are sad to watch either of them leave next week, but looking forward to seeing what songs will they choose for themselves to help them prove themselves to the audience, jury and the academy staff.

Guests: Miriam Rodríguez, Pablo López and Vance Joy

Miriam Rodríguez, a last year finalist of the show returned as a guest performer, after we have already seen Aitana's and Mimi's performances in previous galas. She presented her new single NO!, which is a duet with Pablo López, a runner-up in Operación Triunfo in 2008.

The other guest was Vance Joy, the Australian singer, who performed his global hit Riptide.