Eurovision Song Contest 2003
Country	Spain
National selection
Selection process	Operación Triunfo
Selection date(s)	17 February 2003
Selected entrant	Beth
Selected song	"Dime"
Selected songwriter(s)	Jesús María Pérez Amaya Martínez
Finals performance
Final result	8th, 81 points
Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2002 • 2003 • 2004►

Spain participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "Dime" written by Jesús María Pérez and Amaya Martínez. The song was performed by Beth. The Spanish entry for the 2003 contest in Riga, Latvia was selected through the second series of the reality television music competition Operación Triunfo, organised by the Spanish broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE). Three artists and songs ultimately qualified to compete in the Eurovision selection show of the competition where a public televote exclusively selected "Dime" performed by Beth as the winner, receiving 45% of the votes.

As a member of the "Big Four", Spain automatically qualified to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 12, Spain placed eighth out of the 26 participating countries with 81 points.

Background

Prior to the 2003 contest, Spain had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-two times since its first entry in 1961.^[1] The nation has won the contest on two occasions: in 1968 with the song "La, la, la" performed by Massiel and in 1969 with the song "Vivo cantando" performed by Salomé, the latter having won in a four-way tie with France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Spain has also finished second four times, with Karina in 1971, Mocedades in 1973, Betty Missiego in 1979 and Anabel Conde in 1995. In 2002, Spain placed seventh with the song "Europe's Living a Celebration" performed by Rosa.

The Spanish national broadcaster, Televisión Española (TVE), broadcasts the event within Spain and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. In 2002, TVE used the reality television singing competition Operación Triunfo (the Spanish version of Star Academy) to select both the artist and song that would represent Spain. The procedure was continued in order to select their 2003 entry.^[2]

Before Eurovision

At Eurovision

As a member of the "Big Four", Spain automatically qualified to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 on 24 May 2003. During the allocation draw on 29 November 2002, Spain was drawn to perform in position 12, following the entry from Russia and before the entry from Israel. At the conclusion of the final, Spain placed eighth in the final, scoring 81 points.^[11]

In Spain, the show was broadcast on La Primera with commentary by José Luis Uribarri.^[12][13] The Spanish spokesperson, who announced the results of the Spanish televote during the final, was Anne Igartiburu.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Spain and awarded by Spain in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Belgium in the contest.

Points awarded to Spain[14] Score Country 12 points  Israel  Portugal 10 points  Belgium 8 points 7 points  Croatia 6 points  Cyprus  Iceland  Russia 5 points  Greece  Netherlands  Romania 4 points  Sweden 3 points 2 points  Turkey 1 point  Slovenia

Points awarded by Spain[14] Score Country 12 points  Belgium 10 points  Romania 8 points  Austria 7 points  Sweden 6 points  Russia 5 points  Poland 4 points  Germany 3 points  Turkey 2 points  Portugal 1 point  Israel

References