Benidorm Fest has concluded and we have a winner in the form of Chanel’s SloMo. Listening to the entries this week, I was reminded of the word that always jumps out at me as a non-Spanish speaker: corazón, the word for heart.
SloMo features it in the plural, corazones, but it was by no means the only Benidorm Fest entry to use it: both Mejores by boy band Unique and Make You Say by Sara Deop featured the word in their lyrics.
But what about at Eurovision itself? Of Spain’s 60 entries up to 2021, no fewer than 22 feature the word corazón in their lyrics:
- 1961: Estando contigo – Conchita Bautista
- 1964: Caracola – Los TNT
- 1965: ¡Qué bueno, qué bueno! – Conchita Bautista
- 1977: Enséñame a cantar – Micky
- 1979: Su canción – Betty Missiego
- 1981: Y sólo tú – Bacchelli
- 1988: La chica que yo quiero (Made in Spain) – La Década Prodigiosa
- 1990: Bandido – Azúcar Moreno
- 1991: Bailar pegados – Sergio Dalma
- 1992: Todo esto es la música – Serafín Zubiri
- 1993: Hombres – Eva Santamaria
- 1997: Sin rencor – Marcos Llunas
- 1998: ¿Qué voy a hacer sin ti? – Mikel Herzog
- 2001: Dile que la quiero – David Civero
- 2002: Europe’s Living A Celebration – Rosa
- 2004: Para llenarme de ti – Ramón
- 2006: Un Blodymary – Las Ketchup
- 2007: I Love you Mi Vida – D’Nash
- 2010: Algo pequeñito – Daniel Diges
- 2012: Quédate conmigo – Pastora Soler
- 2013: Contigo hasta el final – El Sueño de Morfeo
- 2015: Amanecer – Edurne
The word also appeared in the national final version of Ruth Lorenzo’s Dancing in the Rain before the second verse was switched to English.
Of course it’s not only Spanish entries that are able to use Spanish words. Mendez’s 2003 Melodifestivalen entry Carnaval includes corazón among it’s mix of English, Spanish and Swedish lyrics. Bombo by Adelén was a finalist in the Norwegian selection show Melodi Grand Prix in 2013. One of few Spanish words it used to add a Mediterranean air to its English lyrics? Corazón.
And then there are the Spanish translations of Eurovision songs…