Spain was represented at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024 with the song "Como la Lola", written by Alejandro Martínez, Chloe DelaRosa, David Parejo, and Luis Ramiro, and performed by Chloe DelaRosa. The Spanish participating broadcaster, Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE), internally selected its entry for the contest. In addition, RTVE was also the host broadcaster and staged the event at the Caja Mágica in Madrid, after the previous year's winner, France Télévisions, refused to host the contest for the third time in four years.
Prior to the 2024 contest, Televisión Española (TVE) until 2006, and Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) since 2019, had participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest nine times. They came second on their debut appearance in 2003 with the song "Desde el cielo" performed by Sergio, and won the contest the following year with the song "Antes muerta que sencilla" performed by María Isabel.[1] TVE decided to take an indefinite break from the contest after the 2006 contest, with a broadcaster representative stating "Junior Eurovision promotes stereotypes [they] do not share".[2] RTVE returned after a 13-year absence in 2019.[3] Their return proved successful, with "Marte" by Melani García in 2019 and "Palante" by Soleá in 2020 both reaching third place.[4] In 2023, "Loviu" performed by Sandra Valero, ended up in 2nd place out of 16 entries with 201 points.[5]
Following the refusal of French broadcaster France Télévisions to host the Junior Eurovision Song Contest for the third time in four years, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) offered RTVE, which finished in second place in 2023, to host the contest, which it ultimately accepted. They announced the decision on 14 February 2024,[6] with the Caja Mágica in Madrid announced as the venue on 10 May 2024.[7]
Before Junior Eurovision
Internal selection
RTVE internally selected its entry for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024. The broadcaster opened a submission process for interested artists aged between nine and fourteen on 14 May 2024. All submissions required participants to enter covers of two songs, with applications open until 3 July 2024.[8] It was previously anticipated in February 2024 that the selection method for the song and artist would follow a similar casting format to 2022 and 2023,[9] while on 10 May 2024 it was revealed that the song would be selected afterwards from a pool of entries submitted by "a large group of [both] national and international composers" and later recorded in September, with suitability to the vocal abilities and style of the selected artist having been reported to be one of the main criteria in the song selection process.[10][11] Upon closing the submission period, Benidorm Fest 2024 artistic director César Vallejo announced that nearly 300 applications had been submitted;[12] the precise number was later revealed to be 290.[13]
Following an audition round held on 16 July 2024 at Prado del Rey in Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, an expert jury panel appointed by RTVE determined their eventual representative.[14] Chloe DelaRosa was announced as the Spanish representative for the contest on 18 July 2024 during a presentation event held in the presence of RTVE's head of communications María Eizaguirre [es], the head of the Spanish delegation to the contest Ana María Bordas [es], and Vallejo.[15][16]
On 7 October 2024, RTVE presented the song "Como la Lola", which was written by Alejandro Martínez, David Parejo, Luis Ramiro, and Chloe DelaRosa herself. The song is a tribute to Lola Flores.[17]
At Junior Eurovision
RTVE hosted and staged the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2024 at the Caja Mágica in Madrid on 16 November 2024. During the Heads of Delegation meeting on 1 October 2024, Spain was drawn be the 10th country to perform.[18]
Voting
The same voting system that was introduced in the 2017 edition will be used, where the results will be determined by 50% online voting and 50% jury voting. Every country has a national jury that consists of three music industry professionals and two children aged between 10 and 15 who are citizens of the country they represent. The rankings of those jurors are combined to make an overall top ten.[19]
The online voting consists of two phases. The first phase of the online voting will begin on 15 November 2024 when a recap of all the rehearsal performances is shown on the contest's website Junioreurovision.tv before the viewers can vote. After this, voters will also have the option to watch longer one-minute clips from each participant's rehearsal. This first round of voting will end on 16 November at 17:59 CET. The second phase of the online voting will take place during the live show and begin right after the last performance and will be open for 15 minutes. International viewers will be able vote for three songs.[20] They will also be able to vote for their own country's song. These votes will then be turned into points which will be determined by the percentage of votes received. For example, if a song receives 10% of the votes, it will receive 10% of the available points.
^Robles, Daniel (8 July 2024). "RTVE cede ante las críticas y cambiará el sistema de votaciones del Benidorm Fest 2025" [RTVE gives in to criticism and will change the voting system for Benidorm Fest 2025] (in Spanish). El Confidencial. Retrieved 8 July 2024. "Estamos muy contentos, ya que las candidaturas para el Junior han doblado a las del año pasado. Hemos llegado a unas 300 candidaturas, por lo que lo vamos a pasar fatal con el casting", ha destacado Vallejo, asegurando que estos datos evidencian que Eurovisión Junior también interesa. ["We are very happy, as the number of candidates for the Junior competition has doubled compared to last year. We have reached around 300 candidates, so we are going to have a hard time with the casting", Vallejo stressed, assuring that this data shows that the Junior Eurovision is also of interest.]
