The new national selection season for Eurovision 2019 begins from Spain as the Operación Triunfo 2018 kicks off tonight and the process to determine the next Spanish act and entry in Eurovision will be in progress. 

Operacion Triunfo 2018 will go on for 14 weeks and will be hosted once again by Roberto Leal and will be held in Barcelona. Just some days before the Spanish broadcaster TVE revealed the 18 competing acts . Tonight from the 18 acts only 16 will qualify to the next round of the show.

The TV show will start at 22:30 CEST and can be watched in the following channels :

• TVE 1
• TVE HD
• TVE Internationaal 
• TVE 1 webcast

Who are the OT 2018 competing acts?

1.Sabela (24 yo, As Pontes)

Coming from the region of Galicia she is specialized in Music Therapy and is a member of the band Bahut.

2.Africa (22 years old, Madrid)

Graphic Design student, in her Youtube channel you can see his passion for Adele and her sweet voice.

3.Alfonso (22 years old, Madrid)

He is a Venezuelan singer who already launched his first single in 2015 . It also has its own Youtube channel where it one can see his Latin influences.

4.Alba Reche (20yo , Elche)

The voice of this young act could be one of the competition’s revelations. She is a Student of Fine Arts, also has her own channel on YouTube.

5.Damion (21yo, Santa Cruz de Tenerife)

He knew how to conquer the public and draw all the attention thanks to his street performances at Puerta del Sol in Madrid

QUIEN ES ESTE CHICO DE MADRID? QUIERO HACERLE FAMOSO pic.twitter.com/YwcPyJulTe

— pau🌹 (@adidaswlouis) June 24, 2018

6.Carlos Right (25 yo, Esplugues de Llobregat)

Has an  experience as an actor, model and DJ, he is dedicated to advertising and marketing

CARLOS RIGHT. 25 años. Esplugues de Llobregat. pic.twitter.com/93gu55tWJ5

— Miss Indigo (@srtaindigo) September 14, 2018

7. Dave (20 yo, Sanlúcar de Barrameda)

As soon as he was included in the participating acts of OT 2018 he deactivated his social networks. In addition to a masters degree in German he is an actor, guitarist and he studies at the Superior School of Dramatic Art in Málaga.

8.Famous (19 yo, Bormujos (Sevilla)

As in the previous case, this young man does not have active social networks at this time. He is a fan of John Legend and Josh Groban. In this thread you can hear him sing.

Ignacio Serrano. pic.twitter.com/nEhiQa8cIz

— marvi⚡ (@marvtani) August 29, 2018

9. Joan Garrido (22 χρ, Palma de Mallorca)

Has a notable experience on stage thanks to the Broken Toys group , of which he was the vocalist. He has a degree in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences.

10. Julia (23 χρ, Cádiz)

With more than 5000 followers in her YouTube account, this act has already participated in other programs such as Tú si vales or La Voz .

11. Luis (19 yo, El Masnou, Barcelona)

As soon as he entered OT 2018 he already became the most controversial contestant. The fans of the program have called it “posh”, “facha” and “ultraespañol”. Everything arose after a photo of him with the king circulated on the network. Despite being only 19 years old, he has already published his own single called Déjate llevar :

12. María (26 yo, Madrid)

During his studies in the United States he was part of the band Brainsfreeze , whose style is completely different to what we are used to seeing in OT 

13. Marilia (18 yo, Gáldar, Las Palmas)

She released an album in 2016. She has extensive experience in his homeland after participating in the Voces de Gáldar and the Festival of Young Performers of the Song of San Lorenzo in 2017.

14. Marta (18 yo, Torre del Mar, Málaga)

Has a musical career as a member of a group of a cappella versions called Artmonies

15. Miki (22 yo, Terrasa)

Student of Administration and Business Management, he is part of a group called Dalton Bang .

He aquí mi #OTCover cantando #belerofón de @taburete89 Espero que os guste @OT_Oficial !
PD: siento mucho el desafine del piano… pero es un poco mayor ya… pic.twitter.com/BBMoZmAS9L

— Miki Núñez Pozo (@MikiNunez_) May 19, 2018

16. Natalia (19 χρ, Pamplona)

Her stage name is Eilan Bay . She tried to participate in La Voz but  did not pass blind auditions.

17. Noelia (22 yo, Málaga)

Another act that tried to participate in La Voz but without luck. On her YouTube channel you can see a good sample of the style and voice  this young artist can display.

18.Rodrigo (25 yo, Sevilla)

You can get a bit of a taste from this act by watching his own video clip called Quiero.

The Operación Triunfo story so far

Operación Triunfo was launched back in 2001 and was used than to determine the Eurovision 2002 Spanish representative. In that first season Rosa Lopez won the goldent ticket to Tallin in Estonia with her song  Europe’s living a celebration.

TVE channel used the same method to select the spanish eurovision acts and entries the following two years : Beth (2003) and Ramon (2004). In 2005 the tv programm was cut and the talent show moved to private channel Tele Cinco but without having anything to do with Eurovision. However, notable that two OT contestants from the 4th season represented the country in Eurovision, Soraya Arnelas in 2009 and Edurne in 2015.

The tv show returned back to its initial base in 2017, when TVE aired again the show after 13 years. The great success of the show led to establish it as the mechanism to determine the Eurovision 2017 representative.

The wiiners of ΟΤ 2017, Alfred & Amaia , represented the country in Lisbon with their song Tu cancion and finished 23rd in the final.