Sandra Valero to represent Spain at Junior Eurovision 2023

Sandra Valero will be the Spanish flag bearer at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2023, which will take place in the French city of Nice on 26 November. The young Valencian artist has been chosen among more than a hundred candidates who applied for the contest.

The call opened by RTVE to select our representative in Nice has been a success, receiving a total of 114 applications, 19 more than in 2022. From there, 14 children had the opportunity to sing in front of a panel of experts.

Sandra Valero has been chosen unanimously after the castings carried out in RTVE and where a jury formed by Ana María Bordas, César Vallejo, Miriam García Corrales, Pablo Rodríguez, Tony Sanchez-Ohlsson, Rayden and María Eizaguirre has been in charge of selecting our representative in the 21st edition of Junior Eurovision.

Next, the Spanish public broadcaster will select the song that will represent our country at the Palais Nikaïa in Nice. Both the song and the official video clip will be released in the coming months. In September, Sandra Valero will record the song chosen by RTVE together with the video clip of the song. The deadline for submitting the application to the EBU is 16 October.

The confirmation has been made official through RTVE’s social media profiles and its website. In addition, during the programme “Hablando Claro” on La 1, Marc Calderó and Lourdes Maldonado have announced to the viewers the election of Sandra Valero as the representative in Junior Eurovision 2023.

This will be the 9th Spanish entry in Junior Eurovision and Sandra Valero joins the successful list of Spanish representatives in the children’s festival such as Sergio (2003), María Isabel (2004), Antonio José (2005), Dani Fernández (2006), Melani García (2019), Soleá (2020), Levi Díaz (2021) and Carlos Higes (2022).

Sandra Valero was born on 20 August 2011. She is a singer, actress and model who lives in Benetússer (Valencia). From a very young age she has been immersed in the world of music, from her great-grandparents and her grandmother to her uncle and her father, the latter being musicians and composers.

She has published several of her own songs such as“Invierno En Mi Ciudad” and ” Y DIGO EHH! He has also participated in other TV competitions such as“Idol Kids” and “La Voz Kids” in 2022. In the Antena 3 contest, she was partner of Carlos Higes, our representative in Yerevan 2022. Both were in Aitana’s team.

She is currently playing the role of Mowgli from “The Jungle Book“ in a local theatre company and has been part of the musical “The Bodyguard“. Sandra declares herself an unconditional fan of the singer Aitana.

In the face-to-face casting held at the RTVE Studios in Madrid, Sandra Valero performed the song “Parte De Tu Mundo” from “La Sirenita”, with which she thrilled the jury. Her voice colour, her power, her wide vocal range and her profile as an actress stand out.

After last year’s success, RTVE maintains the format of choosing the singer through two phases: one online and the other in person.

«Loviu”

Today we have finally been able to listen for the first time Spanish representative Sandra Valero give voice to “LOVIU”, the song with which Spain will seek its second triumph in Junior Eurovision in the next edition to be held in Nice (France) on Sunday 26 November 2023.

The song, composed by Luis Ramiro, Alejandro Martínez Valderrama and Diego Cantero, with the production of David Parejo Martín, has been presented this morning at a press conference and it sounds so catchy. We listened to it accompanied by the official video clip with Sandra Valero as the protagonist:

The song surprises with its positivity and adaptability to international language, catching the audience from the first listens, as it is perceived in this initial contact with the proposal that Sandra Valero will defend this year to represent Spain in Junior Eurovision 2023. In Sandra’s own words, it is cheerful and lively, which is why she wanted this day to come so much, because we are going to enjoy it and dance a lot during the weeks and months that lie ahead.

As we have seen in the video clip, the song evokes different sensations that allow us to let our imagination fly while we listen to it, making it possible to transfer them visually in multiple ways, opening the door to the development of a powerful and ingenious sta ging with which Sandra can offer all her energy and quality on the stage of the most important musical show for children and young people of the year.

“Loviu” was chosen by an internal committee of RTVE from more than 100 proposals received to be the song with which Sandra Valero will represent us at Junior Eurovision 2023 in Nice on 26 November.

Its universal message and chorus were decisive for the RTVE committee to choose this song as the ideal song for our representative. Moreover, it was written and composed by a group of great and renowned composers of the Spanish music scene, which has guaranteed a meticulous work that captures the attention from the very first verses.

Luis Ramiro, Alejandro Martínez Valderrama and Diego Cantero, with the production of David Parejo Martín. We get to know them through some of the milestones in their careers:

“I love the song, I can’t wait for you to listen to it and for you to be able to sing it and enjoy it as much as I do”, said Sandra Valero. The young artist defines the song as “happy and lively”.

RTVE’s internal committee has chosen this song because of its international chorus and its universal theme and messages. All this with the aim that our representative can connect with audiences from different cultures and languages.

They also emphasise its energetic rhythm and catchy melody, giving the proposal great potential to stand out from the rest.

On the stage, those responsible maintain that the song allows for a creative and dynamic staging, so that Sandra Valero can demonstrate her versatility and potential on stage.

SPAIN AT THE JUNIOR EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

Spain participated in Junior Eurovision for the first time in 2003, being one of the 16 countries that opened the festival in Copenhagen (Denmark). In this first edition, Sergio with his song “Desde El Cielo” placed 2nd with 125 points. The following year, in Lillehammer (Norway), with 171 points, María Isabel with her “Antes Muerta Que Sencilla” achieved the only Spanish victory so far.

A new 2nd place in 2005 and a 4th place in 2006 were the end of a successful first stage for Spain in Junior Eurovision. In these first four consecutive editions, the contest gained great popularity among the Spanish public, thanks to a large extent to the pre-selections with which RTVE chose its representatives, such as Eurojunior. They were also the starting point for the musical careers of many of the singers who are now present in the Spanish music market, such as Blas Cantó (who represented Spain in 2021), Dani Fernández and Antonio José.

Despite the festival’s resounding success, the public corporation decided to withdraw from the event in 2007, claiming that it “promoted stereotypes that were not shared”. During these years of absence, public interest in Junior Eurovision continued and the EBU tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to bring Spain back to the contest. Finally, on 25 June 2019, RTVE announced its long-awaited return after 13 years of absence. In this second stage, the public broadcaster opted for internal elections and managed to maintain the good level of previous years. Both Melani and her song “Marte” in 2019 and Soleá and her “Palante” in 2021 achieved a great 3rd place. In 2021, Levi Díaz with “Reír” reached the 15th position with 77 points.

In the recent edition held in Yerevan (Armenia), Carlos Higes with “Señorita” came in 6th place with 137 points, after being the second most voted entry of the 20th edition by the public on the online platform.

Spain is one of the countries with the best track record in Junior Eurovision, placing in the top six in seven of its eight participations.