Blanca Paloma wins the Benidorm Fest and will represent Spain in Eurovision

Blanca Paloma

will represent Spain in the

.

The final of the

was planned as a duel between

's fire and Blanca Paloma's flight, and the jury and the audience have handed down their sentence.

With 169 points, the flamenco from Elche has obtained a huge victory over her rival, who has stayed at 145.

"The one that Grandma Carmen and the pigeons have messed up!".

With tears in her eyes and without letting go of the shirt illustrated with the face of the woman who gave her flamenco power,

picked up the bronze microphone from

.

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Interview.

Blanca Paloma: "Flamenco was a necessity, it had to fill the void left by my grandmother"

• Drafting: SARA POLOBenidorm

Blanca Paloma: "Flamenco was a necessity, it had to fill the void left by my grandmother"

It was not the first time that

undertook the

path , but it has been the most impressive.

Last year, her

de ella was in fifth position with great support from the professional jury, but it did not catch on with the audience.

Things have taken a turn with the impressive

of Eaea, a tribute in red and black to her grandmother Carmen, from Seville, who gave her flamenco power but never heard her sing.

Wrapped in a circle of red fringes, those of the shawl that Carmen bequeathed to her in life and that illustrate the cover of the

, a

first intimate, then extremely powerful has displayed all her vocal power in a very fast revolving sequence shot that, recounted in her environment, cost the cameraman a couple of falls in rehearsals.

The striking performance, together with a tremendously Spanish style but free of stereotypes, has also caused a sensation among

foreign

"This can only be carried out by Spain" was the general comment in the press circles.

"Those fringes that fell on my grandmother's chest are a way of feeling embraced by her, it is a space of comfort that at the same time pushes me to emerge empowered and make that journey of continuing to transmit her flamenco legacy", she explains, in conversation with EL MUNDO, "there would be no empowerment without prior vulnerability", sums up his message.

Blanca Paloma

Ramos, a graduate in Fine Arts and a set designer and costume designer for contemporary dance shows, was not always flamenco.

Her inspiration came from a distant zapateao that attracted her to a school.

And from there, she went on tour with a flamenco painting.

His personal project started, already in his thirties, in a breakfast conversation with

, producer and co-author of

, who acts as manager in the absence of a record contract that, at least until today, is reduced to a rights agreement. with Universal for 10 songs.

"I can say that I did a

for

," recalls Polo, who finally sees that initial idea turned into an international phenomenon.

He was behind the first

attempt of the Elche native, and also encouraged her to try her luck again.

Blessed insistence.

Desiré Paredes

, one of the showgirls that completes the

,

has been her family for the last two years.

They are two of the three voices in the show

, the work of the dancer

, the last Max Dance Award winner and who continues on tour.

The third voice has another "precious" project on its hands: being a mother.

Impossible to reconcile with the intense preparation of a candidacy for Eurovision.

Three dancers and another chorus girl complete an all-female cast.

It is not trivial.

"Among all of us we complete a rite of invocation, of trance, of catharsis, in which we somehow connect with our ancestors, with the strength and legacy that they have left each one of us", explains the star of the

.

At

's house there never was a game room.

She and her younger sister,

, who was also about to represent Spain in the first edition of

in 2003, entertained themselves in the music room.

"It was a little room with a carpeted floor, so you went in barefoot," he recalls, "it had several

to sit on, an entire wall was a mural of palm trees, there were vinyl records, cassettes, a microphone... We grew up singing there , dancing and feeling that music was a space for expression and freedom".

The path of the woman from Elche now heads towards Liverpool.

His main challenge, to break with the flamenco curse that Remedios Amaya inaugurated, penultimate at the 1983 festival. "Then, Eurovision was not prepared for something like that, it was an impact," says his heiress now, "now many artists have been paving the way for way, and flamenco is already playing outside. And they already ask for it, above all".

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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• Benidorm Festival

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