La la la - Massiel

The song 'La la la' was originally performed by Joan Manuel Serrat, but he intended to sing the song in Catalan. The Franco government would not allow this, and so they used Massiel as a replacement. Massiel represented Spain during the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest and eventually won the contest, beating the United Kingdom's Cliff Richard with 'Congratulations' with just one point. Some critics still cite this song as an exemple of Eurovision at its worst.

Last year, it became clear that General Franco had the competition fixed to ensure a victory for Spain, boosting the image of the country abroad. According to a documentary shown on Spanish television, Spain had bought programmes from other countries for broadcast in SPain, in return for votes for the Spanish entry. Massiel herself was outraged by the allegations, insisting that she won because her song was better, and that Franco would have not been able to buy any votes for her in the first place. The theory of bought votes certainly makes the bitter pill of this song winning the Contest a little easier to swallow.

My collection: 7" single no. 2998
Found: Geest, Den Haag, June 20, 1998
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'La la la' / 'He gives me love (La la la)'