SPANISH artist Barei has secured her passport to the Eurovision with her performance in the first semi-final in Stockholm, where she will be up against other favourites to win including Russia, Armenia and The Netherlands.
Even if she had not done so well, Spain is one of the 'Big Five' countries guaranteed a place in the contest – along with the UK, France, Italy and Germany, plus the host nation.
TV viewers and the live audience at the Globen Arena in the Swedish capital watched a 55-second pre-recorded performance, in which Madrid-born Barei featured in a short dress covered in copper-coloured sequins and black trainers, showing off her now-popular street dance, complete with split-screen effects.
Co-presenter Petra Mede introduced her in Spanish as La guapa Barei ('the beautiful Barei'), and the artist herself watched her show alongside fellow contestants, France's Amir and Sweden's Frans.
The first semi-final confirmed the public popularity of Russia's Sergei Lazarev, who is currently leading in the polls and whose act includes spectacular special effects, as well as others such as Malta and Armenia whose female artists displayed tonnes of exuberance.
The Netherlands was equally well-received with its unusual choice of a country-and-western track – and Austria also broke with tradition by singing entirely in French, not even its national language, and one of the few nations, along with Bosnia, which did not produce a song in English.
Hungary and Croatia are also through so far, as is Azerbaijan – and for the first time ever, the Czech Republic.
Estonia and Iceland, both rated high in the polls, did not get through – nor did, for the first time in history, Greece.
The 'Leonard Cohen'-style act from San Marino, a principality to the east of Italy, and Moldavia with its extravagant act featuring a singer dressed as an astronaut, have also failed to get through to the second semi-final.
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