Have Operación Triunfo and Prime Video been named the best program on Christmas Eve? With the permission of Camela, who is of a higher divine class, the answer is yes, because they are more than just a group of people you would like to have dinner with in your home. It wasn't difficult, the generalist channels stayed true to their monotonous script and Operación Triunfo gave us something new, especially because we had never seen an Operación Triunfo Christmas special on Prime Video. The platform eschewed “live-life” for an evening and broadcast a recorded gala, but had the respect to upload it in the early hours of Monday morning to spice up a dying television offering, rather than broadcast it as TVE and Telecinco used to do in prime time on Christmas Day.
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Thanks to something as simple as voice and live music, an increasingly unusual phenomenon on television, it stood out from the rest of the program. The 16 participants – the three excluded, Suzette, Omar and Denna, returned to the celebration – shared the stage with the Franz Schubert Filharmonia, a gift for them and for the audience. More than a talent show gala with barely a month to film, we seemed to be at the Grammys. Live is life, Opus has already sung it, but without its tension a performance shined with fewer errors and dropped notes. Even the locker room was better, thanks to the cheesy Brilli Brilli that the anniversary required; For the first time since the days of Verónica and Gisella or Miriam's tamer jackets, it didn't seem like something straight out of the Sepu scales. There were other positive developments: for example, time to get to know the protagonists, videos of life at the academy, a certain intimacy that doesn't have to be intrusive.
There was less risk in the musical selection than one would expect when selecting such young voices. From Luis Miguel's Christmas, Christmas, with which they opened the gala with the teachers, there were classics that would not have been out of place at any Judy Garland concert in Las Vegas, from It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year by Andy Williams to to Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree, Brenda Lee's 1958 hit, which displaced the stalwart Mariah Carey on the Billboard charts that year. Suzette and Chiara defended it in impeccable English that made you a little nostalgic for the days when Elias Vargas battled for “Killing Me Softly With This Song.” Some of these participants are practically so perfect that they could teach them instead of taking them. There was room for the Latin American quota: Salma and Naira – dressed as Cher, dressed as Kylie in the video for Can't Get You Out Of My Head – covered Gloria Estefan's Farolito and also for modern classics, if that's possible, think about it “Last Christmas.” modern,” when no one younger than the teachers on set seemed to have any idea who George Michael was. Wham's success was thanks to Chris and Martin and his moustache, another element of the program so adored by the Academy's youngest fanbase that it deserved its own separate review.
A moment from Juanjo and Martín's performance at the fourth gala of “Operación Triunfo”.
It wouldn't have been a bad tribute to remember “Fairytale of New York” on the day Shane MacGowan would have turned 66. The best Christmas song in history would have served to say goodbye to the recently deceased MacGowan, the volcanic and fascinating leader of the Pogues – for those who don't have it in mind, Crock Of Gold: Drinking with Shane MacGowan is available on Prime Video and Movistar+. A figure that exuded authenticity, the exact opposite of what is usually attributed to the participants in the format, who are always suspected of being a product manufactured according to the standards of current industry requirements.
It was a peaceful night, Chenoa recalled, confirming the obvious: there would be no reviews and “no buika, no party.” Without the wasabi with which the star of the jury seasoned his interventions, the gala was too sweet even for Christmas. There were even Secret Santa gifts that magically appeared on set, even though no one could go and buy them. Or not so magically, Noemí Galera already said it: “I’ll be here all day if I don’t buy it on Amazon…” wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
If the participants used the night to look around the remaining networks, they discovered what their future could look like. A former student, Pablo López, starred in the first special broadcast of the evening on TVE. It is inevitable to remember how Risto Mejide predicted for him a future as a “hotel pianist”, a very worthy profession and full of emotions, as he showed us in “The White Lotus”. Since he can always be a little cheekier, Galas later adds: “I upgraded you and now you're a Mediterranean cruise artist, nothing exotic either.” Also in the Telecinco special were Nia, Ana Guerra, Miki Núñez and Roi Méndez became a strange cross between David Grohl and Harry Styles. Some of those who sang tonight will appear on television on future Christmases; We will discover whether as guests or as protagonists.
Chenoa on the Barcelona set of “Operación Triunfo” during the presentation of the new edition of the competition. Marta Perez (EFE)
The highlight of the gala was “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” by John Lennon, performed by all participants together with the Barcelona Gay Men's Chorus. On a night that touched on the emotional, nothing was as emotional as seeing Chenoa raise his fist back on stage. “I love Christmas!” he declared at the beginning of the gala. We had no doubt he enjoyed it more than anyone else.
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