| Year: | 1999 |
| Country: | Spain |
| Preselection: | Internal selection |
| Preselection Date: | 10 March 1999 |
| Entrant: | Lydia |
| Song: | No quiero escuchar |
| Final Result: | 23rd, 1 point |
Spain participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 with the song "No quiero escuchar" written by Adolfo Carmona Zamarreno, Carlos López González, Alejandro Piqueras Ramírez and Fernando Rodríguez Fernández. The song was performed by Lydia, who was selected by Spanish broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE) to represent the nation at the 1999 contest in Jerusalem, Israel. Lydia and "No quiero escuchar" was announced as the Spanish entry on 10 March 1999.
Spain competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 29 May 1999. Performing during the show in position 3, Spain placed twenty-third (last) out of the 23 participating countries with one point.
See main article: Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest. Prior to the 1999 contest, Spain had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest thirty-eight times since its first entry in .[1] The nation has won the contest on two occasions: in 1968 with the song "La, la, la" performed by Massiel and in 1969 with the song "Vivo cantando" performed by Salomé, the latter having won in a four-way tie with France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Spain has also finished second four times, with Karina in 1971, Mocedades in 1973, Betty Missiego in 1979 and Anabel Conde in 1995. In 1998, Spain placed sixteenth with the song "¿Qué voy a hacer sin ti?" performed by Mikel Herzog.
The Spanish national broadcaster, Televisión Española (TVE), broadcasts the event within Spain and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. In 1998, TVE selected both the artist and song that would compete at the Eurovision Song Contest via an internal selection. The procedure was continued in order to select their 1999 entry.[2]
On 10 March 1999, TVE announced that they had internally selected Lydia to represent Spain in Jerusalem. It was also revealed that Lydia would sing the song "No quiero escuchar", written by Adolfo Carmona Zamarreno, Carlos López González, Alejandro Piqueras Ramírez and Fernando Rodríguez Fernández and selected from more than 70 entries received from record labels.[3] [4] Prior to the entry announcement, Esmeralda Grao (with the song "Aquí"), Irene and Chelo, Malú, M.O.M. and Rosario Mohedano (with the song "Lere lele") were speculated by the Spanish press to have been selected by TVE for the 1999 contest.[5] To promote "No quiero escuchar" as the Spanish Eurovision entry, Lydia filmed a music video for the song in Milan and performed during the La Primera television programmes Hyakutake and Música sí.[6]
The Eurovision Song Contest 1999 took place at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, Israel, on 29 May 1999. According to the Eurovision rules, the 23-country participant list for the contest was composed of: the previous year's winning country and host nation, the seventeen countries which had obtained the highest average points total over the preceding five contests, and any eligible countries which did not compete in the 1998 contest. Spain was one of the seventeen countries with the most average points and thus was permitted to participate. On 17 November 1998, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Spain was set to perform in position 3, following the entry from Belgium and before the entry from Croatia.[7] [8] At the contest, Lydia appeared on stage wearing a rainbow coloured dress designed by Ágatha Ruiz de la Prada and Spain finished in twenty-third (last) place with one point.[9] [10]
In Spain, the show was broadcast on La Primera with commentary by José Luis Uribarri.[11] The Spanish spokesperson, who announced the results of the Spanish televote during the final, was Hugo de Campos.[12] The broadcast of the contest was watched by 3.95 million viewers in Spain with a market share of 34.2%.[13]
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Spain and awarded by Spain in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Croatia in the contest.