In the semifinal of Spain’s first ever Mask Singer: Adivina Quién Canta, two Eurovision stars were revealed as participants. Not only did Spain’s powerhouse Pastora Soler reveal herself, the same goes for Italy’s legendary entertainer Al Bano Carrisi.
Pastora Soler is El Pavo Real
The Peacock on the show, El Pavo Real in Spanish, was eliminated during the semifinal. When the mask came off, 2012 Eurovision entrant Pastora Soler revealed herself as the singer behind El Pavo Real.
In the shows leading up to her reveal, the judges hardly ever guessed Pastora’s identity correctly. It took them until the sixth show to mention her. At that point, all of the judges named Pastora Soler as their pick for the peacock. However, after her elimination, the judges weren’t as sure as a week earlier. Only Malú guessed her name correctly, but the Eurovision link was visible for many. Javier Calvo put his money on Gisela, who represented Andorra back in 2008, with José Mota going for Ruth Lorenzo. In previous weeks, both Rosa López and Paloma San Basilio were also considered as potential singers behind the peacock mask.
During her time on the show, Pastora Soler focused on English repetoire. She performed songs like The Best by Tina Turner and Dua Lipa’s Physical. The latter was her final performance on the show. You can see her performance of Physical below:
Al Bano: From Italy to Spain
The surprise of Al Bano popping out from under the mask of El Girasol, the Sunflower, was a bigger one – but not for the judges. The Italian singer entered the Eurovision Song Contest with Romina Power back in 1976 and 1985. He’s built a career in Italy and far beyond its borders. Together with Romina, he scored hits like Felicità and Sharazan. Aged 77, he’s still very active in the music business, with his most recent Festival di Sanremo performance only dating back to 2017.
It’s safe to say that Al Bano gave the judges a good guessing game with his song choices. The veteran opted for songs like Despacito by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee and The Show Must Go On by Queen. It all led to a debate about whether El Girasol was a Spanish celebrity or not. In previous weeks, names like David Hasselhoff and Sergio Dalma went through the heads of the judges. Like with Pastora Soler, Malú was on track here as well. After the first notes in the first week, she was convinced Al Bano Carrisi was behind the Sunflower mask.
Interestingly, Al Bano may the most experienced singer ever in The Masked Singer franchise and not just because of his age. Back at the start of 2020, Italy started Il Cantante Mascherato. The show, logically, contained a large amount of Sanremo acts, such as Arisa and Fausto Leali. The winner of the show was TV host Teo Mammucari. Il Leone finished as runner-up. During the final, Al Bano revealed himself as the Lion.
The Masked Singer x Eurovision
In the previous few months, it’s fair to say that Eurovision and The Masked Singer have shown a strong bond. Just last week, Finland’s The Masked Singer Suomi revealed Krista Siegfrids as Taikahattu and Mikko Leppilampi as Pakkanen. In Norway, Ulrikke turned out to be the Troll, winning the show, with Koningin Sandra Kim doing the same in Belgium. Other Eurovision related winners include Nadine Beiler, Rita Guerra and 3JS’ lead singer Jan Dulles.
The list of The Masked Singer performances by Eurovision stars goes on and on and includes many stars. Examples are Natasha St-Pier, Zhana Bergendorff, Willeke Alberti, Lukas Plöchl, Getter Jaani, Kate Miller-Heidke and Elina Nechayeva. All in all, your Eurovision knowledge will help you on The Masked Singer!
Below you can see Al Bano’s “Despacito” during Mask Singer: Adivina Quién Canta, where he performed as El Girasol. Let us know what you think about his performance below!
