Vivo cantando

"" (; "I Live Singing") is a song recorded by Spanish singer Salomé with music composed by María José de Ceratto and lyrics written by Aniano Alcalde. It Template:Esccnty in the Eurovision Song Contest 1969 held in Madrid, and became one of the four joint winning songs and the second song from Spain –and last to date– to win.

Salomé also recorded the song in Catalan, Basque, English, French, and Italian.

Background

Conception

"" was composed by María José de Ceratto with lyrics by Aniano Alcalde. It is a very up-tempo number, sung from the perspective of a woman telling her lover about the positive changes he has had on her, specifically that she now lives her life singing.

Eurovision

On 20–22 February 1969, "" performed by both Salomé and Template:Ill competed in the Template:Esccnty of the , the national final organized by (TVE) to select the song Salomé –who had already been internally selected– would perform in the Template:Escyr of the Eurovision Song Contest. The song won the competition so it became the Template:Esccnty for the contest.

In addition to the Spanish language original version, Salomé recorded the song in another five languages to promote the candidacy: in Catalan as "Canto i vull viure", in Basque as "Kantari bizi naiz", in English as "The Feeling of Love", in French as "Alors je chante", and in Italian as "Vivo cantando".

On 29 March 1969, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the Teatro Real in Madrid hosted by TVE, and broadcast live throughout the continent. Salomé performed "" third on the night accompanied by Los Valldemossa –brothers Rafael, Tomeu, and Bernat Estaràs– as backing singers, following Template:Esccnty's "Catherine" by Romuald and preceding Template:Esccnty's "Maman, Maman" by Jean Jacques. Augusto Algueró –the event's musical director– conducted the live orchestra in the performance of the Spanish entry.

Two memorable aspects of Salomé's performance were her costume –a blue pantsuit designed by Manuel Pertegaz covered in long strands of porcelain resembling beads that weighed –, and the fact that the singer chose to dance on the spot during certain parts of the song. Dancing was against the contest rules at the time; Salomé was not penalized, however, as the performers from Ireland and the United Kingdom had done the same that year as well.

At the close of voting, the song had received 18 points, the same number of points as the Template:Esccnty's "Boom Bang-a-Bang" performed by Lulu, the Template:Esccnty' "De troubadour" by Lenny Kuhr, and Template:Esccnty's "Un jour, un enfant" by Frida Boccara. As there was no tiebreaker rule in place at the time, all four countries were declared joint winners. "" was succeeded as a Spanish entry at the 1970 contest by "Gwendolyne" by Julio Iglesias.

Aftermath

"Vivo Cantando" was included in Salomé's studio album of the same name. On 14 February 1970, she guest performed the song at the final of the Template:Esccnty of the , the national final organized by TVE in Barcelona to select the song and performer for the following Eurovision.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Chart (1969)	Peak position
Spain (El Gran Musical)	1

Legacy

Cover versions

• Israeli singer Rika Zaraï released a cover of the French version, which spent three weeks at number one in the French singles chart from 16 August to 5 September 1969.

Other performances

• Template:Ill performed the song in the show Europasión, aired on La 1 of Televisión Española on 21 May 2008 to choose by popular vote the best song that Spain has sent to Eurovision.
• Rosa López performed the song in the Eurovision sixtieth anniversary show Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits held on 31 March 2015 in London.Template:Efn

Impersonations

Salomé performances singing "" were recreated several times in different talent shows:

• In the eighth episode of the first season of Tu cara me suena aired on 16 November 2011 on Antena 3, Template:Ill impersonated Salomé singing "" replicating her performance at Eurovision.
• In the sixteenth episode of the sixth season of Tu cara me suena aired on 2 February 2018 on Antena 3, Template:Ill impersonated Salomé singing "" replicating her performance at Eurovision.
• In the opening number of the first episode of the twelfth season of aired on 4 April 2025 on , Àngel Llàcer impersonated Salomé singing "" dressed as her at Eurovision.

External links

• Template:Discogs master by Salomé
• ""Vivo cantando"" at Discogs by Ana Kiro