Beth Rodergas became, on her own merits, a music icon in Spain. The singer from Súria was one of the participants in the second edition of Operación Triunfo, after the format swept Spanish Television with the first batch of triumphs. After the success of David Bisbal, Bustamante, Chenoa and Rosa, it was the turn of the Catalan, who became the representative of Eurovision in 2003 thanks to her memorable success Dime.
More than 20 years later, the artist admits to having “reconciled” with the festival, after a time away from that media bubble. She has admitted it in the Podimo podcast Estirando el chicle, presented by Carolina Iglesias and Victoria Martín. During the conversation, the famous festival went out for a walk on the eve of the first semi-final of the Benidorm Fest, which will choose the representative song of Spain and will be broadcast at 10:50 p.m. on La 1.
“At 20 years old I had fewer fears, fewer insecurities and in the end, even though I didn’t want to go, I was very safe at the festival,” the singer noted during the interview. A fact that is well known and that she herself has explained during multiple interviews, ensuring that she did not feel comfortable going and representing Spain, as she did not feel very patriotic. She herself acknowledged in the past that she did not resign “because she believed that that possibility did not exist.”
“I remember being a little nervous, but much more confident than now. I have experienced a reconciliation, not only with the topic, but with the entire Eurovision world. I have experienced a reconciliation with everything that surrounds the festival and all that, which pushed me too far back. “It’s very cool,” the Catalan insisted, given the explosion of fanaticism that the festival has experienced in recent years. The ability of fans to leave everything for their artists has also stood out in the talk.
Beth’s story with Dime is one of rejection that has healed as the years have passed. In an interview with Formula TV in 2021, the artist from Súria acknowledged that she did not really like the song and “tried to ignore ‘the concept’ of representing Spain, because I have never been very patriotic.” She did not want to perform it on the tour of her first album, where it ended up appearing as a bonus track against her will.
A feeling that has haunted her for years, in particular when she was criticized for supporting the independence movement in Catalonia after having sung for Spain at Eurovision. “One thing has absolutely nothing to do with the other. Separating music and politics seems to me to be a mature and necessary exercise. Just like raising your voice for injustices. That is something that I will never stop doing, sing in the language I sing,” she clarified through an interview with El Mundo.
