"Baila el Chiki-chiki" (; "Dance the Chiki-chiki") is a

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wit ...

Rodolfo Chikilicuatre Rodolfo Chikilicuatre"Chiquilicuatre" means "busybody", "good-for-nothing" in Spanish. Chiquilicuatre' and chiquilicuatro' at the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española. (; born 1972) is a Spanish comedic character played by David Fernández O ...

, the entry for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2008 The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcasti ...

, held in Belgrade,

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

. The song was pre-qualified for the final round where it scored 55 points in total, placing 16th.

Background

The song is a parody of

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ), also known as reggaetón and reguetón (), is a music style that originated in Panama during the late 1980s. It was later popularized in Puerto Rico. It has evolved from dancehall and has been influenced by American hip hop, ...

music filled with jokes and references to the ''

¿Por qué no te callas? (; English: "Why don't you shut up?") is a phrase that was uttered by King Juan Carlos I of Spain to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, at the 2007 Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, Chile, when Chávez was repeatedly interrupting Spanish Pr ...

'' incident between Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, the king of Spain Juan Carlos I and Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Reportedly the lyrics of the song changed due to the political allusions, as the EBU does not allow political remarks in any song in the competition. The final version of the song featured allusions to some prominent Spanish figures, including

Pau Gasol Pau Gasol Sáez (, ; born July 6, 1980) is a Spanish former professional basketball player. He was a six-time NBA All-Star and a four-time All-NBA team selection, twice on the second team and twice on the third team. Gasol won two NBA champion ...

, Fernando Alonso,

Javier Bardem Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem (; born 1 March 1969) is a Spanish actor. Known for his roles in blockbusters and foreign films, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the psychopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in ...

, Antonio Banderas and

Pedro Almodóvar Pedro Almodóvar Caballero (; (often known simply as Almodóvar) born 25 September 1949) is a Spanish filmmaker. His films are marked by melodrama, irreverent humour, bold colour, glossy décor, quotations from popular culture, and complex narra ...

. It also alluded to the 1995 Spanish hit single " La Macarena",

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

and RoboCop.

Eurovision

National final

In the national final of the Spanish selection ''Salvemos Eurovisión'', the song beat the favourite,

Coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...

, with her song "Todo está en tu mente", which ended second.

Eurovision final

As a member of the " Big Four", Spain automatically qualified for the Eurovision final, held on 24 May 2008. Rodolfo Chikilicuatre was accompanied on stage by Disco and Gráfica, two comedic dancers that also accompanied him in the national final. Gráfica, played by fellow actress

Silvia Abril Silvia Abril Fernández ( Mataró, 10 April 1971) is a Spanish comedian, actress and TV host. Biography Abril was born in Mataró, Barcelona, and she has three sisters: Meritxell (1986), Mónica (1973) and Anabel. She is married to comedian A ...

, danced clumsily without knowing the basic dance steps. Another three dancers (Leticia Martín, María Ángeles Mas and Cecilia López) were chosen through the special casting show ''Dansin Chiki Chiki'' to join them in Belgrade.

Beyond Eurovision

"Baila el Chiki-Chiki" has also been performed by Chikilicuatre alongside popular figures such as King África,

Tata Golosa Romina Contiero (born 1983) known as Tata Golosa is an Italian female singer and a professional dancer. Her producers are Antonello Righi and Daniele Filippone. She became famous in 2007 with the videoclip ''Micromania'', which became very popular ...

, and

Dustin the Turkey Dustin the Turkey, a character performed by John Morrison is a former star of RTÉ television's '' The Den'' between 1989 and 2010 and from 2020. He has been described as "the most subversive comedy force on Irish television". A turkey-vulture ...

,Rodolfo Chikilicuatre & Dustin The Turkey
/ref> among others.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Official Eurovision Song Contest site, history by year, 2008.

Detailed info and lyrics, The Diggiloo Thrush, "Baila el Chiki-chiki".

Eurovision 2008 TVE's Official Web

Rodolfo Chikilicuatre's Official Web

Rodolfo Chikilicuatre's Former Official Web

Final Video Clip (English Subtitles)
{{authority control Eurovision songs of 2008 Eurovision songs of Spain Spanish music Reggaeton songs Number-one singles in Greece 2008 in Spain 2008 songs