Yo Soy Aquél

"Yo soy aquél" (; "I am that one"), sometimes spelled as "Yo soy aquel", is a song recorded by Spanish singer Raphael, written by Manuel Alejandro. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966, placing seventh, and over time it has become one of Raphael's signature songs.

Background

Conception

Manuel Alejandro wrote several songs for Lucho Gatica, being one of them "Yo soy aquél", but Gatica's team prevented them from meeting. So, Alejandro included the song in the album he was producing for Raphael.

Eurovision

(TVE) addressed the General Society of Authors and Publishers (SGAE) requesting original songs to participate in the of the Eurovision Song Contest, naming nine possible composers as an example, but leaving the SGAE freedom of choice. Since the SGAE did not consider appropriate to choose among its associates, TVE agreed to take into consideration all the works sent to them by SGAE's associated composers. Finally, TVE accepted songs from seven composers, among which "Yo soy aquél" sent by Manuel Alejandro and sung by Raphael was internally selected as in the contest. The public announcement of the song, singer, and composer selected was done without prior notice in a television broadcast in January 1966, for which TVE had to ask permission from the head of the military garrison where Raphael was doing his compulsory military service, so that he could travel to Prado del Rey for the announcement.

On 5 March 1966, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at Villa Louvigny in Luxembourg hosted by the (CLT), and broadcast live throughout the continent. Manuel Fraga himself, the Minister of Information and Tourism, on whom TVE depended at that time, had to obtain special permission so that Raphael could leave the garrison for a few days to travel to Luxembourg. He performed "Yo soy aquél" eleventh on the evening, following 's "Nygammal vals" by Lill Lindfors and Svante Thuresson and preceding 's " Ne vois-tu pas?" by Madeleine Pascal. Rafael Ibarbia made the orchestral arrangement of the Spanish entry and conducted the event's orchestra in its performance.

At the close of voting, "Yo soy aquél" received nine points –five points from , three from the and one from –, placing seventh in a field of eighteen, in a tie with Yugoslavia's Berta Ambrož with "Brez Besed". This was the best result for Spain in the contest so far, which led TVE to select Raphael again as its representative at the , where he competed with " Hablemos del amor" placing sixth.

Film

On 12 December 1966, the film ''Cuando tú no estás'' starring Raphael premiered in Spain, in which he sings several songs including "Yo soy aquél". This song and some footage of his performance in this film were later used in the 1997 film '' Love Can Seriously Damage Your Health'' to portray one of the protagonists attending a Raphael recital of the time.

Releases

"Yo soy aquél" was released in Spain by Hispavox in a vinyl single along with other three songs. It was subsequently released in different vinyl single editions in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, South Africa, Portugal, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela by different labels under license from Hispavox. Raphael also recorded a French language version of the song, with lyrics by Don Diego, with the title "Dis-moi lequel" that was released in France in a vinyl single by Disques Vogue under license from Hispavox.

"Yo soy aquél" was included in the album ''Canta... Raphael'' that Manuel Alejandro produced for Raphael, in which he wrote eight of the twelve songs, arranged other three songs by other composers, and conducted the orchestra on the recording. Another song on the album written by was arranged and conducted by Frank Ferrer. Seven of Alejandro's songs were featured in the film ''Cuando tú no estás''. The album released in Spain by Hispavox in 1966, was released in different vinyl editions internationally.

Charts

Weekly charts

Legacy

Cover versions

The song was subsequently covered many times and released by different singers:
* Simone de Oliveira covered the song in Portuguese with the title "Tu és aquele" in her 1966 album ''Música No Coração''.
* covered the song in his 1966 album with Chelique Sarabia and Aníbal Abreu ''El Mismo Cherry''.
* Willy Alberti covered the song as a single in 1966.
* covered the song with the title "Tú eres aquél" in her 1967 album ''Presentando a Imelda Miller''.
* Louie Ramirez and his orchestra with Ray de la Paz covered the song in salsa version in their 1984 album ''¡Con Caché!''.
* Los Panchos covered the song in their 1991 album ''Hoy''.
* Chayanne covered the song in his 1994 album '' Influencias''.
* covered the song in his 1999 album ''In Person''.
* In 2006, Telefe commissioned to cover the song to use it as the main theme for their telenovela ''Montecristo''. This version was also used in the later Mexican, Chilean, and Colombian remakes of the telenovela. Bolzoni released the song that same year in his first solo album ''David Bolzoni''.
* Fernando Villalona covered the song in merengue version in 2008.
* Ernesto D'Alessio covered the song in his 2009 album ''Enamorado de tí''.
* covered the song in his 2018 album ''Porque yo te amo''.

Other performances

* Gracita Morales, accompanied by José Luis López Vázquez on guitar, makes a comic performance of the song as "Tú eres aquél" in the 1967 film '.
* David Bustamante 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.
* Daniel Diges performed the song in Televisión Española's sixtieth anniversary gala ''60 años juntos'' aired simultaneously on La 1 and La 2 on 18 December 2016.
* In the show ' aired on La 1 of Televisión Española to choose by popular vote the best Spanish song ever sung, Gerónimo Rauch performed "Yo soy aquél" in the episode dedicated to the 1960s, aired on 22 February 2019, winning the episode competition as the best song of that decade. In the grand final episode, aired on 5 April 2019, in which the winner song of each episode dedicated to each of the previous seven decades competed, the song was performed by Melody placing fifth in the overall competition.

Impersonations

Raphael performances singing "Yo soy aquél" have been recreated several times:
* In the two-episode television biographical miniseries ' aired on 29 September and 6 November 2010 on Antena 3, actor Félix Gómez, who plays young Raphael, performs "Yo soy aquél". The miniseries also portrays Raphael's experience at Eurovision.
* In the eleventh episode of the fourth season of '' Tu cara me suena'' aired on 27 November 2015 on Antena 3, actor impersonated Raphael singing "Yo soy aquél" replicating the performance at Eurovision and winning the episode competition.
* In the grand final episode of the second season of ' aired on 22 December 2020 on Chilevisión, Cristóbal Osorio impersonated Raphael singing "Yo soy aquél" replicating –and singing in duo– the performance at Eurovision and winning the overall competition.
* In the fourth episode of the second season of '' Tu cara me suena'' aired on 17 April 2022 on Univision and Las Estrellas, Kika Edgar impersonated Raphael singing "Yo soy aquél" and placed fifth in the episode competition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yo soy aquel
Eurovision songs of Spain
Eurovision songs of 1966
Songs in Spanish
1966 songs
Number-one singles in Mexico
Number-one singles in Spain
1966 singles
Songs written by Manuel Alejandro
Raphael (singer) songs
Latin ballads