María Concepción Bautista Fernández (born 27 October 1936, Seville

Seville

Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...

) is a Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 singer and actress, best known for her participation in the Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

s of 1961 and 1965.

Bautista moved from her native Andalucía to Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 in her teens and quickly established herself as an actress, appearing in a number of films in the 1950s. At the same time she was earning a reputation as an interpreter of Andalucían music and gained a recording contract with the Columbia label.

In 1961, Bautista took part in the selection for Spain's debut Eurovision entry with the song "Estando contigo

Estando contigo

"Estando contigo" was the Spain's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961, performed in Spanish by Conchita Bautista. This was Spain's first appearance at the Eurovision Song Contest, and the first occasion on which the Spanish language was used at there.The song was performed first on the...

" ("Being With You"), which was chosen as the country's representative for the sixth Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest 1961

The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 was the sixth Eurovision Song Contest. A total of sixteen countries took part in the Contest, including the three debuting countries: Finland, Spain, and Yugoslavia. It was held on 18 March 1961 and was the first to take place on a Saturday night, a tradition that...

, held in Cannes

Cannes

Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 on 18 March. "Estando contigo" was drawn as the contest's opening song, and at the end of voting had placed ninth of the 16 entries.

In 1965, Bautista came through a very convoluted selection process to win the Spanish Eurovision ticket a second time with "Qué bueno, qué bueno" ("How Good, How Good"), and went forward to that year's Eurovision

Eurovision Song Contest 1965

The Eurovision Song Contest 1965 was the 10th in the series. Luxembourg's win was their second. Belgium, Finland, Germany, and Spain each scored "null points" for the second time. The 1965 contest marked the debut of Ireland, a country which later went on to dominate the competition. This was also...

 which took place on 20 March in Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

. "Qué bueno, qué bueno" was one of four songs (along with those from Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 and Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

) which failed to score, representing Spain's second "nul points" following Victor Balaguer

Victor Balaguer (singer)

Victor Balaguer was a Spanish singer of the 1950s and 1960s, best known for his participation in the 1962 Eurovision Song Contest. Balaguer was known as a versatile singer who moved between popular music and zarzuela, singing in both Spanish and Catalan.Balaguer was born and died in Barcelona...

 in 1962.

In later years, Bautista forged a successful recording and touring career in Latin America, Italy, Greece and Turkey as well as in Spain.

External links

• Biography (Spanish)