What the hell even happened last week? pregunto.
The fifth gala of Operación Tríunfo was such a mess, that I’d go so far as argue that OT 2018’s Gala 0 (yes, GALA 0) was leaps and bounds better than whatever the show attempted to pull off during its fifth round of competition last week. This is concerning for many reasons, but largely because it reflects on the work the professors–and by extension, the contestants themselves–are putting into mounting a successful gala worth watching. As of right now, it isn’t. OT 2018 is catching on fire, and all I can do is stand back and watch.
But listen, that’s not to say OT’s current contestants aren’t talented; it’s quite the opposite. From what I see, this cast has so much more vocal prowess than last year’s group. To me, the problem then comes down to what the show is doing wrong for that talent to not come through in their live shows. As you’ll see in this brief recap, some of OT 2018’s best performers are transmitting very little in terms of interpretation and emotional impact. It’s like watching an amateur theater production mounted without a director. There’s a sense of uncertainty among these singers that shouldn’t be there at this stage of the game.
Ahead of tonight’s Gala 6, which is likely to be one of the most tense nights on OT yet (one of its key professors left the show today, and we’ll totally get into this in my upcoming recap), let’s re-visit the performances of Gala 5.
Best of the Night
“Fast Car” – Alba Reche and Famous
While Alba Reche and Famous’ “Fast Car” stage was just alright for me, it at least deserved the title of being the best of the night.
Alba Reche is slowly growing on me. Her super throaty style of singing turned me off early in the show, but since then I can tell that she’s gradually polishing it to work more as a signature of hers rather than a distraction for me.
Overall, she killed this. She was fully in it and helped Famous not look like a lost puppy on stage. The song choice, though, was not my favorite.
Not Bad At All
“Pienso en tu Mirá” – Julia and Natalia
This was so close to being so, so good, but thanks to poor camera work and minimal passion from both Natalia and Julia, “Pienso en tu Mirá” fell short of spectacular. Which is a shame because this song slaps.
Regardless, I’m still confident these two will make it to the finale.
Meh..
“Volar” – Damion and Sabela
If there was a duo I was rooting for most last week to hit it out of the park it was Damion and Sabela. Unfortunately, they received one of the worst songs, and therefore were almost certainly set up to land among the bottom.
Thankfully, Sabela pulled through and gave us her best performance yet. But as for Damion, the dude failed to connect (again) and found himself up for elimination.
“Ex’s and Oh’s” – María and Noelia
Somebody really needs to step in and work closely with Noelia to improve her coordination on stage, because the girl looked so lost.
The same could be said about María, only her problem is intonation. She just seemed just off enough to notice it, and that bugged me through this whole performance. For the love of god, somebody please choose better songs!
“Créeme” – Dave (expelled)
Poor Dave. The show never quite figured out what to do with this kid. On one hand, his tone and uniqueness was something worth looking forward to each gala, but at the same time, he lost me in his interpretation.
At least here, in his final performance, he finally connected to a style that suits him. *sigh*
Yikes
“El Patio” – Miki
Honestly? I found this incredibly difficult to watch to the end. Even when Miki found the notes he was supposed to sing, it was a series of “eeeeeks” to get there.
“Y Nos Dieron Las Diez” – Marta
God bless Marta for trying, but the girl sang this like a jazz singer at a bar rather than a hearty mariachi queen like the song demanded her to.
“Rather Be” – Marilia
Find the note, girl, find the note. Please. I beg you–PLEASE!
“Tip Toe” – Carlos Right
What’s worse than Dave being expelled from OT 2018 is that he lost to this particular performance by Carlos Right.
This entire thing was wrong wrong wrong.
If you’re watching OT 2018, what do you think of the season so far? Are you as confused by it as I am? Who are you rooting for? Leave your comments below!
Is This How You Pop? 
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