There are people who are so perfect that they make you mad. At first, that’s a bit of a problem with Edurne García Almagro (Madrid, 38 years old), until you discover that her apparent perfection is so natural that it doesn’t even bother you. It seems that she can’t help but (almost) always have an impeccable smile, be charming, and be liked. She is simply like that and has been showing it for 19 years, which is how long she was when she went to the academy of Operation Triumph In 2005, where she came in sixth place, she was introduced to the public and marked the beginning of her successful career as Edurne, just like that. She herself is amused when her meeting with EL PAÍS in a central Madrid hotel suddenly takes the form of a job interview.
―What would you say are your main flaws?
―I have them, but that doesn’t count.
I could say that sometimes she is guilty of being a perfectionist, of being overly hard-working, as she has shown in the past in television contests such as Your face sounds familiar to mein which she was the winner of the third edition, or More than dancewhere she came second behind Belén Esteban, because it is clear that not even Edurne can beat the princess of the people when it comes to the public vote. At the end, one confesses: “The kitchen, for example, is my pending subject. I would love to know how to cook and there is no way.” No, for the moment she is not going to participate in MasterChef Celebrity.
If Edurne is now in Madrid and not in Florence, where she has just started a new life with her husband, the footballer David de Gea (Madrid, 33 years old) ―new signing for Fiorentina―, and her daughter, Yanay, it is because of music. It is available from August 30th ecstasyhis eighth studio album, full of sounds dance and pop inspired by previous albums by Dua Lipa, Kylie Minogue and herself, the Edurne of the past who in 2007 released the rhythmic Delusion. “I always like to offer different things, not to make an album like the previous one. But one day in the studio I started to compose, to create, and I said: ‘Wow, I want to recover that electronic pop music to dance to, to base it well, to share with your friends or your family’. And it emerged NOTHING (one of the catchy songs from the new album). I submitted it to see how it would work and the reception was incredible. So I said, ‘if it’s what I want and what people like, then I’ll do it.’ “forward”he explains.
In ecstasy Everything, from the aesthetics of the vinyls, CDs and cassettes, to the music videos or the style that Edurne has chosen for the day of the promotion, is very blue and fuchsia pink. Very barbiecoreas the aesthetic movement that promotes the looks in these colors, driven by the great influence of the film Barbie. One more example that Edurne is a millennial who is at home with the trends of the new generations. When she became famous, social networks did not exist, but now she is a fervent user of Instagram and TikTok ―it even opened a Twitch channel where he made his first steps as streamer―. “I can’t complain about my edition (of OT) because I had a lot of exposure. There was no social media, but music and television were consumed in a different way (the gala of his famous performance of These Boots Are Made For Walking had a 42.9% of share). At that time there was Portalmix, which was like a social network with chat and you could see the news there. OT“, remember.
Unlike Portalmix, Edurne has managed to stay in the industry, reinvent herself and diversify. In fact, far from opting for contemporary artists, the Madrid native has chosen singers who have just started their musical careers for the three collaborations on her new album: NIA, winner of the eleventh edition of Operation Triumph30 years old; Yarea Guillén, 27; and the singer and content creator Mar Lucas, 21. “I like to immerse myself and listen to not only the styles that suit me the most, but other types of styles to be able to develop my musical skills. There is a very good generation of very good, very complete artists coming up, very young people who have incredible talent and being able to mix with them and be able to create with their ideas and mine is incredible,” she admits.
Even for those who have not followed Edurne’s musical career closely, there are three of her songs that are hard not to recognize. One is Sleeping lovesfrom their first album (2006), a song that brightened up the SingStar afternoons for many young people who immediately knew it by heart. Another is You lack poisonthe main theme of the series I am Beawhich was listened to every afternoon by around three million viewers between 2006 and 2009. The third is Sunrisewith which the Madrid native represented Spain at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest. She finished 21st out of 27, but her energetic “IE IEEEE” in the chorus remains unmistakable 10 years later.
For others, Edurne’s most visible face has been as a jury member of Got Talent SpainShe is the only one who has participated in all nine seasons of the talent showwhere she seemed to form an inseparable tandem with Risto Mejide, but in March she announced that her time in the contest had ended. “I will always carry it in my heart because it has been so many years. I have made a huge family there, I have learned a lot, I have laughed and cried… It has been an incredible experience, but well, it was a long time and I wanted to focus much more on music,” she confesses. Her place in the new season will be filled by Tamara Falcó, for whom she has only one piece of advice: “Enjoy it and let yourself go. If you feel like crying, cry; if you feel like dancing, dance. Let yourself be surprised.”
To her surprise, when it was learned that upon her departure from Got Talent (Telecinco) to focus on her music was later followed by her signing as the next coach of The Voice Kids (Antenna 3), with David Bisbal, Lola Índigo and Manuel Turizo as colleagues. “After being a mother, I have a lot more affection for children,” she says about this new turn in her television career in which she will judge the musical talent of children between 7 and 15 years old. Her daughter Yanay, aged three, is already starting to show, according to Edurne. “She loves to sing and dance. She has an incredible ear, she hears a song and immediately knows what it is. She knows my songs, she already sings them, she dances to them, she makes TikTok…”, the proud mother says with a smile. “She is beautiful, the truth is that if she wants to dedicate herself to music in the future, I will support her, of course,” she confirms.
She is clear that beyond the records, the tours, the television or the comings and goings from Florence to Madrid, her only great priority now is herself, Yanay: “The main thing is my daughter and her happiness, that everything is fine.” Edurne uses the word “luck” up to five times during the interview. Of course, she feels like a lucky woman both personally and professionally and, above all, she feels lucky not to give up on either part. “I have the luck that my career is moments. This month, for example, I’m going to have a lot of things because it’s all come together like this, but then there are others when I’m calmer. I have the luck “I’m lucky to be able to organize it in such a way that I also spend time at home, with my daughter, with my family, which for me is one of the most important things. I also feel lucky to be able to continue with my job after having become a mother, to have my wonderful parents, who take care of the little one and who are delighted. I know that not everyone can do it, that’s why I value it and enjoy every moment of being able to continue with my job as before,” she admits.
There is another word that she uses even more: “happy.” She uses it up to eight times, one of them to describe her state of mind in her new life in Florence. “Above all for David, because he is playing again in a team that he loves and that motivates him a lot. And Florence is wonderful, the city itself, the people, the food. Those ice creams… Oh, how good they are!” she says. In a city like Florence, learning to cook can wait for Edurne.
