Rodolfo Chikilicuatre | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | David Fernández Ortiz |
Born | 24 June 1970 |
Origin | Igualada, Barcelona, Spain |
Genres | Reggaeton, comedy |
Instruments | Singing, toy guitar |
Rodolfo Chikilicuatre (Spanish pronunciation: [roˈðolfo tʃikiliˈkwatɾe]; born 1972); is a Spanish comedic character played by David Fernández Ortiz (born 24 June 1970) and first introduced in the Spanish late night show Buenafuente as an improvisational act. Rodolfo was interviewed as the inventor of the vibrator-guitar. The character rose to fame after he was later presented by the show's host, Andreu Buenafuente, with a song called "Baila el Chiki-chiki" (Dance the Chiki-chiki), a parody of reggaeton music filled with jokes and political references, and the show's host decided to enter the song into the Spanish selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Rodolfo landed Spain's best placement since Eurovision Song Contest 2004.
For the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, the Spanish broadcaster RTVE decided to make the song selection process more democratic, so, in an agreement with MySpace, a webpage was created where the general public could vote for any of the artists who were interested in participating, possibly discovering new talents. Any aspiring singer could upload a video to enter the contest. The top 5 voted videos, along with 5 more entries selected by a jury, went to a televised final where the Spanish Eurovision Song Contest 2008 entry would be chosen.
More than 530 songs were submitted, the comedic act of Rodolfo Chikilicuatre and his "Baila el Chiki-chiki" song among them. The song was heavily promoted by late night show Buenafuente and television channel La Sexta that aired the show, and ended up being selected by a landslide, earning 56.28% of the votes, well ahead of the runner-up, which earned only 14.6%. The winner was chosen through text messaging.