This coming Saturday, Madrid becomes the official headquarters Junior EurovisionA competition that inspires young talent across Europe. Representing our country this year will be 11-year-old Chloe de la Rosa from Extremadura, who will play like lola Accompanied by her dancers Ilinka, Laia, Maria and Amy, Chloe. Outgoing and very funny, Chloe Jr. managed to keep all the Eurofans in her pocket, connecting with the cameras and the public with the same energy as the other child prodigies who made history at Eurovision. Maria Isabel, Antonio Jose is Dani FernandezThose who pass the competition go on to achieve success. However, twenty years ago he was the first to represent Spain in this contest, about whom little or nothing is known until now, and whose performance was recorded in the collective memory of an entire generation and marked the beginning of a Eurovision phenomenon. spain
© RTVEIt was about Sergio Jesus Garcia GilA boy from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz, who won the first Junior Eurovision Song Contest with his voice and his story, where he represented our country with an emotional song from the skyDedicated to his mother, who died a few years ago. Today, Sergio made news again by giving his first interview in nearly two decades where he revealed what he’s been up to during these years away from the spotlight and stardom.
© @JuanjeDianezIn 2003, aged just 11, Sergio was selected to represent Spain at the first Junior Eurovision after participating in the Eurojunior programme. With little to no stage experience, Sergio sang Desde El Cielo, a moving ballad he had composed. Alexander Abad To pay tribute to his mother. “It was as if he was talking directly to the sky,” Sergio recalled in a recent interview podcast Now I find out By Juanje Diánez . His performance not only won him second place in the competition but also earned him a place in the hearts of crores of viewers.
“It was a magical moment, and even though I was scared, I felt that my mother was with me,” Sergio admitted. His performance, in which he constantly looked up at the sky, broke through linguistic and cultural barriers and conquered every corner of Europe.
From prodigy to child idol
After his success at Junior Eurovision, Sergio was part of Group of 3+2 childrenAlong with some of his Eurojunior teammates, such as Blanca, Diego and Irune. The team was a phenomenon in Spain, as were the Hits Spinning Non-Stop and The Dance of the OD. Over the years, they have toured the country filling auditoriums and singing to crowds, becoming idols for thousands of children and youth.
But in 2008, the story of 3+2 came to an end, and Sergio, at the age of seventeen, faced a decision that would mark his life: leave fame behind and resume his life in Sanlúcar. “I wanted to go back to a normal life without the noise of fame,” Sergio said in his recent interview. “There’s a lot of peace in looking back and knowing that I chose a path that I felt good about,” she says. Sergio decided to study to become an oral hygienist and nurse and found in his new profession a profession that deeply fulfilled him.
© Sergio GargilFather of two children
Since then, Sergio has built a life away from the stage, but he has never abandoned his love for music. Although she no longer pursues it as a career, she continues to sing on special occasions. In 2023, Sergio is part of the group Vosemwhich are performed at ceremonies and intimate events. “It’s a way to get rid of my thorn,” she admits.
In addition to his career in healthcare, Sergio is today the father of two children, an experience he describes as “life’s greatest gift”. He keeps alive the memory of his mother, who inspired the song that took him to Junior Eurovision, and assures that “not a day goes by without thinking about her and everything she taught me.”
