When Antena 3 released the press details for the grand finale of Tu Cara Me Suena this week, a piece of the puzzle seemed to be missing. Ángel Llàcer was not going to be in the grand finale in person. A brief paragraph mentioned that Santiago Segura, Lolita, Chenoa, and Carlos Latre would choose the winner of the eleventh season of Tu Cara Me Suena. The hopes of seeing Ángel Llàcer reappear after his serious health scare diminished. It seemed we would have to wait until the next season. But Tu Cara Me Suena had an ace up its sleeve, a big surprise for the grand finale, even if it was just in video format. Regardless, Ángel Llàcer was there, and he was well.
The night itself wasn’t full of surprises in terms of winners and runners-up, but it was possibly the most emotionally charged finale of Tu Cara Me Suena in many seasons, largely thanks to its judging panel, Ángel Llàcer‘s reappearance, and the brief but significant farewell of Carlos Latre, who is moving to a different network and program. “May all winds be favorable to him,” said Manel Fuentes, embracing the comedian.
“I want to thank you all. To Tinet Rubira, especially, who chose me for this program, to the entire team, to my colleagues, to you Manel, for the affection, to all the contestants who have passed through… And truly, thank you to the audience, because this program changed my life and gives me life. Thank you from the heart,” was Latre’s brief farewell. From September, he will be at Telecinco. Farewells are always bittersweet. A little piece of the soul dies…
David Bustamante was crowned the winner of Tu Cara Me Suena with 45% of the public vote for his moving and brilliant impersonation of Antonio Molina. He dedicated it to his grandfather, of course, and became emotional; we are talking about David Bustamante. Many viewers expected Raoul to win, but the public placed him second with 32% of the votes after a hypnotic performance as Tom Jones.
Whether Raoul had won or David Bustamante had, which he did, both were favorites throughout Tu Cara Me Suena, not just in the final. The battle was always between them. It’s another instance of a former Operación Triunfo contestant winning, a recurring theme in Tu Cara Me Suena. This time, it was from the first generation of Operación Triunfo alumni. Keeping it in the family. And like any good final, there was some controversy, as not everyone is pleased, and for many, Bustamante wasn’t the favorite because David Bustamante didn’t impersonate, he sang.
Julia Medina’s Strong Third Place and Opening Performance
Julia Medina finished third in this season of Tu Cara Me Suena. It wasn’t easy for her, yet she still placed in the top three, having had the challenging task of opening the night with a spectacular impersonation of Céline Dion. The grand finale of Tu cara me suena is a bit like Eurovision: it seems those who perform earlier have fewer chances than those who perform later due to the audience’s short-term memory.
David Bustamante‘s journey through Tu Cara Me Suena 11 was flawless. It was unlikely that the artist, one of the great voices of the last 20 years – since his OT 1 days – would falter or disappoint. The singer gifted Tu Cara Me Suena with great moments from the first gala where he arrived imitating Manuel Turizo and shared an emotional moment – typically Bustamante – reuniting with his colleague and friend Chenoa.
His first victory came in the second gala, with a Nino Bravo performance that completely astonished the audience. It would be a lie not to admit that David Bustamante‘s voice is exceptional, but he also managed to embody the role and gestures of the artists he impersonated. It’s impossible to forget his performance as Joaquín Sabina, arguably one of the most challenging in the eleven seasons of Tu Cara Me Suena. He nailed it, perfectly capturing that broken, raspy voice… That night, David Bustamante won Tu Cara Me Suena.
As expected, as has become common in recent programs and finales of Tu Cara Me Suena, Bustamante did not keep the €30,000 prize money for himself, nor did it go to a single NGO. The artist decided to share it among all his fellow contestants this season. It’s a classic Tu Cara Me Suena gesture.
Ángel Llàcer: “Tu Cara Me Suena is Life” – A Heartfelt Video Message
But if there’s a classic element, a soul, a president, it’s Ángel Llàcer. A few days prior, Santiago Segura, Llàcer’s replacement on Tu Cara Me Suena, assured in an interview on Sonsoles Ónega’s program that his colleague was out of danger but had been very ill: “He was very serious, he was in the ICU, he was close to losing a leg, but fortunately, they caught it, they identified the bacteria.” Furthermore, the filmmaker hinted at the grand finale surprise of Tu Cara Me Suena by announcing that Ángel Llàcer would surely “be there next season.”
His predictions came true. Minutes before Manel Fuentes announced the winner of Tu Cara Me Suena 11, Ángel Llàcer appeared on screen via a recorded video. “Good evening. How much I wanted to say this and be there with you. I had a mishap, as many of you know, and I need to be 100% to be the president of the jury,” the president began. Tu Cara Me Suena and the Gestmusic team had prepared a surprise, a video tribute in which all his colleagues and many of this season’s contestants dedicated touching words to Ángel Llàcer: “He is the soul of Tu Cara Me Suena.”
However, it was a phrase seen in the video, spoken by Manel Fuentes in one of the Tu Cara Me Suena programs, that sent chills down spines: “Tu Cara Me Suena is life.” “I want to thank my Atresmedia family, my Gestmusic family, all the people who make this program, all my colleagues, all the viewers, my dearest jury for all the messages of affection and support you have sent me. Because when one is ill, those messages of affection and support, that is what gives life. This program too, and today we are enjoying it. When I am one hundred percent and feel super powerful, I will return, but that will be in the next season.” And they will be waiting for him there, we will be waiting for him there because indeed, the soul of Tu Cara Me Suena is Ángel Llàcer.
Ángel Llàcer’s Health Scare: A Difficult Ordeal
It’s unimaginable what Ángel Llàcer must have gone through in recent months. Initially, doctors didn’t even know what was wrong with Ángel Llàcer. The actor had traveled to Vietnam, where he suffered food poisoning and had to go to a hospital. There, according to his own account, “the doctors treated me and gave me antibiotics for five days, but it seems the bacteria stayed inside me.”
The Catalan returned to Spain, but he felt increasingly worse, unable to bear the pain, and went to the hospital where he was urgently admitted. The first days were terrible. “With severe stomach pain, with blood in the stool, and increasingly high fever,” Ángel Llàcer described a few weeks ago.
After many tests, doctors discovered what was happening to him. During the food poisoning in Vietnam, he contracted a rare bacterium called Shigella. The bacteria that attacked Ángel Llàcer usually reproduces in the intestine, although it can spread to any part of the body. The actor has been “very screwed,” even “could have died,” although ultimately, antibiotic treatment and surgeries he had to undergo saved his life.
It was the moment of the night, the moment many were waiting for, that he was surely waiting for. He would have loved to be in the grand finale, to climb onto the judges’ table, tease Chenoa and Lolita, run down the stairs among the audience, hug Carlos Latre, kiss Manel Fuentes. Simply to be present. He was present. And even if there had been no video, Ángel Llàcer would have been there anyway, he has been there all these months in spirit.
Tu Cara Me Suena will return next year, and Ángel Llàcer will be there. Last night, its grand finale achieved a 21.3% audience share, closing its eleventh season, yes, the eleventh, with an average of almost 20%. The program has once again been a massive success. Entertainment has done it again. A triple crown for Tu Cara Me Suena, for David Bustamante, for… Ángel Llàcer.
