Aitana: the pop star who grew up under public scrutiny

BarcelonaThere is an unwritten rule ofOperation Triumph which ensures that the runners-up of each edition are the ones who ultimately end up triumphing. It is they, and not the winners, who make their races popular and who make viewers retain their names in their volatile memories. Long before Aitana Ocaña was named second runner-up of the reality In 2017, the year of the format's revival, it was already quite evident that the then 18-year-old from Sant Climent de Llobregat had everything going for her: she sang well and her voice had a distinctive sound; she was friendly and sweet, and she had a canonical beauty that made her attractive to brands. With the competition still underway, the rumor mill was already spreading that Aitana would be the new David Bisbal, a claim that has long since become a reality. On July 19, she performs at the Estadi Olímpic in Barcelona, a venue with a capacity for almost 56,000 people. figures that are already common in his career.

This concert is the first of three major stadium shows Aitana has planned for 2025, which she has dubbed Metamorfosis Season. The Barcelona show will feature a guest who shares Aitana's origins and youth, Julieta. This week, the Sant Climent de Llobregat native shared photos of the two wearing the T-shirts popularized by the Barcelona native with the slogan "And I am the Catalan dream", inspired by"And I am the American dream" by Britney Spears.

The reference to the princess of pop should not be taken lightly. hits as undeniable as those of the American. Being a pop icon is no longer frowned upon, quite the opposite. "You should be a pop diva in Spain. I think there's a niche for you," Manu Guix told Aitana during her time on the song contest. The musician had an eye for it, because eight years later she's established herself as a global pop star, triumphing in Spain but also in Latin America. What's left of that teenager who looked at her TV teacher with terrified eyes? Her signature bangs remain—she feels self-conscious about her forehead—and a naturalness that still seems sincere today. Musically, she's done what's expected of her: commercial songs for all audiences and ideal for radio.

Listening to her albums and some of her collaborations, it is almost endearing to remember how during her time at the academy she and her partner Ana Guerra bitterly protested because the program wanted them to participate in the Eurovision selection with The bad guy, A reggaeton song. "I've never sung reggaeton in my life, and I never will. I don't want this to be my style of music," she complained at the time. The laws of the market prevailed, and the song quickly became popular, becoming, despite the two performers, the first hit of their respective careers. This was surely the first lesson the music industry taught Aitana. A few months after that tantrum, she released Phone, a topic not too far from The bad guy.

Growing up in public

Let your career kick-start thanks to a reality show It comes with the toll that the public has grown accustomed to poking their nose into your life and almost feeling like you're their property. If, on top of that, viewers meet you when you're only 18, the image they retain of you is that of that time. For many people, Aitana is still the young girl who walked around the academy joking with her classmates and consuming excessive amounts of honey. Like other precocious singers and actresses, she has also experienced the trance of growing up in public view.

Followed by many children, Aitana has sometimes been mistaken for a child artist, leading to criticism when she attempts to move toward a more adult public image. An example of this mismatch It is the controversy that arose from the dance on the subject My love during the Alpha Tour, considered by some people inappropriate for younger audiences"She matures and shakes her ass in a way that would be fine for others, but is inappropriate for me. I take very seriously that a large part of my audience grew up with me and I am aware of the influence I have and I care a lot about them. [I care] To transmit security in themselves,... the innocent and youthful feminine ideal that many saw in me, without me being aware of it, is transformed or, rather, spoiled to become a woman," said Aitana in response to the criticism.

The Catalan woman defended her right to escape infantilization during an awards ceremony organized by the magazine She during which she also claimed herself as a feminist and artist. "The most degrading and most common comment about me is being called record label product because it not only depersonalizes you, but it robs you of your identity and creativity, considering you a puppet of a company," she said at that party. The label of manufactured product has been with Aitana almost since before she began her career. Both when she was in the contest and when she was already out, she was constantly compared to her partner.OTThe Navarrese was the artist and the music, while the Catalan singer was the mainstream one. This dichotomy hasn't changed much over time, and Aitana's international success has only reinforced that idea.

The Melon of Intimacy

At the same partyShe, Aitana also lamented that because she was a woman her private life became an object of speculation. However, she recognized a certain vital contradiction: she argued that the public of her beginnings, those who knew her with Operation Triumph, wants to know things about her private life and that's why she occasionally shares personal moments.

Whether she likes it or not, her love life has always been part of the equation for her success, ever since she was a simple contestant on a reality who, with all the innocence of adolescence, proclaimed from the rooftops that she would marry Vicente, her boyfriend at the time, until now. With her co-star, Cepeda, ten years her senior, she had a practically televised relationship. Once that brief relationship ended, she began dating Miguel Bernardeau, an actor on the rise thanks to EliteThey were together for four years and the singer has dedicated several songs to him throughout her career, the latest of which When you talk to him, included in Blue room"It's a song about forgiveness, and I wanted to make it clear who it was for. It's nice to apologize through music and publicly because people understand, but I don't think it's something he needs," the singer explained.

Aitana's other media romantic relationship has been with singer Sebastián Yatra, with whom she has had comings and goings with her own soundtrack, Akureyri, a song they wrote together about their story. That period now over, she is starring in one of the most talked-about summer romances of the year withstrimeral Plex.

Perhaps tired of others talking about her, or perhaps because every pop star should have their own documentary, this year the Catalan premiered a docuseries on Netflix in which she opened her heart. Reiterating the life contradictions she has already publicly acknowledged, Aitana showed her intimacy with Yatra, her anger with her record label, and also complained about the pressure she was under. In the avalanche of confessions, She also explained that she has been diagnosed with hypochondria and depression.Much to her chagrin, her attempt to control the narrative has been a shot in the foot. Instead of helping the public appreciate her exercise in sincerity, it has led to her father's role in her career being questioned and accusations of putting too much pressure on her. "Of all the things that have been said, the ones that have hurt me the most are the comments about my father. I want my father to tell me if he doesn't hear any of my songs are good. That's the kind of real communication we have," the singer argued in an interview with Efe.

Beyond the Music

Aitana meets every requirement that the market demands of a pop star, and consequently, she tries to make the most of it. Beyond music, as soon as she left the competition, she published a book, has her own cologne, and has been a judge on The Voice Kids and has tried her luck in the world of acting with products designed specifically for her (the series The last one, which she starred in with Bernardeau, was doomed by the couple's breakup.

She has also been the face of a wide range of brands: Stradivarius, Rimmel London, Yves Saint Laurent, Adidas, Levi's, Tous, Pantene, and Tiffany's, among many others. Fendi chose her as the ambassador for its summer campaign. She was also featured on social media when she promoted McDonald's with a menu created for her, which it later emerged she couldn't eat because she has celiac disease. The controversy serves as an example of one of the dangers Aitana faces in her meteoric career: sunburn from overexposure.

By Xavier Cervantes

'Spoiler' (Universal, 2019)

Amaia won the 2017 edition ofOperation Triumph, but both she and the record label Universal were very hesitant about her fit in the industry. Everything was clearer with the contest's finalist, Aitana, who had a better chance of making her way in the mainstream"In Spanish, you either go urban or pop, but you don't mix much," she said after the release of her first album. She mixed them without imitating any Latin American accent, relying on different producers, such as Alizzz and Mango & Nabález. Spoiler benefited from the previous single Phone, all one hit on both sides of the Atlantic composed and produced by Andrés Torres and Mauricio Rengifo, the Colombian tandem responsible for the Slowly by Luis Fonsi.

'11 Reasons Why' (Universal, 2020)

The Colombian connection was key to the success of an Aitana who had already filled the Palau Sant Jordi before publishing the second album. The objective of11 reasons, Produced solely by Torres and Rengifo, it was intended to conquer the hearts of new generations with the same emotional pop-rock tools that twenty years earlier had catapulted La Oreja de Van Gogh to success. If you're not coming back and You haven't left and I already miss you. are the songs that best fit this purpose, along with +(more), the collaboration with Cali & el Dandee (the group of brothers Alejandro and Mauricio Rengifo).

From love to sensuality. "The more you eat me, the more you like it," he says in Los Angeles, one of the hits ofAlpha along with Formentera (the collaboration with the Argentinian Nicki Nicole). And from pop-rock to electronic pop with The Weeknd and Dua Lipa as a horizon, a reference that Aitana already had in mind when she leftOTTorres and Rengifo continue to pilot the ship, which now navigates stadium and club pop, with small homages to '90s electronic music, even the least sophisticated. Alpha It is the album that redefines the singer from Sant Climent de Llobregat as a diva capable of rhyming success. evening and carThe test of confidence in the new era: a tour in which he practically swept away the repertoire of his previous albums.

'Cuarto azul' (Universal, 2025)

Consolidated as an electronic pop diva, Aitana and the duo Torres and Rengifo maintain their high level of production, but the proportion of memorable songs drops too low. Blue room, a 19-track album, is an unbalanced record. Apparently, it's about combining vulnerability and sentimental euphoria, ballads and dancefloor bombs like Ex ex ex, but it lacks the conceptual depth of the Brato by Charli XCX. Of course, some lyrics are the best she's ever sung, like the ones in which she is aware of her superstar status. Curiously, Aitana doesn't forget the good things of the past and opens the album with February 6 and It hurts a lot to say goodbye, two songs that could sign La Oreja de Van Gogh.