Spain and Portugal for Visitors

Posted by : John Ross on Mar 13, 2008 - 12:09 PM HumanInterest

While the Socialist victory in last weekend's Spanish general elections is of considerable interest, it pales beside the real news: Rodolfo Chikilcuatre and his rap Baila El Chiki Chiki have improbably been chosen to represent Spain at this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Now, while I abhor a spoiler as much as the next man, I do feel there is a serious danger of Chikilcuatre being misunderstood by non-Spaniards and Brits in particular, so allow me to point out that IT'S A JOKE! Do NOT take seriously! You can see the act with barely helpful subtitles clicking the "Play" button in the MySpace window on the next page, together with more of this story and a short Spanish lesson covering the essential vocabulary of Spanish humour: cachondeo, guasa, hortera and cutre. Oh, and perrear and chiki chiki itself (adults-only language lesson ahead).

Rodolfo Chikilicuatre is a character portrayed by Spanish actor David Fernandez, a regular on the late-show Buenafuente. Baila El Chiki Chiki was submitted to the MySpace page for Eurovision 2008 opened by public broadcasting company RTVE and was overwhelmingly selected by Internet users. Following this, a television special pitted Chikilicuatre against other, more conventional entries, to no avail - Baila El Chiki Chiki has captured the Spanish public imagination. Veteran Italian presenter presented the competiion winner with normal cheerful breeziness, but practically choked with laughter when she found herself announcing that the winning song would "represent Spain."

Baila El Chiki Chiki is a rap to a reggaeton rhythm, and Rodolfo Chikilicuatre (the character) is of indefinite nationality, but probably not Spanish (or Catalan) - the consensus is that he and his backing singers are probably Argentinian, or from some fictional banana republic (dance enthusiasts will not need reminding that the reggaeton is an energetic Caribbean dance with explicitly sexual moves between partners). Chiki chiki is thought to mean the sexual act, and I think we will find that it is a term used by reggaeton performers when directing the goings on on the dance floor (Perrea, perrea, with which Chikicuatre opens the song, is the imperative form of perrear, an invented word meaning "behave like a dog").

Mockery is the essence of Spanish humour, and the Eurovision Song Contest with all its pretensions, false smiles, glitter and ineffably bad music has long been a favourite target. The lyrics to Baila El Chiki Chiki will be slightly altered, to make the song longer and to conform to the rules of the Eurovision Song Contest, which prohibit political content. This is because of a reference to King Juan Carlos I saying "¿Porque no te callas? (Why don't you shut up?)" to Hugo Chavez, last year's most popular diplomatic incident. These are the modified lyrics:

Perrea! ¡Perrea!

El chikichiki mola mogollón
Lo bailan en la China y tambien en Alcorcón

Dale chikichiki a esa morenita
Que el chikichiki la pone muy tontita

Lo baila Jose Luis,* lo baila Hugo Chávez,
Lo baila Mariano,* mi amor ya tu sabes.

Lo bailan los bródel, lo baila mi hermano
Lo baila mi mulata con las bragas en la mano

Y el chikichiki se baila así
Uno: el brikindans
Dos: el crusaíto
Tres: el maiquelyason
Cuatro: el robocop

Baila el chikichiki baila el chikichiki
Lo bailan los jevis y también los friquis

Lo bailan en la cárcel, lo bailan en la escuela,
Lo baila mi madre y también mi abuela.

Lo canta el tigre-puma con su traje a rayas,
Y Juan Carlos le dice ¿por qué no te callas?

En el velatorio del Padre Damián
Pusieron chikichiki y el muerto echó a bailar

¡Bailar, bailar, bailar!

El chikichiki se baila así
Uno: el breikindans
Dos: el crusaíto
Tres: el maiquelyason
Cuatro: el robocop

English translation:
Be a dog! Be a dog!

The Chikichiki is great fun
They dance it in China as well as Alcorcón

Give that dark girl chikichiki
Chikichiki makes her very silly

Jose Luis* dances it, Hugo Chávez dances it,
Mariano* dances it, you know about my love.

The brothers dance it, my brother dances it
My half-breed girl dances it waving her knickers

And you dance the Chikichiki like this:
One: the breakdance
Two: the cross-step
Three, the MichaelJackson
Four: the Robocop

Dance the Chikichiki dance the Chikichiki
Heavy-metal fans dance it and freaks dance it

They dance it in jail, they dance it in the school,
My mother dances it and my grandmother dances it.

The tiger-puma with his striped suit dances it,
And Juan Carlos says to him ¿por qué no te callas?

At the wake of Father Damián
They put the Chikichiki on and the dead man got up to dance

Dance, dance, dance!

You dance the Chikichiki like this:
One: the breakdance
Two: the cross-step
Three, the MichaelJackson
Four: the Robocop
*Readers may enjoy themselves trying to identify the Spanish politicians referred to. Or not.

Spanish Lesson:
Here is the Spanish vocabulary I promised:
Hortera (fixed form, m and f), adj. (or noun). Pretentious, putting up a false front. The people of Madrid are thought to be particularly horteros because they are always concerned with appearances. By extension, hortera means "in bad taste."
Cutre, adj. Cheap, shoddy or tinselly.
Guasa (pron. "wassa"), noun. Lack of seriousness, e.g. ¿Estás de guasa?, "You cannot be serious!"
Cachondeo, noun. Silliness, laughing, especially as in cachondearse de..., to mock something or someone.

Your homework for today is to match these four phrase with the Spanish words underneath. You may use more than one word for each phrase (send in your answers on the back of a large-denomination banknote, please):

a ) Rodolfo Chikilicuatre's Elvis toupé
b ) Eurovision Song Contest
c) Chikilicuatre's toy guitar
d) "Perrea, perrea"

i) Hortera
ii) Cutre
iii) Cachondeo
iv) Guasa

More:
Official Website of Rodolfo Chikilicuatre
Eurovision Song Contest website