In September 2001, Rosa auditioned for new reality-show "Operación Triunfo" and she was selected to enter the show's academy. On 22 October 2001, at the age of 20, she became one of the 16 contestants of the first season of "Operación Triunfo". One of the prizes of the competition was to become the Spanish entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest 2002. Soon titled "Rosa de España" ("Rose of Spain"), she won the competition on 11 February 2002 with 26.6% of the votes, in a finale that achieved a record audience of 10,680,000 viewers and a share of 58.8%.