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Spain: The Running Order of the Benidorm Fest 2024 final!

Earlier today RTVE, the public broadcaster of Spain, revealed the Running Order of the final of Benidorm Fest 2024, through which the country’s entry for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest will be selected.

The Running Order:

  1. María Peláe – Remitente
  2. St. Pedro – Dos Extraños
  3. Angy Fernández – Se Quien Soy
  4. Jorge González – Caliente
  5. Nebulossa – Zorra
  6. Sofia Coll – Here To Stay
  7. Miss Caffeina – Bla Bla Bla
  8. Almácor – Brillos Platino

The winner of Benidorm Fest 2024 and, consequently, Spain‘s Eurovision 2024 representative, will emerge through a combination of evaluations: 50% from a professional jury, 25% from a public vote & 25% from a poll committee.

The vibrant festival will take place at the Palacio de Deportes L’Illa in Alicante, with the experienced duo of Ruth Lorenzo, Spain’s Eurovision 2014 representative, and Marc Calderó serving as hosts. Ana Prada will take charge in the Green Room.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for the latest updates on Spain’s journey to Eurovision 2024! 

Source: RTVE

Spain: Benidorm Fest’s voting system will benefit the jury’s opinion more!

Benidorm Fest will serve as the Spanish national selection process for Eurovision 2024 for the third consecutive year. The galas will take place next week from January 30 to February 3rd and RTVE has revealed the voting rules for the upcoming Benidorm Fest edition.

Benidorm Fest 2024 voting process

The winner of Benidorm Fest 2024 and therefore the Spanish representative in Eurovision 2024 will be decided as following:

  • on a 50% by a jury, which will consist of the following individuals, four domestic and four foreigners, all of them professionals:
    1. Beatriz Luengo (Actress, dancer, singer, composer, known for her roles in the iconic series “Un Paso Adelante” and her musical achievements, including two Latin Grammy Awards – Head of the Jury)
    2. Guille Milkway (Producer, DJ, singer of La Casa Azul)
    3. Ángela Carrasco (Singer, Actress)
    4. Carlos Baute (Spanish singer, composer, actor and presenter)
    5. Lee Smithurst (Head of UK delegation)
    6. Nicoline Refsing (Artistic Director of Eurovision 2014)
    7. David Tserunyan ( Head of the Armenian delegation)
    8. Marta Piekarska ( Head of the Polish delegation)
  • on a 25% by a demoscopic jury
  • on a 25% by the televoting, through phone calls and SMS

The advantages of the jury

The opinion of Benidorm Fest’ jury is definitely in pole position when it comes to decide on the outcome of the selection.

First, and according to the competition’s rules, after combining the jury and public votes, if there is a tie for first place, the entry that received the highest number of votes from the jury will be chosen. As a result, in the event of a tie, the verdict of the jury will be used as a tie-breaker instead of public voting.

Furthermore, the Benidorm Fest jury acquires a “hidden” advantage. The aforementioned advantage relates to the voting system itself.

In theory, jury voting accounts for 50% of the outcome, with the remaining 50% determined by public voting through the demoscopic panel and televoting. In fact, the sum of the points given by all jurors (54*8 = 432) and those given by the public -demoscopic panel and televoting- (216 +216 = 432) is the same.

However, the distribution of the points benefits the jury’s opinion more. Let’s compare the highest score an entry can get from each voting group:

  • If all eight jurors award an entry with their highest score, 12 points, the total score will be 96 points (12*8).
  • When it comes to public voting, the winner of each category receives 40 points, the second receives 35, and the last subsequently receives 16 points. If an entry wins both the televoting and the demoscopic voting, it will receive a total of 80 points (40+40).

Hence, the maximum score an entry can achieve is higher in the jury voting and that definitely benefits the jury’s favorites.

Benidorm Fest 2024

Sixteen artists will take part at Benidorm Fest 2024, the Spanish selection process for Eurovision 2024. The sixteen participants will compete in two semi-finals of eight, while eight participants in total will advance to the Final, vying for the ticket to Malmö.

These are the participants of the first semi-final (in the official running order):

  1. Lérica – “Astronauta”
  2. Noan – “Te echo de -“
  3. Sofía Coll – “HERE TO STAY”
  4. Mantra – “Me vas a ver”
  5. Miss Caffeina – “Bla, bla, bla”
  6. Quique Niza – “Prisionero”
  7. Angy Fernández – “Sé Quién Soy”
  8. Nebulossa – “ZORRA”

These are the participants of the second semi-final (in the official running order):

  1. María Peláe – “Remitente”
  2. Dellacruz – “Beso en la mañana”
  3. MARLENA – “amor de verano”
  4. st. Pedro – “Dos extraños (Cuarteto de cuerda)”
  5. Jorge González – “Caliente”
  6. Yoly Saa – “No se me olvida”
  7. Roger Padrós – “El temps
  8. Almácor – “Brillos platino”

The first semi-final will take place on January 30, the second semi-final on February 1, while the Grand Final will take place on February 3.

Last year’s Benidorm Fest winner and hence the Spanish representative in Liverpool was Blanca Paloma, with her song “Eaea“, finishing in the 17th place of the scoreboard.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the news!

Source: RTVE

Spain: More information about Benidorm Fest 2024 will be revealed on January 9th!

The Spanish National Broadcaster RTVE will reveal more information about the national selection process on January 9th.

It is known that for the third consecutive year, through the national format of Benidorm Fest, the country will choose the act who will win the ticket for Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö. Before that happens, on 9th of January, RTVE will hold a press confrence in Madrid to reveal more information about the Spanish National Final, as fas as the jury members and the interval acts.

Sixteen acts will participate at Benidorm Fest 2024, you can listen to them below by clicking on the title of each song:

Benidorm Fest 2024 will include two semifinals of eight acts on January 30 and February 1, 2024 as well as a Grand Final with eight competing acts on February 3.

The winner of Benidorm Fest 2023 and later the country’s representative at Eurovision 2023 was Blanca Paloma with her song “Eaea” finishing in 17th place.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the latest developments regarding the Spanish participation in Eurovision!

Spain: 825 entries were submitted to RTVE for Benidorm Fest 2024!

The submission window for Benidorm Fest 2024, the Spanish national selection for Eurovision 2024, closed yesterday after remaining open for nearly 5 months.

It is officially revealed that RTVE has received 825 entries. A slight decrease is noted in comparison with the 876 entries received in 2023 and the 886 received in 2022.

Statistics

  • All of the 825 entries were submitted via a web form, in comparison with the 455 entries submitted the same way last year.
  • Almost 200 songs were submitted in the last 24 hours!
  • All of this edition’s submissions include both a singer and a song. Meanwhile last year, more than 300 songs were not submitted with a performer.
  • 23 out of the 825 songs submitted are the outcome of a song camp that was held this year by RTVE. This song camp took place during the third week of September with the goal of enriching the festival’s selection.

More diversity than ever

In order to select the greatest entry possible, Benidorm Fest is now more open to any music style. This openness is depicted on the submissions. Reggaeton, trap, urban and electronic music will be present, making Benidorm’s Fest 2024 call the most diverse in festival’s history. Furthermore, many entries were submitted in co-official languages of Spain.

Along with the music genre, the artists’ profiles and backgrounds are also diverse. Benidorm Fest 2024 will include in its line-up both established and emerging artists.

What’s next?

Since the submission window is closed, RTVE’s committee will review all of the submitted entries. The 825 submissions will be filtered down to the best 16 acts, which will therefore compete in the semifinals of Benidorm Fest. The 16 participants of Benidorm Fest 2024 will be revealed on November 11 during a press conference in Seville.

Then, the selected artists will commence their preparations for the main event of Benidorm Fest, its two semifinals as well as the Grand Final. The two semifinals, will include 8 artists each and will take place on January 30 and February 1 accordingly. Benidorm’s Fest Grand Final is scheduled for the 3rd of February, when the 8 qualified artists will compete for a ticket to Malmö.

The winner of Benidorm Fest 2023 and therefore the Spanish representative in Eurovision 2023 was Blanca Paloma with her song “Eaea”, which although being a favorite, finished in 17th place.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all news!

Source: RTVE

Eurovision 2023: Spain’s second rehearsal!

It’s now time for Spain to take the stage in Liverpool. This year the country is represented by Blanka Paloma and the song “EaEa“.

Who is Blanka Paloma?

Blanca Paloma Ramos Baeza, born and raised in Elche, Spain, is a Spanish singer, costume designer and set designer. She tried to represent Spain for the first time last year, taking part in Benidorm Fest 2022 with the song “Secreto de agua”, finishing fifth overall. She returned to this year’s edition of the festival, competing with the song “EaEa” winning both the jury and public vote and therefore, getting the right to represent Spain in Eurovision 2023.

The rehearsal

Unfortunately this year, accredited journalists don’t get the chance to watch the first and second rehearsals, so we only get the information and content that the organizers officially release to the public through eurovision.tv and the official social media accounts of the contest.

Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU

The performance is similar to the one in Benidorm Fest 2023. On stage we see two semi-circular structures in red, with Blanka being accompanied by 5 five dancers. There is a lot of drama in this performance, with the led walls being in black, red and white. No major changes are made in the second rehearsal. Blanka’s vocals are once again flawless. This entry is different from the one Spain sent last year, having a distinct Spanish identity. We only have to wait and see the final placing of the song next Saturday.

Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU

Tonight, after the completion of all the second rehearsals of the Big 6, a recap video will be released with 30-second snippets of the performances, giving us a glimpse of how the acts will look on stage.

Follow us on all our social media, so that you’ll not lose a thing of what’s happening in Liverpool:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in Liverpool!

Source: Eurovision.tv

Spain: Blanca Paloma and “EaEa” to represent the country in Eurovision 2023!

The grand final of Benidorm Fest, the national final of Spain, has just been completed, with the country choosing Blanca Paloma as the festival’s winner and therefore their representative on Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool.

A total of eight finalists, who qualified from two semifinals, competed in the grand final, claiming the ticket to Turin.

The eight candidates of the night were:

  1. Karmento – “Quiero y duelo”
  2. Megara – “Arcadia”
  3. Alice Wonder – “Yo quisiera”
  4. Fusa Nocta – “Mi familia”
  5. Agoney – “Quiero arder”
  6. Blanca Paloma – “Eaea”
  7. José Otero – “Inviernos en Marte”
  8. Vicco – “Nochentera”

The voting

50% of the result in all three shows (two semi-finals and a final) comes from the jury, while the other 50% comes from the audience. The jury is divided into Spanish and international, while 50% of the audience is divided between the televoting and a sample of the Spanish population selected on the basis of statistical and demographic data (the demographic jury). This is a criterion used in both the Sanremo Festival (Italy) and the Melodifestivalen (Sweden).

The Benidorm Fest jury, which determines 50% of the voting, consists of:

  • Nina (Spanish singer, representative of Spain in 1989)
  • Christer Bjorkman (Swedish singer and producer, former manager of Melodifestivalen)
  • Tali Eshkoli (Israeli television producer and Israel’s Head od Delegation)
  • Nicola Caligiore (Italian, former Italy’s Head od Delegation)
  • Katrina Leskanich (American singer, representative of the United Kingdom in 1997)
  • William Lee Adams (Founder of the wiwibloggs website)
  • Irene Valiente (Spanish presenter and producer)
  • Juan Jose Santana (Spanish, president of OGAE Spain and composer of previous Spanish entries)

The results

Juries (50%)

  1. Blanca Paloma (94 votes)
  2. Agoney (80 votes)
  3. Vicco (59 votes)
  4. Alice Wonder (53 votes)
  5. Megara (50 votes)
  6. José Otero (37 votes)
  7. Karmento (35 votes)
  8. Fusa Nocta (24 votes)

Demographic jury (25%)

  1. Vicco (40 votes)
  2. Blanca (35 votes)
  3. Agoney (30 votes)
  4. Megara (28 votes)
  5. Fusa Nocta (25 votes)
  6. José Otero (22 votes)
  7. Karmento (20 votes)
  8. Alice Wonder (16 votes)

Televoting (25%)

  1. Blanca Paloma (40 votes)
  2. Agoney (35 votes)
  3. Vicco (30 votes)
  4. Megara (28 votes)
  5. Karmento (25 votes)
  6. Fusa Nocta (22 votes)
  7. Alice Wonder (20 votes)
  8. José Otero (16 votes)

Overall ranking

  1. Blanca Paloma (169 votes)
  2. Agoney (145 votes)
  3. Vicco (129 votes)
  4. Megara (106 votes)
  5. Alice Wonder (89 votes)
  6. Karmento (80 votes)
  7. José Otero (75 votes)
  8. Fusa Nocta (71 votes)

You can watch Blanca Paloma’s performance below:

Do you agree with Spain’s choice of representative for Liverpool? Let us know in the comments below!

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the latest news regarding Spain’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023!

Spain: The running order of the Benidorm Fest 2023 Final!

A few minutes ago the Spanish Public Broadcaster RTVE revealed the running order of the artists and their songs who are going to take part in the Grand Final of the Benidorm Fest 2023, tomorrow, Saturday 4th of February.

The running order of the 8 Finalists is as follows:

  1. Karmento – Quiero y duelo
  2. Megara – Arcadia
  3. Alice Wonder – Yo quisiera
  4. Fusa Nocta – Mi familia
  5. Agoney – Quiero arder
  6. Blanca Paloma – Eaea
  7. José Otero – Inviernos en Marte
  8. Vicco – Nochentera

In the Grand Final, as in the two semi-finals, the result will be decided 50% by a jury, 25% by a demoscopic jury and 25% by public vote.

Who do you think will be the winner of the Benidorm Fest 2023 and eventually will represent the Iberian kingdom in the upcoming 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool, in May? Let us know your though in the comments below!

Stay tuned on Eurovision Fun for all the news around  the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest!

Spain: the results of Benidorm Fest 2023 second semi-final!

The Benidorm Fest‘s second semi-final has just come to end.

A total of nine candidates competed in this semi-final, trying to get one of the four tickets for the Saturday’s Grand Final.

The show was hosted by Inés Hernández, Mónica Naranjo and Rodrigo Vázquez.

The candidates

Tonight’s nine candidates performed as following:

  1. Famous – “La Lola”
  2. José Otero – “Inviernos en Marte”
  3. Karmento – “Quiero y duelo”
  4. Rakky Ripper – “Tracción”
  5. Blanca Paloma – “EaEa”
  6. E’femme – “Uff!”
  7. Siderland – “Que esclati tot”
  8. Alfred García – “Desde que tú estás”
  9. Vicco – “Nochentera”

The voting

50% of the result in all three shows (two semi-finals and a final) comes from the jury, while the other 50% comes from the audience. The jury is divided into Spanish and international, while 50% of the audience is divided between the televoting and a sample of the Spanish population selected on the basis of statistical and demographic data (the demographic jury). This is a criterion used in both the Sanremo Festival (Italy) and the Melodifestivalen (Sweden).

The Benidorm Fest jury, which determines 50% of the voting, consists of:

  • Nina (Spanish singer, representative of Spain in 1989)
  • Christer Bjorkman (Swedish singer and producer, former manager of Melodifestivalen)
  • Tali Eshkoli (Israeli television producer and Israel’s Head od Delegation)
  • Nicola Caligiore (Italian, former Italy’s Head od Delegation)
  • Katrina Leskanich (American singer, representative of the United Kingdom in 1997)
  • William Lee Adams (Founder of the wiwibloggs website)
  • Irene Valiente (Spanish presenter and producer)
  • Juan Jose Santana (Spanish, president of OGAE Spain and composer of previous Spanish entries)

The results

Thus, the results of the first semi-final of Benidorm 2022 were as follows:

Juries (50%)

  1. Blanca Paloma (92 votes)
  2. Vicco (67 votes)
  3. José Otero (63 votes)
  4. Alfred García (52 votes)
  5. Siderland (48 votes)
  6. Karmento (47 votes)
  7. Famous (46 votes)
  8. Rakky Ripper (24 votes)
  9. E’femme (17 votes)

Demographic jury (25%)

  1. Vicco (40 votes)
  2. Blanca Paloma (35 votes)
  3. Karmento (30 votes)
  4. Famous (28 votes)
  5. E’femme (25 votes)
  6. José Otero (22 votes)
  7. Alfred García (20 votes)
  8. Siderland (15 votes)
  9. Rakky Ripper (13 votes)

Televoting (25%)

  1. Blanca Paloma (40 votes)
  2. Karmento (35 votes)
  3. Alfred García (30 votes)
  4. Vicco (28 votes)
  5. Siderland (25 votes)
  6. E’femme (22 votes)
  7. José Otero (20 votes)
  8. Rakky Ripper (15 votes)
  9. Famous (13 votes)

Overall ranking

  1. Blanca Paloma (167 votes)
  2. Vicco (135 votes)
  3. Karmento (112 votes)
  4. José Otero (105 votes)
  5. Alfred García (102 votes)
  6. Siderland (88 votes)
  7. Famous (87 votes)
  8. E’femme (64 votes)
  9. Rakky Ripper (52 votes)

The finalists of the second semi-final in Benidorm are therefore:

  1. Blanca Paloma 
  2. Vicco
  3. Karmento 
  4. José Otero 

You can watch the performance of the winner of the second semi-final, Blanca Paloma, below:

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the latest news about Benidorm Fest and Spain’s participation in Eurovision 2023!

Spain: Benidorm Fest 2023 participants will be announced on October 27!

According to an announcement by the Spanish broadcaster RTVE, a few days remain until the official announcement of the artists who will compete in Benidorm Festival 2023, where they will compete to represent Spain at Eurovision 2023.

On Thursday October 27, in a special program presented by Inés Hernand and Rodrigo Vázquez, we will see the announcement of the 16 artists chosen by RTVE’s team of experts among the 876 proposals submitted in total from September 1 to October 10.

In this show, each one of the 16 lucky candidates will be presented separately, making reference to their career so far, the reasons that led him to apply, and information about their candidate song. The event will also feature last year’s Benidorm Fest winner, Chanel, who dazzled Europe in Turin and will soon be releasing the official song of the World Cup in Qatar.

The next day, Friday October 28, a press conference with the contestants will take place.

We remind you that for Benidorm Fest 2023, songs were submitted by new talents unknown to the general public as well as by emerging artists, with increased interest from established artists, singers from talent shows, and even artists who have participated in Eurovision in the past.

Notable among the proposals is the presence of singers of all ages, from 16 to 76, bands and alternative artists, while a proposal was also submitted by one of last year’s Benidorm Fest contestants. There are also entries of artists with a lot of followers on TikTok, as happened last year with Britain’s Sam Ryder who took second place in Turin. The songs submitted cover a wide musical spectrum, from commercial pop, ballads, folk, flamenco, fusion and rock, to latin, rap and reggaeton.

Eight songs will compete in the first Semi-Final on 31 January and the other eight will compete in the second on 2 February. The top four from each semi-final will advance to the Grand Final on February 4, where eight acts will battle it out to win the second edition of the Benidorm Festival and the golden ticket to represent Spain in Liverpool.

Source: RTVE

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all news regarding Benidorm Fest 2023!

Spain: Which artists are rumoured to take part in Benidorm Fest 2023?

Although the first semi-final of Benidorm Fest 2023 is almost four months away, speculation is thriving as to which artists intend to submit a proposal before the expiration of deadline or will be invited directly by RTVE to take part in the Festival.

Drawing on information from Louis Mesa, a journalist with a special interest in Eurovision, we report what has come into light so far, attempting, at the same time, to present briefly the artists in question.

Angy Fernández

Angy is a singer, actress, and presenter, who became famous through her participation in X Factor in 2007. She is also the winner of the Spanish version of the first edition of Your Face Sounds Familiar in the country. In recent years she has mainly focused on her television career . Her last album was published in 2013.

 

Maria Arnal

The second singer rumored to take part in Benidorm Fest is the Catalan-born Maria Arnal. The artist from Bandalona draws on the musical tradition of the Iberian Peninsula, providing a new, freer approach.

 

Hugo Cobo

Hugo is from Córdoba and is 22 years old (born 20/12/1999). He became famous through the music reality show Operación Triunfo in 2020 (which was also the means of selecting the representative of Spain at Eurovision), and since then he has released several songs, some of which have become hits.

 

Abraham Mateo

The biggest name on our list is Abraham Mateo. He is one of the most popular young singers in Spain and Latin America. He has collaborated with Jenifer Lopez, 50 Cent and others, and his songs have billions of views and streams on Youtube and Spotify. His carreer is mostly comprised of Latin pop and reggaeton tracks, although in recent years he has also experimented with trap music.

 

Borja Escalona

The case of Borja Escalona is extremely interesting! The previously unknown singer found himself in the spotlight due to the threatening messages he received from social media users. These messages, however, were not actually addressed to the singer Borja Escalona, ​​but to his namesake, a well-known Spanish YouTuber, whose views (justifiably) caused a huge backlash in Spain. Due to the unjustified hate he received, a campaign has started, at the initiative of his promotion company, to represent Spain at Eurovision 2023.

Celtian

Celtian, who have confirmed their intention to take part in Benidorm Fest 2023, are a Spanish symphonic folk metal band, formed in 2017 by flutist Diego Palacio. With obvious influences from Nightwish, Eluveitie and Mägo de Oz, the band experiments with new sounds and folk metal.

 

Durability

The singer from Galicia has also expressed her intention to participate in Benidorm Fest 2023. She is a new indie pop artist who sings mainly in English language.

 

Megara

The band Megara tried their luck at Benidorm Fest last year as well, without notable success. However, as the members of the rock group have said, they intend to give it another go this year.

 

Viva Suecia

Another group has expressed its interest in participating in Benidorm Fest. Viva Suecia is a band that moves in indie rock, pop rock, and alternative rock music roads, and has released four albums so far; the last one with the record label Universal Music UK.

Pupi Poisson

Pupi Poisson (stage name of Alberto Zimmer) is a Spanish drag performer who became well-known through Drag Race España. She has hinted that she is taking part in the upcoming Benidorm Fest.

Alfred Garcia Castillo

An old friend of the Contest is not ruling out a return to Eurovision via Benidorm Fest. The 25-year-old Alfred García Castillo, Spanish singer and songwriter who became well-known in Spain when he took part in the ninth edition of Operación Triunfo, finishing in fourth place. Alfred García represented Spain at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon, together with Amaia Romero, and the song “Tu canción”, finishing in the twenty-third place.

Delaporte Music

Another band that looks set to join Benidorm Fest is Delaporte Music. Delaporte Music is mainly focused on Spanish indie pop, with the majority of their songs being up-tempo.

The Prodigious Decade

La Década Prodigiosa (also known as La Década) are a Spanish music group formed in the mid-1980s who participated in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, finishing in the eleventh place. The band has since changed members, but has retained the original (cheesy) pop sounds they are known for.

Trovadorum

The next band comes from Cuenca. Trovadorum, who have already submitted their proposal for Benidorm Fest. Their song is titled “You are not only ready”, and it’s heavily influenced by Celtic music. According to an interview with Trovadorum, the music video of the song has been shot in Cuenca in places like La Toba and Nohales, and will be released on September 30.

Siderland

Another group that confirmed their intention to participate in Benidorm Fest 2023 is Sideland, a Catalan pop group, consisting of young members..

The deadline for the submission of proposals to RTVE expires on October 10, while based on the relevant regulations issued by RTVE, the latter reserves the right to directly invite singers and composers to take part in the Festival.

Could any of the above artists represent Spain at Eurovision? Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all developments regarding Benidorm Fest 2023!