Benidorm Fest 2023 was the second edition of the annual

Benidorm Fest Benidorm Fest is a Spanish song contest organised by the Spanish public broadcaster (RTVE), in collaboration with the , to determine for the Eurovision Song Contest, beginning in 2022. It is held in Benidorm, Valencian Community, at the . Bas ...

, a television song contest held in

Benidorm Benidorm ( , , ) is a municipality in the province of Alicante, Valencian Community, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Known as the “New York City, New York of the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean”, Benidorm has been a tourist destinatio ...

, organised and broadcast by (RTVE). The show was held between 31 January and 4 February 2023, and was hosted by

Mónica Naranjo Mónica Naranjo Carrasco (born 23 May 1974) is a Spanish singer widely popular in Spain and Latin America and recognised as one of the most powerful voices of the Spanish and Latin American music scenes. She has performed with singers such as Lu ...

Inés Hernand Inés Hernández (born 10 May 1992), known as Inés Hernand, is a Spanish lawyer, influencer, comedian, communicator, and television presenter. In 2022, she was one of the hosts of the ''Benidorm Fest'', a song contest organized by RTVE to selec ...

and

Rodrigo Vázquez Rodrigo Vázquez may refer to: * Rodrigo Vázquez (bishop) * Rodrigo Vázquez (TV presenter) * Rodrigo Vázquez de Arce, Spanish statesman and jurist {{hndis, Vazquez, Rodrigo ...

. The winner of the competition was " Eaea" performed by Blanca Paloma, who in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2023 The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was the 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, as , the winner of the with the song "Stefania (song), Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to host the eve ...

, finishing 17th in the grand final.

Format

The competition consisted of two semi-finals and one final. In total, 18 candidate songs competed divided between the two semifinals, that is, nine participated in each one. In each semifinal, the four songs with the most votes among the professional juries (50%), the demographic panel (25%) and the televote (25%), went directly to the final. During the final, the eight qualified songs were performed again to determine which would represent Spain in the

, following the same voting system as in the semi-finals.

Presenters

On 19 July 2022, RTVE announced singer

as the main host of Benidorm Fest 2023. Naranjo was accompanied by Internet personality and comedian

, who returned to serve as co-host, and journalist and television presenter

Rodrigo Vázquez Rodrigo Vázquez may refer to: * Rodrigo Vázquez (bishop) * Rodrigo Vázquez (TV presenter) * Rodrigo Vázquez de Arce, Spanish statesman and jurist {{hndis, Vazquez, Rodrigo ...

Expert jury members

On 19 July 2022, RTVE announced that the expert jury panel would be headed by composer, musician and record producer

Nacho Cano Ignacio „Nacho“ Cano Andrés (b. Madrid, 26 February 1963), better known as Nacho Cano, is a Spanish arranger, composer, and record producer. He and his brother showed an interest in music in their young lives. At 5, he began to play the S ...

. It was also announced that Swedish singer and television producer

Christer Björkman Christer Samuel Björkman (; born 25 August 1957) is a Swedish singer and television producer. He represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992 with the song "I morgon är en annan dag". From 2002 to 2021, he served as a producer of M ...

would be among the international members of the expert jury. On 25 January 2023, RTVE announced the full eight-member jury line-up, with five international members and three national members. It was also announced that Cano would not be part of the jury as initially announced, citing professional scheduling reasons.

Guest performers

Information about the guest performers was revealed during the Benidorm Fest week. The first semi-final was opened by presenter

performing "

Diva Diva (, ) is the Latin word for a goddess. Diva is a name from Roman mythology, and is associated with the nouns divus, diva, which means god, goddess, and the adjective divinius, which means divine or heavenly. It has often been used to refer t ...

". The intervals acts included Leo Rizzi performing "

Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

", and

Edurne Edurne García Almagro (; born 22 December 1985) is a Spanish singer, actress, and television presenter. She rose to fame in late 2005 when she took part in the Spanish casting show ''Operación Triunfo (Spain), Operación Triunfo'' on Televisi ...

, who represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, performing "Boomerang", "Te quedaste solo" and "Amores dormidos". The second semi-final was opened by

Miguel Poveda Miguel Ángel Poveda León (born 13 February 1973) is a Spanish flamenco singer. Poveda has collaborated with artists from various disciplines who were previously unknown to flamenco audiences. He often collaborates with Spanish flamenco guit ...

performing "

Eres tú "Eres tú" (; "It's You") is a song recorded by Spanish band Mocedades, written by Juan Carlos Calderón. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1973 held in Luxembourg placing second which was followed by a global success. It is one of the few ...

", while the interval featured

Álvaro Soler Álvaro Tauchert Soler (, ; born 9 January 1991) is a Spanish singer. He rose to prominence across Europe and Latin America with his 2015 hit " El mismo sol", primarily achieving success in Italy, Switzerland and Mexico. A special bilingual ...

performing "Candela", and

Gloria Trevi Gloria de los Ángeles Treviño Ruiz (born February 15, 1968), known professionally as Gloria Trevi, is a Mexican singer, songwriter and actress. She is known for her emotional lyrics, performances, and lasting influence on Latin music, being ...

performing "

Gloria Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkins ...

" and "

Todos Me Miran "Todos Me Miran" ("''Everyone looks at me''") is a song by the Mexican artist Gloria Trevi Gloria de los Ángeles Treviño Ruiz (born February 15, 1968), known professionally as Gloria Trevi, is a Mexican singer, songwriter and actress. She ...

". The final was opened by Manuel Carrasco performing "Eres". The interval acts included presenter Mónica Naranjo performing her song "

Sobreviviré ''I Will Survive'' () is a 1999 Spanish romantic comedy-drama film directed by and , starring Emma Suárez and Juan Diego Botto, playing a straight woman and a gay man who fall in love. The film and especially the soundtrack was very successful i ...

", and

Ana Mena Ana Mena Rojas (born 25 February 1997) is a Spanish singer and actress. She began her career in 2009 in the TV series ''Marisol, la película'' (2009). In 2010, she participated in Disney's musical reality show ''My Camp Rock 2'' ending up as th ...

performing "Un clásico" and "Las 12". In addition, previous winner

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. It is privately owned by French brothers, Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, through the holding company Chanel Limited, established in 2018 and headquarte ...

made an appearance to hand the trophy to her successor.

Competing entries

RTVE published the rules and regulations for Benidorm Fest 2023 on 19 July 2022. The submission period opened on 1 September 2022, with the window closing on 10 October 2022. In addition to the open submission, RTVE reserved the right to invite renowned singers and authors from the current music scene directly. Upon closing the submission period, RTVE announced that 876 entries had been received, 482 by the online form and 394 by record labels. The names of the chosen contestants were officially announced by RTVE on 25 October 2022, in a special broadcast on La 1 hosted by Inés Hernand, followed by a presentation event on 29 October, hosted by

Julia Varela Julia Varela Ruano (born 30 June 1981) is a Spanish television and radio presenter, newsreader, reporter and director. Biography After graduating in journalism at the Complutense University of Madrid, Varela began her professional career at RT ...

and Rodrigo Vázquez also on La 1. Among the competing artists is Blanca Paloma, who participated in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. The competing songs were released on

RTVE Play RTVE Play (often stylized as rtve play) is the over-the-top media service provided by the Spanish public broadcaster RTVE. It was launched in Spain on 22 June 2021, replacing the old catalogue 'RTVE a la carta', created in turn in 2008. History ...

and RTVE's website on 18 December 2022.

Semi-finals

The two semi-finals were held on 31 January and 2 February 2023. The running order of the semi-finals, which was decided by the organizers, was revealed on the day of each of the shows.

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final took place on 31 January 2023. Agoney, Alice Wonder, Fusa Nocta, and

Megara Megara (; , ) is a historic town and a municipality in West Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis Island, Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, before being taken ...

qualified for the final. A total of 10,285 televotes were received during the semi-final, including 7,507 via SMS and 2,778 via phone call.

Semi-final 2

The second semi-final took place on 2 February 2023. Blanca Paloma, José Otero, Karmento, and Vicco qualified for the final. A total of 11,224 televotes were received during the semi-final, including 7,808 via SMS and 3,416 via phone call.

Final

The final took place on 4 February 2023. The running order of the final was decided by a draw held on 3 February 2023. A total of 34,997 televotes were received during the final, including 24,553 via SMS and 10,444 via phone call.

Ratings

Reception

TV awards

Benidorm Fest 2023 was presented with a special prize at the annual

Premios Ondas The Premios Ondas (Spanish: literally "wave awards", also known in English as the Ondas Awards or simply The Ondas) have been given since 1954 by Radio Barcelona, a subsidiary of Cadena SER, in recognition of professionals in the fields of radio ...

on 18 October 2023.

Notes

References

{{Authority control 2023 song contests Benidorm Fest Eurovision Song Contest 2023