If ratings are any indicator, then RTVE has just scored a huge win. The final of its inaugural edition of Benidorm Fest drew 2.97 million viewers. That represents a 21% share of the TV viewing audience. For comparison, RTVE typically earns a 7 to 8% share of the audience.
Across the three shows, the festival had nearly 10.8 million viewers.
?La final del #BenidormFest subió al 21% de share y fue seguida por 2.966.000 espectadores, LO + VISTO DEL DÍA y lo + visto de @La1_tve en el año
— Dos30' (@Dos30TV) January 30, 2022
?#ElFestivalQueQuieres es visto entre sus tres galas por un total de 10.777.000 personas
WOWWW!#QueVivaLaTele #Audiencias pic.twitter.com/ycr86EHBbf
The ratings success will, no doubt, give RTVE even more faith in its new selection method, which dominated the trends in Spain during each broadcast. Rigoberta, Tanxugueiras, Chanel, Rayden….it seemed like every artist became a trending topic at some point.
As is tradition among any passionate fan base, conversation over the winner and the results are a hot talking point. Our results post now has over 600 comments, which show the joy of some and the heartbreak of others. The fact that people can love different songs so deeply is a reminder of the awesome diversity and strength of the choices.
Amid all the emotion and Eurodrama, there is a celebratory thread. Fans inside and outside of Spain are applauding producers for delivering a strong final that had several viable options for Eurovision. Bai la la is the past. Benidorm Fest is the future.
?? Almost 200.000 votes in #BenidormFest. 1.000 messages were received each second.
— wiwibloggs (@wiwibloggs) January 30, 2022
? 53.623 calls
? 138.383 text messages #ElFestivalQueQuieres https://t.co/owl4nnffYI
Let’s see what our readers have been saying…
Thanos writes, “This year [Spain] really improved their game and showed us that they take ESC more seriously than in the past couple of years.”
Fast Food Music Lover says, “Very exciting national selection. Thank you Spain for giving us eurofans such a spectacular show!”
OberonYronwood was getting all the feels. “Firstly, I would like to congratulate RTVE once again for the great show that they gave us tonight, Benidorm Fest has become a hit in Spain and that’s only due to the effort of the heads of delegation, Maria and Eva, thank you from the bottom of my heart, you gave us the national final that we had been waiting for for years.”
Purple Mask agrees that a new day has arrived for Spain. But she’s quick to point out that there have been good entries from Spain in the past.
“As National Finals go, yes this is a new era for Spain and I’m very happy about that. However, there are plenty of examples of Spain taking Eurovision seriously over the past 10 years. Ignoring Operación Triunfo, there was Edurne with “Amanecer”, Ruth Lorenzo and Pastora Soler – all serious entries.”
Roelof M thinks the show will lead to a strong result in Turin. “I think the juries made the right call as this is Spain’s “safest” choice for the top 10. I think the most important thing is that Spain hosted a fantastic NF and that they’ll likely reach the top 20 for the first time since 2014.”
Hector says: “RTVE’s effort this year was truly incredible and I’m so glad for Benidorm Fest, some flaws ofc but not bad for the first time. Congrats to Chanel and see you in Torino!”
A user named Vamoss worries that the negativity of some fans, whose favourites didn’t win, has poisoned the air and may threaten the show’s survival.
“Calling it now. Benidorm Fest can be the best national final ever but because of the toxicity of spanish eurobullies they will cancel it in a few years due to the reactions. The new HoD are doing a great job but they cant escape the crazy people.”
Do you think that Benidorm Fest can keep the momentum up moving forward? Is this your favourite version of Spain’s many national finals? Let us know down below…
Chanel was driven to shut down her Twitter after getting so much hate from the Spanish fans. Are you proud of that, Spanish fans?
I hope Benidorm Fest came to say. I want to be the old lady saying I’ve been watching it since its first edition, 40 years ago! If we stop to think where Spain were in terms of Eurovision (an extremely long and boring live show to select between 2 uneventful songs that would finish with zero points either way) and where they’re right now, Eva Mora performed a small miracle by making it happen in just a few months. Sure, they have to make an adjustment with the voting percentages (33/33/34 like in Italy? Maybe 50% to the televote, 25… Read more »
Agree. One thing I would also adjust is converting the percentages of the televote into points (12% of the votes means 12% of the points to be awarded by the televote). I thought this ranking of points was strange. And yes a bigger jury! Otherwise, I think this was and excellently produced show. I was also prepared to stay up until 2am before knowing the result, but this was unusually speedy by Spanish standards. Let’s hope that this success will last.
They could try this too. Though I see why some national finals avoid using this system, since a big fanbase (or even the intention to troll the competition) can “hijack” the whole thing. That’s how Bilal won over Seemone in France, pretty much against the jury will. Though in the Spanish case, I don’t see why not trying it, especially if they keep the televote with only 25% of the weight. It seems the whole Eurovision world is still trying to find a way to have a jury to keep some quality control and give a fair chance to less… Read more »
From my understanding, because the demoscopic vote and the televote make up one quarter (25%) each compared to the jury’s 50%,then the points the televote will hand out would be 25% of the total amount of points the jury has.
Indeed, but the points awarded by the televote and the demoscopic vote were both sets of 5, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25 and 30 points. I would suggest that the act gets a percentage of these in total 135 points, corresponding to the percentage of the votes they got (for example: if an act gets 12% of the televote, they get 16 points).
oh god that’s HUGE, big success for RTVE and the team behind this fest.
Really great show! There are things to adjust and to change but overall an enjoyable show rhytmic perfectly.
Now the last thing that some Spaniards have found to complain is the name Chanel because it’s french, but firstly it’s not an ugly name at all, there’s no shame to have a french name and dear Spaniards in 2017 France sent ALMA a totally spanish name in Eurovision and nobody complained about that, always double standards with you….
It really was so much fun! I normally only watch Sanremo, but decided (in honour of Italy winning, I suppose) that this year I should branch out and try the others, and Benidorm Fest made that decision completely worth it. I was introduced to so many great songs and artists!
Ohh, I feel so bad for missing Benidorm Fest, I couldn’t watch even one show (its at 3:00 am, what could I do???) One of the biggest disappointments of being a Eurovision fan from Asia! Regrets apart, I think BF was an impressive national final. 200,000 votes is something huge! Even if Chanel wasn’t my actual favorite, I still think she’s a deserved winner. Whatever place Spain’s gonna get in Eurovision this year, Benidorm Fest 2022 will definitely go down in Eurovision history! Hats off to RTVE. Finally they put in some real effort, and it paid off. Please, UK… Read more »
I think it was a great national final, with a very diverse field, very high quality of songs and great performances. One thing that should be addressed for next year is the voting, because the distribution of points was very strange.
the UK through BBC and Ireland with RTE need to take note. they should, in one way or another, do the similar thing.
.
Especially for the UK, the country and their music industry are too big to only have a one-night show in London or Manchester. four semifinals, each held in a UK constituent, and one final in London or Manchester, will be the best choice for the UK to do, and the songs’ quality should be on top as always.
Ireland’s head of delegation insists that this is what they want but they won’t get given the budget for it. But then with our national final selection I’m not sure they’d understand the brief and pick good songs to make it work in the first place.
I was expecting nothing but honestly, one of the best NFs ever 🙂
I do agree that this is the kind of selection process befitting a Big 5. The most impressive thing is the diversity of acts and songs. And there was truly no bad song in the lot. Nothing was excruciating. And each had its own merit. I also loved the show had a good mix of musically serious songs and more radio-friendly songs. This felt very comparable to Melfest and Destination Eurovision in France. When you have over 50 million population and a thriving music scene there is no reason not to showcase some of your best—I wish the UK would… Read more »
We don’t have 50 million people in Spain 🙂
We need something like this in the UK. I sense we’re already heading for the same result as in recent years, whereas I think Spain might get top 16 with this.
I absolutely loved Benidorm Fest and enjoyed all 3 shows. Unquestionably a huge step in the right direction for Spain and the new team in charge have done an amazing job organising the best Spanish national selection for 20 years with so much variety and engagement. The voting climax had me on edge and my heart was racing at accelerating levels which only a few other national finals did to me before. Chanel was my 2nd favorite so I was thrilled for her although I wish the result had been slightly different but I hope Spain not only avoids bottom… Read more »
It was more than a success, RTVE just created a new annual celebration for Spain.
As expected, the Spanish eurofans complained about the voting format…etc. But from an outsiders perspective, it was one of the best NF’s I’ve seen in years. A new era for Spain, I think they’ll become a powerhouse like Italy. It’s been well overdue.
Benidorm has a potential to be one of the best selections, something Vidbir or Sanremo level of quality. I enjoyed the show very much.
Watching from France, I spent a super evening with this first Benidorm Fest. I liked every single part of the show. The working teams made a fantastic job: they manage to recreate a mini-Eurovision show but with Spanish flavour. What I enjoyed the most was the fact that the overall atmosphere was a perfect mix between a heavy production show (like the Nordics know how to do like no one) while in the same time keeping some codes of musical festivals from the South of Europe.Talking about the songs, it included a wide range of genre and all the reactions,… Read more »
Thank you soo much!!
I also watched “C’est vous qui decidez” last year when selections were mostly cancelled and I got the same feeling as this years BFest: some fresh air, new and attractive formats, with a variety of acts.
Of course there are technical aspects to polish: Hosts, shaky camera angles, untimed shots, sound issues, but my hopes for a good selection and a good TV show are still high.
Great great show and such good ratings! I was expecting less audience, like 16-18%. Camera angles and sound issues were finally fixed for the final show. All 8 songs were good and had interesting stage performances (some better than others) and it showed Spain is able to deploy high level TV production. Yesterday I felt like watching a mini Eurovision, the drama, emotions, the performances,… everything was on point. Even the jury accusations are very Eurovision-ish. I’ve never thought I’d say this but I’m very happy with Benidorm Fest. The good ratings and the optimum technical result will help RTVE… Read more »
Oh, and that Hector took my spotlight! 🙁 Okey, just joking.
I think there are three of us. One is even called like me with the accent in the e. I’m the original I believe, like I’m here since 2015 and been always named like this. I’m just worried other people aren’t able to tell the difference between us.
*insert Spidermans meme*
loved the show ! some changes and tweaks can be done here and there to make it a perfect yearly tradition.
Hello William. I don’t think you can say (after a few hours the winner has been proclaimed) Eurofans applaud Spain’s new entry. Unless you do a poll with at least 5,000 people voting for it.
The article doesn’t say that. It says people are applauding “Spain’s new selection show” (Benidorm Fest).
Love it
I really loved Benidorm Fest. It’s the most engaged I’ve been in a NF in a long time. The presentation was fantastic, the quality of songs was sublime, and it was tense until the very end, I had no idea which of the top 3 would take it. Hopefully this is the standard every year going forward.
Amazing show, the new HoD have done a great job and i think it was the best national finaly of the year. Their only problem is the spanish eurofans and the bullying the do to Chanel and jury members. Be thankful that your country has a competitive entry after years and stop the hate. You cant support a feminist act and then call Chanel racist names.
p.s thanks for including my comment William. I really worry that this great effort will be overshadowed by toxicity and racist comments. Hopefully they will support the project and the artists