Benidorm Fest: Everything you need to know about Spain’s very own Eurovision Song Contest

Thirteen acts, three shows and one week full of events in sunny Benidorm. Spain’s national selection for Eurovision has departed from the mediocrity of previous years and turned itself into a mini-Eurovision Song Contest. Get ready for the ultimate week of Eurodrama with our guide below. 

Benidorm Fest 2022: How to watch

Benidorm Fest’s three shows will be broadcast live in RTVE’s La 1 and Canal Internacional. It will also be broadcast live on RTVE’s digital platform Play. If you’re a radio lover, RNE will also broadcast it live, with Eurovision commentator Julia Varela.

• Semi-Final 1: Wednesday, January 26. 22.40 CET
• Semi-Final 2: Thursday, January 27. 22.40 CET
• Final: Saturday, January 29. 22.05 CET

If you’re familiar with Spain’s viewing habits, you won’t be surprised that the schedule is quite late by European standards. But fear not: one of this year’s changes is how long the shows will last. All three shows will be over before midnight: the semi-finals will run for around 80 minutes, and the final, a bit less than two hours.

Here’s the show’s running order:

Semi-final 1 – Wednesday 26, 22.40 CET

1. Luna Ki – “Voy a morir” (WITHDRAWN)
2. Varry Brava – “Raffaella”
3. Azúcar Moreno – “Postureo”
4. Blanca Paloma – “Secreto de agua”
5. Unique – “Mejores”
6. Tanxugueiras – “Terra”
7. Chanel – “SloMo”

Semi-final 2 – Thursday 27, 22.40 CET

1. Xeinn – “Eco”
2. Marta Sango – “Sigues en mi mente”
3. Javiera Mena – “Culpa”
4. Gonzalo Hermida – “Quién lo diría”
5. Rigoberta Bandini – “Ay mamá”
6. Rayden – “Calle de la llorería”
7. Sara Deop – “Make you say”

And yes, eurodrama started early. On Sunday, Luna Ki announced their withdrawal from the competition due to the autotune ban. The artist will give a press conference on Monday at 16.30 in which they’ll explain the decision. Writing on social media, some fans have suggested this is all one big publicity stunt and that it’s unfair to artists who, understanding the very clear rules, would have sung live if they had been chosen. 

RTVE has made no further comment on the situation, and has not confirmed whether there’ll be a substitute act or if Luna will perform in exhibition.

Benidorm Fest 2022: The schedule

Besides the three shows, Benidorm Fest will bring a whole week of press events to the city. Wiwibloggs will be live on ground the whole week, so you won’t miss a thing. Here’s your plan:

Monday 24

• 11.30: Institutional press conference. RTVE’s Director José Manuel Pérez Tornero; Communications Director María Eizaguirre and Head of Delegation Eva Mora will sign the agreement with the Region of Valencia’s president Ximo Puig. It is a protocol event held in Benidorm’s castle. Most of the press conferences will happen there.
• 13:15: Visit to Palau d’Esports l’Illa, the stage of Benidorm Fest. 
• 16.30: Luna Ki’s press conference.
• Prior to Sunday, there was a press conference with the artists taking part in Semi-final 2 at that same time. RTVE is expected to reschedule it: The competing acts are Xeinn, Marta Sango, Javiera Mena, Gonzalo Hermida, Rigoberta Bandini, Rayden and Sara Deop.

During the evening, Semi-final 1 acts will have their first rehearsals. These won’t be open to the press. 

Tuesday 25

• 11.30: RTVE’S Communications Director María Eizaguirre will host a show live from La Gran Consulta‘s bus with some of the contestants. This is part of RTVE’s campaign in search of new audiences: citizens are welcome to approach the bus and make their suggestions and criticisms about the broadcaster’s programming. 
• 16.30: Press conference with the artists taking part in Semi-final 1: Luna Ki, Varry Brava, Azúcar Moreno, Blanca Paloma, Unique, Tanxugueiras and Chanel.

Just like on Monday, Semi-final 2 acts will have their first rehearsals during the evening, and they won’t be open to the press neither.

Wednesday 26

• 11.30: Press conference will all the artists and the hosts Alaska, Màxim Huerta and Inés Hernand. 
• 16.00 – 17.45: First semi-final’s second rehearsal. The press will be allowed into the hall, but they won’t be able to take images. 
• 22.40: Semi-final 1.
• 00.00: Qualifiers press conference. It will be broadcast on RTVE Play. 

Thursday 27

• 11.30: Press conference with the first semi-final non qualifiers. 
• 16.00-17.45: Second semi-final’s second rehearsal. The press will be allowed into the hall, but they won’t be able to take images. 
• 22.40: Semi-final 2.
• 00.00: Qualifiers press conference. It will be broadcast on RTVE Play.

Friday 28

• 11.30: Finalists’ press conference.
• 12.30: Second semi-final’s non qualifiers’ press conference.
• 15.15-19.30: Final’s rehersals. Press will be able to access as well, but no images will be made public.

Saturday 29

• 15.30-17.30: Final: general rehearsal. Again, no images.
• 22.05: FINAL.
• 00:00: Winner’s press conference.

Sunday 30

• 11.30: Winner’s press conference and photo shoot.

Press conference lovers, this is for you!

Benidorm Fest 2022: Tickets

Tickets for Benidorm Fest have been on everybody’s mouth for the past few weeks. A dubious handling of the situation justified by the coronavirus crisis has ended with tickets only being confirmed one week prior to the event.

Palau l’Illa will have an audience of 1,300 people each night, and each partner (RTVE, Generalitat Valenciana and Benidorm’s City Hall) have a portion of them.

All tickets will be free. However, the process has been complicated and confusing. At this stage, if you still want tickets for the show, there are several ways of getting them via contests.

First, there’s RTVE itself. The broadcaster has established a page on their website where you can apply for tickets. The winners will be contacted on Tuesday, and they’ll get a double ticket for one of the shows. 

Then, several local media are offering free tickets as well. Generalitat Valenciana’s tickets have been distributed between nine newspapers and radios.

?? La Generalitat sortea entradas para el #BenidormFest2022 ? a través de medios de comunicación de la Comunitat Valenciana:

? @levante_emv
? @informacion_es
? @alicanteplaza
? @lasprovincias @elconfidencial ?

???? #ElFestivalQueQuieres ??https://t.co/8IocfKNESE pic.twitter.com/uuUb0A8qQQ

— Generalitat (@generalitat) January 22, 2022

The regional government plans to offer a small part of their tickets to institutions related to music and tourism and authorities.

Each participating media has been given freedom to organise their contests, and most of them have used instagram. Beware if you are participating, as people have spotted several fake accounts.

?? ALERTA A LAS CUENTAS FALSAS POR LOS SORTEOS DE ENTRADAS DEL #BENIDORMFEST ??

Me comenta @HeCalledMeAC que están empezando a aparecer cuentas que se hacen pasar por los medios valencianos. Si participais en sorteos en instagram sabréis que esto es habitual, pero estad alerta. pic.twitter.com/x2GdZYiaJJ

— Luis Fuster (@luisgfuster) January 22, 2022

Didn’t get a ticket? Don’t worry! RTVE, the regional government and the local hall will install three giant screens on Benidorm’s Playa de Levante to watch the contest live on Saturday night.

La Final del #BenidormFest podrá seguirse a través de grandes pantallas instaladas en la playa del Levante de la ciudad alicantina.

Será desde las 20:00 horas del 29 de enero. #ElFestivalQueQuieres https://t.co/3NnsaKABtT

— Eurovisión RTVE (@eurovision_tve) January 21, 2022

Benidorm Fest 2022: The EuroClubES

No Eurovision would be complete without the EuroClub, and Benidorm Fest will not be an exception. Our friends at Eurovision-Spain.com are organizing four consecutive nights at club Penélope, one of the oldest and best known of Benidorm.

?Eurovision-Spain organizará el #EuroClubES en Benidorm del miércoles 26 al sábado 29 de enero.
??¡Compra ya tus entradas individuales o el pack semanal con una noche de regalo!
????Horarios, recintos, precios y toda la información ya disponible en https://t.co/zMOS2r596t pic.twitter.com/jekiVGiDfh

— Eurovision-Spain.com | PrePartyES (@eurospaincom) January 22, 2022

From Wednesday to Saturday, Penélope will host four nights of Eurovision parties. Wednesday’s, Thursday’s and Friday’s will happen in Penélope Beach, a smaller club in Playa de Levante.

On Wednesday and Thursday, there will be a giant screen to watch the Semi-finals and the after-party will run until 03.30 in the morning. Friday’s will be an hour longer, until 04.30.

Then, on Saturday the action takes place at the bigger Penélope venue, right next to Palau l’Illa. From 00.30 to 06.30, there will be an intense Eurovision night. Can’t wait!

The impact of Benidorm Fest

At this stage, you might be tired of Spaniards speaking non stop on Twitter about Benidorm Fest. But, come on, bear with us, this national selection is the hugest thing we’ve had in decades.

Not only have Benidorm Fest’s songs made it to the mainstream audience, there’s even members of the government talking about it. And there’s division in the cabinet! 

While Vice-president and leader of leftist party Yolanda Díaz is a fan of Tanxugueiras, fellow ministers Ione Belarra, Raquel Sánchez (from both Unidas Podemos and PSOE) support Rigoberta Bandini. The question is: who will be Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez rooting for? Any guesses? 

Confirmamos: @Yolanda_Diaz_ apuesta por @tanxugueiras para Eurovisión. pic.twitter.com/AUwMsu5D80

— Buenismo Bien (@BuenismoBien) January 11, 2022

It’s not only politics, it’s also the social impact of some of the songs. Tanxugueiras’ “Terra” is the clearest example. The first song in Galician competing to represent Spain at Eurovision ever has turned the group into a phenomenom.

The region of Galicia has shown massive support for the band. The regional television even counted with them for their New Year’s special. They have been featuring in a number of programs ever since, and made it to TikTok. Their name is not easy to pronounce, isn’t it?

TVG dixo gay rights pic.twitter.com/NFJD3IkoGg

— Dani Castro (@nonitocl1) January 5, 2022

At this stage, Tanxugueiras are the most successful Benidorm Fest artists on YouTube. Their lyric video for “Terra” has already clocked up 2,4 million views.

Meanwhile, the song that is commanding the streaming platforms is Rigoberta Bandini’s “Ay mamá”. The song has had over 2,7 million streams already, and it’s become Rigoberta’s fifth most listened song. It was released less than a month ago.

“Ay mamá” has also found its way on private broadcaster Telecinco. It is regularly aired on “Sálvame”, one of Spain’s most watched TV shows and has been used to promote the second series of “Rocío” TV show.

More artists from Benidorm Fest have found their way to promote thei entries on Telecinco. Varry Brava also played “Raffaella” on magazine “Viva la vida” on Saturday.

Raffaella – Varry Brava pic.twitter.com/xbHit0v0Ay

— ESCvideos (@ESCvideos) January 22, 2022

The fact that one of RTVE’s rival broadcasters is using Benidorm Fest entries’ in their programming is a first for Spain. Last year, RTVE was buried in criticism when Telecinco played Eurovision entries from Switzerland, France and Bulgaria before Blas Cantó’s in Rocío’s documentary.

RTVE is also making a huge effort in promoting Benidorm Fest and its entries. Pieces about the contest are broadcast regularly on the news bullettins and “Corazón” has been showing short videos with all the participants daily. 

En una semana se celebrará la final del #BenidormFest, donde se elegirá a nuestro representante para el festival de Eurovisión.

Junto a @luismijpalao, repasamos las claves de lo que nos espera en este certamen.https://t.co/aNlG2IlBhB pic.twitter.com/zgADMg888E

— Telediarios de TVE (@telediario_tve) January 22, 2022

Are you excited for Benidorm Fest? Do you think the hype is justified? Will you be joining our live coverage from Benidorm? Let us know in the comment section below!