Tonight’s the night. After months of hype and huge fan expectations, Semi-Final 1 of Spain’s Benidorm Fest 2022 has finally arrived. Six acts will sing, but only four will advance to the final.
As you’ll all know by now, there were originally seven acts set to compete in Semi-Final 1. But Luna Ki withdrew over the weekend because of the rule that forbids the use of Auto-Tune during the live performance.
We received a total of 5,446 votes. Based on this, our readers’ four qualifiers are: Tanxugueiras, Chanel, Blanca Paloma and Azúcar Moreno.
That means our readers would eliminate Varry Brava and Unique.
Which four acts should qualify from Semi Final 1?
- Tanxugueiras – “Terra” | 28.64%, 1,560 votes
- Chanel – “SloMo” | 17.59%, 958 votes
- Blanca Paloma – “Secreto de agua” | 17.55%, 956 votes
- Azúcar Moreno – “Postureo” | 17.37%, 946 votes
- Varry Brava – “Raffaella” | 13.31%, 725 votes
- Unique – “Mejores” | 5.53%, 301 votes
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But what do Spaniards think? We took a look at the 1,534 votes cast from Spanish IP addresses. The results were slightly different.
As you can see the Top 3 remain the same — Tanxugueiras, Chanel and Blanca Paloma. But Spanish voters, it seems, would prefer for Varry Brava to advance over Azúcar Moreno.
In both polls, Unique finishes a distant sixth.
- Tanxugueiras – “Terra” | 27.05%, 415 votes
- Chanel – “SloMo” | 21.25%, 326 votes
- Blanca Paloma – “Secreto de agua” | 19.43%, 298 votes
- Varry Brava – “Raffaella” | 16.36%, 251 votes
- Azúcar Moreno – “Postureo” | 13.04%, 200 votes
- Unique – “Mejores” | 2.87%, 44 votes
Who do you think will make it out of Semi-Final 1? Let us know in the comments box below.
Tanxugueiras stage was pretty messy and incoherent, tho.
This voting segment almost gave me a heart attack. What a mess. I do not know why Tanxugueiras were so low with the jury. I still think they are the best option. Yes, the staging was messy, but they can work on that and there’s still huge potential here. They sound great.
I said repeatedly Chanel-Slomo is the best and I was getting dislikes haha She brings Foureira vibes.
Tanxugueiras dancers were like grasshoppers. A bit out of place.
If these qualifiers have been drawn at random, nobody would call it anything but expected and deserving. However… these points from the juries and televoters weren’t even close, and it was surprising. Juries not standing by Tanxugueiras is odd. I mean, they delivered quality and style. I’d wish if the televoters gave a few more to Blanca, but she was still in their top 4, so okay. I am happy for Chanel, because this was slayage! Slo Mo would be a really good entry for Spain.
The four I wanted to see move on, did. But Tanxugueiras suddenly look vulnerable and Chanel like the one to beat. The power of staging, folks. It giveth, it taketh away.
Who qualified?
Chanel, Tanxugueiras, Blanca Paloma and Varry Brava.
Congratulations to them.
Well, Tanxugueiras was ridiculously harmed by the jury and haven’t even won the demoscopic jury…
That’s fair. They were overrated. Larari larara is not a song.
But why do that by harming Tanxugueiras? I wonder if the jury already made their mind for Rigoberta (the bad thing about a presumed 2-horse race is that people who want one to win tend to look down on the other). If she wins tomorrow with ease…
Yes, the jury is the same. I wonder if Dietmann already has an agreement with RTVE to continue as their staging director. If so, obviously he’ll do everything he can to help a song he want to work with.
I don’t know if I’m curious or afraid. 😀
What a twist! I am sure that the televoting will make Terra qualify over Varry Brava or Azucar Moreno, but without a jury support, their chances of winning aren’t as big as we thought. 🙁
And I am glad about that. Their “song” gives me headache
Tonight stagings are totally changing my previous top. Well done to Chanel who is such a performer. Well done to the choreographers and creative team who worked on Tanxugueiras and Blanca stagings too !
My new top 4 after the 6 performances :
– Terra
– SloMo
– Secreto de agua
– Postureo
I can’t wait to see Ay mama live performance to make my final decision but I see positive outcomes for Spain this year no matter the final choice. Bravo !
Also, I love Salvador Sobral, and I agree with him, but he is SUCH A MESSY B**CH!!!
Salvador trying to start another controversy? Uy. Best overall performance, surprisingly, was Chanel. She understood how to improve her song with her staging. Blanca also very well staged and performed, but the song as is just doesn’t grab me. It goes nowhere. Tanxugueiras…. they threw everything in there and it didn’t work all together for me. Their strength is in their vocals so if they win they need to rethink how to highlight themselves. Varry Brava was so fun in that Daði, tongue-in-cheek way, but it wasn’t tight. Maybe with more practice they can really improve it, but I don’t… Read more »
After his performance while his mic was still on, he yelled his support for “las gallegas” (Tanxugueiras).
My Top 4.
1. Terra
2. Postureo
3. Secreto de Agua
4. SloMo
Does anyone know if the Terra dance is traditionally Galician? It very much reminded me of Morris dancing in England and elements of Riverdance from Ireland. Very folk-y, I wondered if there was any historical connection? I really loved it, it really stirred that ancient feeling of the song.
That is what I was thinking. It prompted me to check Wiki which says “Morris dancing” may be a derivation of “moorish dancing” (it’s not entirely certain) so it is entirely feasible there is a strong historical connection. I loved it, thought it added an extra dimension to an already strong song.
The dancing is indeed Galician. We have a Celtic past and many traditions common with Ireland / Scotland / Cornwall… We have traditional bagpipe music and the skirts the men wore on stage are also typical (the bare chest isn’t! ?). I personally would have preferred more traditional female dancers to complement this awesome song.
Nothing that would change my mind about “Terra”, but I wish they had more time on the screen without the dancers.
If the dancers could get to the stage a little later, it would be great. It would give the audience something new during the performance, and by then the cameras would have already showed the Tanxugueiras more. Anyway, the kind of issue that isn’t really an issue, because they could even change it from now to Saturday.
My Top 4 to advance:
I was disappointed with Azúcar Moreno and Unique never have been an option to me, so it was easy to pick: Tanxugueiras, Blanca, Varry Brava and Chanel.
Oh, absolutely nothing against Azúcar Moreno, I actually love the fact they’re in the mix, I just thought the song hasn’t worked as promised when translated to the live performance. In their case, it was more because the other 4 were better to me.
But I wasn’t into boy bands even when I had the age to be obsessed with them, so no, I don’t want to go back to that time. 😀
Three qualifiers should definitely be Blanca Paloma, Tanxugueiras, and Chanel. I’d even say that Blanca won this night for me! Might even be my overall winner now. Terra still slays. Ok, they might be my winners still! Idk anymore… Both delivered HARD! Chanel also killed it on stage. These three were by far the best tonight!
A big shout out to the choreographers – there have been some exceptional performances tonight, really complemented the songs
Chanel delivers so hard
She really got moves. Holy moly! Eleni Foureira gets jealous
Blanca Paloma was magnificent
I’m so thrilled to see how this one ends! I love Tanxugueiras and they’re safe to make it to the finale, but it’s an open race for the remaining spots.
I really like Azúcar Moreno. Best of the three songs so far.
Tanxugueiras and Rayden have teased a collaboration on YouTube (not Benidorm Fest related btw). The song is called Averno.
Raffaella and Postureo are my favourites! Hope they both qualify. Besos de Finlandia, X
Anyone know when and where i can watch the show? I’m in the US.
I’m hoping to catch it here in about one hour (22:40 CET) https://www.rtve.es/play/
Azucar Moreno has a killer song that usually is popular in spain and with eurofans idk why no one seems to care for it.
You may have said it in your sentence why it isnt a front runner.
Because is an old-fashioned song
Good luck everyone
Press are watching rehearsals for the 1st time right now. Everything is getting ready for tonight. Comments are pretty good in general.
There’s a lot of excitment in Spain for tonight
Btw Salvador Sobral will be performing tonight as special guest 🙂
Oh, I’m so nervous for Benidorm fest! I’ll be happy if Varry Brava just border-qualifies. I want them in the final so much. Other than that, I obviously want Tanxugueiras to qualify. I’m also fine with Blanca Paloma and Azucar Moreno. But, Slo-mo? It’s not really that great. I don’t understand why people like it. I do like Chanel’s voice, though.
I won’t be surprised if Blanca Paloma wins tonight. It seems the rehearsals were leaked already and the reactions with her performance can’t be better. Looks and sounds like the dark horse of the first semifinal.
Hers is the performance I’m most interested in because the studio version of the song does absolutely nothing for me. I want to know how it’s been upgraded live.
I don’t really get what people see in Slo-Mo. It sounds like any other generic song out there
Azúcar Moreno is one of the most succesfull groups-acts of all time in Spain. They have a safe ticket for the final. I doubt that their fans (who are about to vote for them today) are really visiting wiwibloggs.
I’m rooting for Tanxugueiras. I hope the staging is good!
I don’t always follow my early favorite actively from the beginning of the preselection, but when I do it’s Loreen 2017.
Good luck with having me as supporter, Tanxugueiras 😀
1. Tanxugueiras 2. Chanel 3. Varry Brava
4. Azúcar Moreno 5. Blanca Paloma 6. Unique