RTVE is set to reveal the names of the Benidorm Fest 2023 participants tonight, at around 22.25 CET. There has been major drama about it — are you surprised?
Benidorm Fest was thought to consist of 16 artists. However, Vertele reported today that the list could have been expanded to 18. Scroll down for further explanation on the hot mess that has gripped the Spanish fandom all day.
The announcement will come after Mapi, one of RTVE’s family entertainment shows. It will be broadcast live on La 1 on Spanish prime time. Benidorm Fest host Inés Hernand will announce the names of the participants.
?? ¡Hola @InesRisotas!
— wiwibloggs (@wiwibloggs) January 26, 2022
????? Meet the host of #BenidormFest
? You’re going to LOVE her tonight, trust us ?#TheContestYouWant #ElFestivalQueQuieres pic.twitter.com/XfZEtVQ2Y6
Benidorm Fest 2023: Participants
- Agoney (OT 2017)
- Alfred Garcia (Eurovision 2018)
- Alice Wonder
- Aritz Arén
- Blanca Paloma (Benidorm Fest 2022)
- E’Femme
- Famous (OT 2018)
- Fusa Nocta
- José Otero
- Karmento
- Megara
- Meler
- Rakky Ripper
- Sharonne (Drag Race España 2 winner)
- Siderland
- Sofía Martín
- Twin Melody
- Viccó
?? He’s back! @alfredgarcia — formerly of Alfred & Amaia fame from #Eurovision 2018 — is headed to #BenidormFest!
— wiwibloggs (@wiwibloggs) October 25, 2022
pic.twitter.com/F3jte8HNMw
Benidorm Fest 2023: A nerve-wrecking day
If you’re reading us from the UK, you’ll know a bit about turmoil in the news, particularly after the last few weeks. What happened today for Spanish fans would be the Eurovision equivalent of Liz Truss’ resignation announcement: we all knew it was happening, just not when.
The participants were chosen yesterday, and it has been suggested that the announcement comes today so as to prevent any possible leak. Throughout the day, multiple names have emerged as possible participants, none confirmed.
RTVE has played with ambiguity for a while. The Benidorm Fest announcement appeared on their broadcast programming without further notice this morning: it was scheduled for broadcast after the news bulletin tonight, at 22.05. Inés Hernand also confirmed the show was happening on her Instagram.
Later, Vertele reported the announcement may not be airing tonight. And few minutes after, Inés tweeted she was going to RTVE, while the program disappeared from the schedule. Major mayhem.
Confirmo que me han recogido de rtve. pic.twitter.com/Pg1qUe62ha
— InésHernand (@InesRisotas) October 25, 2022
It was speculated that RTVE would have recorded the announcement and would only release it if any contestant was leaked. The idea was to unveil the names on Saturday. I’m not sure I would have survived it, honestly.
However, minutes past 19.00, the broadcaster confirmed the show would be aired later tonight. It is expected to be at around 22.25 CET. Stay tuned for more!
This list precedes a show which RTVE will air on Saturday night with all the contestants, with interviews and small hints about their entries. Eurovision commentator Julia Varela will host it together with Rodrigo Vázquez.
Who should take part at Benidorm Fest? Who do you want to represent Spain? Let us know in the comment section below!
This is my personal tier list from what I’ve seen of Saturday’s performances:
Totally agree.
Karmento ist a very excellent artist ! I´ve seen her performance at spanish TV when all the participants presented
Most of these are prefabricated teen pop: Agoney, Alfred, Famous, Twin Melody, Efemme, Meler. Therefore, someone like Alice Wonder must win because that’s what does well at the contest.
I hope Agoney go to eurovision this year,his voice is amzaing
Alice Wonder will win, mark my word.
It’s nice they use Benidorm Fest but I’m afraid it will become the Spanish national finals of 20 years ago.
I really hope for a ballad next year… please don’t be Cyprus 2.0
It doesn’t have to be a ballad. As long as it’s not a Latino-style pop song about seduction by a fierce beautiful woman with a heavy emphasis on choreography. Or in Eurovision terms, ”A Replay”.
In the Spanish mindset ballads are not suitable for Eurovision. When only the fans vote you may get ballads like in 2021, but when there’s an engagement of the whole society it’s difficult that we chose ballads for Eurovision.
i really like E femme ihope she has a good song and she wins
Meler boy band have such good music vibe I hope they have good song and yes Blanco Paloma is back!! Alfred I be curious about and Twin Melody and Agoney too… let’s listen to all songs!
I have been listening to the previous songs from some of these groups/singers and they are quité good. However there is something I dont understand, there is a lot of diversity so It seems as if the main criteria when choosing the songs was diversity, what if 3 very good rock songs were submitted, did they chose only one of them and a not so good song of a different genre for diversity sake?
Sadly I can’t support Spain in ESC whatever they sent with that unfair voting system. I’d rather supoort a 100% jury vote NF than this mess
Unfair voting gave you the best result in years
Everyone’s talking about how “well known” the artists are or aren’t but I’m gonna be honest I don’t really care tbh. Personally I don’t have a clue about the Spanish music scene but as long as there are some good songs (which there probably will be), I’m completely content with it.
Just remember that we don’t want Benidorm Fest to turn into the majorly mediocre Melodifestivalen STRAIGHT AWAY 😉
So… This were the names that the big labels were sending that they hyped so much in these last weeks? I feel disappointed to say the least.
Omg what I didn’t realize twin melody was on there. I remember watching them on tiktok like during the pandemic. Should be between them and alfred.
I’d probably say alfred because he’s more likely to do a ballad which i adore.
Benidorm is more Melfest than San Remo—so I had no expectations of major Spanish artists coming in. The list seems very varied in musical styles. I bet we will see lots of songs that would be in the style of what is popular in Spain and other things that will feel very crossover. It’ll be interesting the jury / televote split this year. I bet that you’ll see some Swedish producers and songwriters in some of these songs. At least we have scale in the number of songs—poor Germany only gave us 6 last year and they all blended into… Read more »
Among the Spanish eurofans, there seem to be many people agaist Alfred. For me, he is one of the biggest music talents we have in Spain. I guess you either love him or hate him.
Plus, he has always been hyper respectful and grateful towards Eurovision, even when they finished 23rd, unlike Amaia, by the way.
What did Amaia say about Eurovision?
That she would have preferred not having taken part of it. That she does not have good memories about it. Basically, she focuses on the negative. We all know Amaia and Alfred took part with a song that did not really represent them. They are both really talented and their own songs are much better than Tu Canción. But even though, Alfred took the positive things out of that experience. He thanked everyone in the organisation of the context. He is happy about the people he met, the countries he visited, the experience of Eurovision as a whole… Plus his… Read more »
She didn’t feel confortable with the song… I am not saying that she would feel other way. I am just highlighting that, even though, with all these difficulties, Alfred kept grateful and positive.
People asking for big names as if, before Benidorm Fest, Tanxugueiras, Chanel and Rigobera were the biggest sensations in the spanish industry.
Tbf, Rigoberta was. Tanxugueiras and Chanel indeed weren’t
Also Rayden, Varry Brava and Azúcar Moreno were big names.
Varry Brava and Rayden weren’t big, Varry Brava is not even big today. And Rigoberta only had a few songs that were “successful” (and we’re not talking about top 1 in the charts). Pretending that they were big before Benidorm Fest is just untrue. The biggest name last year were Azúcar Moreno, and they were big because they were successful decades ago.
Rayden was the only one of them that had sold out a concert in Wizink Center (Madrid) before Benidorm Fest.
I have seen Varry Brava in several summer music festivals maybe from 2016, all of them totally crowded.
After the success of BeniFest 2021, we were expecting a handful of big names.
Obviously, we didn’t expect big names for the very first edition of BeniFest but we had bigger names in the first edition compared to next years, which is a huge letdown.
Last year was bigger compared to what? If we talk about monthly listeners, Agoney, Alfred, Alice Wonder, José Otero, Meler, Sofía Martín and Vicco have more than 200k, which is more than the majority of last year names. If we talk about other kind of online numbers (like TikTok), Twin Melody are bigger than Sam Ryder.
Twin Melody is seen as a joke act to Spaniards, just look at Twitter. Nobody takes them seriously, even if they have a big following.
All the ex-Operacion Triunfo acts in BeniFest aren’t seen as ”big” either, they’re simply all OT rejects. The only big names from OT are Aitana and Lola Indigo and both of them aren’t competing which says a lot.
Anything similar to Tu Cancion and Alfred wins and will be my Eurovision numero uno.
Sharonne ??
Stone?
Por favor to all 18 songs to be in spanish, catalan, galician, or any other language of Spain ?
It has to be so. The Benidorm Fest requires at least the 66% of the songs to be in a official language of the country.
No big names yet and a more “regular Eurovision NF” vibe but let’s bear in mind that this is only the second year of Benidorm Fest. Whether it will succeed in the long term and achieve a Sanremo status in Spain remains to be seen of course. For now let’s hope that the participants have something good to offer!
I am so looking forward to this! Of course, I can’t wait to hear what Blanca and Alfred have in store, but I am sure that some newcomers with shine too. I hope that they’ll keep the diversity of the 2022 edition, so no matter what your genre preferences are, you’ll find something to appreciate. Good luck, Spain!
Chanel was a big name before Benidorm? No! And see how she did. So big names, unknown names…. it means nothing.
A group singing in Catalan??? Spanish Civil War 2, coming Soon. Stay tuned
Some groups singing in Catalan are succesful in the whole of Spain. I can think of Txarango and Manel, for example. I have been myself in their concerts in Madrid, no big deal. There will be voices against it, of course, maybe they shout a lot, but believe me, they are a minority.
But It is not people against them BC they sing in Catalan but people supporting them just bc they sing in Catalan VS people supporting someone else + the Catalan government in between. In Spain we LOVE Circus.
I am Spanish, living in Madrid, and really that’s not such a big deal, just if you focus on a minority. I don’t mind having a song in Catalan IF and only IF it is the best song. Last year, I voted for Tanxugueiras, for example.
Novelty acts, former contestants and new names with no experience. They might as well call it a Benifestivalen.
Also RTVE releasing the names in advance, fearing fans will leak the names? Sorry but all the drama and bullying is because of the fans themselves. No wonder no big names don’t want to participate.
you talk about bullying yet insult half the artists. A drag queen is not a novelty lol assuming that’s what you’re saying. hypocrite
I dont understand European people sayng they are disappointed BC there are no big names. Are you Gonna know them? If we told you that someone from the list is a Big name what would b the difference if you dont know him/her??
Where’s La Oreja de Van Gogh? Why don’t they make it to the list?
Maybe they didn’t submit something or they were rejected.
Megara sounds like a mixture of La Oreja de Van Gogh and rock music to me.
other than a couple names that have tried to represent Spain before, I don’t recognize most of this list But that’s OK. What I care about is the quality of the songs and with the song to release, then I’ll make a proper judgment.
I recall Sharonne competing under her non-drag name in Tu cara no me suena todavía back in 2017, and nailing impersonations of Olga Guillot and Chavela Vargas. Great voice range, will be one to watch if she has the right song.
I also remember Fusa Nocta from Telecinco’s failed revival of The X Factor in 2018. Rap’s not my thing, but she did have an unique voice.
Other than Blanca Paloma and the OT guys (Alfred’s booked for Tu cara me suena, so I’m surprised to see his name on the entry list), I don’t know anyone else in there.
Maybe she could be the Spanish equivalent of Conchita Wurst?
That possibility should not be ruled out.
And the song ? When ?
Im so exciting with 18 artists for Spain !
Why some of you are complaining? Did you think that bigger names will be in? Then I’m sorry to tell you that you need to lower your expectations when it comes to eurovision.
Also non of us heard a single song then all your whining is useless.
So sit down and give us a break you all music experts out there.
As an American Eurovision fan, most of these names mean nothing to me so I’m waiting for the songs to make a proper judgment. If I recognize the name it’s only because I’ve seen the name before in a prior national final or even a eurovision participant from the past. Having expectations for eurovision a tricky balance. You don’t wanna set them up too high so you end up disappointed but you also don’t want to set them too low and take what you can get from the scraps. My approach has always been to moderate my expectations and keep… Read more »
Honestly, I’m very excited to see what we might from Spain for next year and hopefully one of these songs stand to be winning worty just so Spain can get the justice that they deserved since Chanel was robbed this year, plus she should’ve win in my opinion.
Chanel wasn’t robbed. I sense Spain will have another great year. Spain will slaaaaay. Will it be enough to win the contest? We don’t know yet.
Well Chanel should’ve won in my opinion since she’s the real winner for this year.
i hate this fandom sometimes
No one asked you.
Big names don’t do well at Eurovision. It’s all about originality, presentation and great song. Channel and Konstrakta were unknown and they did amazing job.
Chanel only had a dance choreography with a recycled song in the background, I don’t see how you can really compare her to Konstrakta…
Also, Chanel is a very beautiful & sexy woman. Whereas Konstrakta is an artist.
Konstrakta was just wonderful. I still put her song on repeat very often & wish it would last 10, 15 minutes. I wish I had a full Konstrakta album to listen to.
I don’t want big names with bad songs. It doesn’t work in Eurovision. Let’s see what they have.
This festival was meant to be THE Spanish music party, it was meant to be very special, it was meant to be at the same level as the Melfest and as San Remo or even better but in fact it’s a basic NF even more basic than some others. To create hype only for that it’s useless and disappointing but let’s hear the songs now for this National Final, that’s the most important things after all, but the way they try to sell this as a national music festival doesn’t convince me at all.
It’s also a newer national final compared to Melfest and San Remo so it might be a while before we gets lots of big name competitors. Let it grow and find its way. Who knows, maybe lots of these competitors might have great songs in spire of their stature. Let’s wait and see.
Of course but for the moment it’s only a simple NF for me, and even in a simple NF there can be great songs, it’s not only that that makes it a big and famous music festival. So what is the purpose to sell it as a music festival when it’s still not… San Remo and Melfest showcase all the musical industry of their countries with the top sellers artists of the moment, these big names bring a big big audience to these festivals, and with big audiences these artists have the certainty to be successful, the line up of… Read more »
Well, for Benidorm Fest I’d love to have the same type of artists than in San Remo, to be honest.
But Melfest? They are having the same artists over and over again… that’s not my idea of a good fest.
Aitana in the world? Each countries have artists who are big in the world too, not only from Spain lol!
But why Big mames? Most Big names in Spain are whos in Europe. And big Big Spanish names dont need to go to Esc. what for?
It’s because you love it too much, so it’s to compensate 😉 I’m kidding, I don’t hate Spain at all quite the opposite but I hate some spanish eurofans because of their hatred toward the others and because of their overly patriotism. 23 downvotes come on guys you can do better!
Of course Chanel could have been sent by Sweden wth? Why not? Sasha Jean Baptiste does pretty good choregraphy too. But guys you really think you have revolutionized the world by sending a woman dancing coached by an american team in Eurovision! Lol! She danced very well, she was good, no doubt but nothing revolutionary, and the song, very average… so stop acting like she was the 8th wonder of the world, like if she was better than anybody else on earth, and as if Spain was the center of the world, in fact act like every others eurofans in… Read more »
Leave Senhit out of this!
Right now without knowing any song. Sharonne is the big fav, yes she won Drag Race Spain but she can sing. She has a hugee vocal range!. If she has the song she is going to win. Because her vocals are amazing!
Is Sharonne going to perform as “Sharonne” her drag persona or out of drag? I guess by the use of her drag name she’ll probably be Sharonne, but if this reputation of huge vocal range is true, she could be going in a Conchita Wurst direction where it’s a serious drag performance not a silly one.
By Sharonne. Chearch in youtube. Sharonne is the best vocalist of all of them.
Sharonne, Spain Drag Race Winner (season 2) She can sing, she has a huge vocal range!! Also Agoney has an incredible vocal range
Well, that’s a major letdown. I expected some bigger names to compete after the success of last year. The majority of these acts aren’t impressing me so far, it feels like we have 3-5 potentially decent acts and the rest are filler queens.
Aritz Aren is sticking out from this list. Like Chanel, he’s a professional dancer, which is so important since Eurovision is basically a performance contest. I have high hopes for him.
This list of artists is very disappointing. Where are the artists with legit hits? It looks like it’s going back to fighting for second last place with Germany
You haven’t heard a single song
Tbh I was expecting bigger names but it is true in the end songs are what matter. I’m curious what happened to the big names that try it. Did they have worse songs than these 18? I was pretty sure they would give a spot to a famous artist or at least an old one like Azúcar Moreno though I prefer RTVE to choose the best 18 songs no matter what. However, without listening to the songs there are some names that I’m not really feeling (maybe more than the names that I’m feeling) and kind of think they are… Read more »
Well Blanca Paloma was definitely the one from the 2022 field that I would want to see back, so I’m happy with that! Otherwise we’ll just have to wait and see.
I’ll be honest, I havent really heard of any of these artists and quickly going through their discography, I am not as excited as I was before. That said, I am really hoping that the songs they submitted will show a new side to them and pleasantly surprise us! Rakky Ripper very much reminds me of Luna Ki in the sense of hyperpop/autotune usage in their song, so I just hope they don’t quit too
I’m so happy for Megara! I discovered their music thanks to fan wishlists for Eurovision, can’t really wait to see what they’re going to bring on Benidorm’ stage
Yey for Famous.
In my opinion, he was robbed getting a chance to represent Spain. Yes I love Miki, But I felt it was a dirty trick to get Famous a weak song despite the fact that he won OT. I hope he has something strong to take his revenge.
Podeis dejar los españoles de ser unos niñatos quejándose de, si no hay “grandes nombres” “disapointing” y tal cuando aqui lo unico depecionante es vuestra actitud. La mayoria de los artistas tienen auténticos temazos subidos y eso es lo que importa. LA CANCIÓN. Todo el día amargando y escribiendo mal en ingles, un voto de confianza a RTVE y a apoyar a nuestro candidato.
Hadn’t seen the rise from 16 to 18 coming, but if the quality’s anything like last year – the more the merrier! Also really pleased to see Alfred back. He hasn’t let a not-so-good result put him off trying again for Eurovision. I’m hoping for something a bit more flavoursome from him.
that’s it? after chanel’s success i was expecting some bigger names to be interested lol. hopefully there’s something good in that line-up so that chanel wasn’t just a fluke for spain.
I would say I’m sad because the list doesn’t have “big names”… but then Chanel was 100% new and there we have the result. At least we know they didn’t choose these ones just because “they’re popular”, they probably have something else behind
I feel kind of underwhelmed, looks like last year’s line-up set the bar too high but –ultimately, a then-unknown act was the one who won last year
Guys, maybe it was the wording but I wasn’t being mean, I’m actually looking forward to seeing what they have in store :/