The competition is heating up in Spain. Tonight, nine acts competed in the first semi-final of Benidorm Fest 2023, all hoping to be the next Spanish Eurovision superstar. The show, hosted by Inés Hernand, Mónica Naranjo and Rodrigo Vázquez, also featured an interval medley from Spain’s Eurovision 2015 representative Edurne.
Only four acts from semi-final 1 qualified for the Benidorm Fest 2023 grand final this Saturday:
- Agoney – “Quiero Arder” (161 points)
- Alice Wonder – “Yo quisiera” (119 points)
- Fusa Nocta – “Mi Familia” (118 points)
- Megara – “Arcadia” (111 points)
- Aritz – “Flamenco” (107 points)
- Sharonne – “Aire” (87 points)
- Meler – “No Nos Moverán” (84 points)
- Twin Melody – “Sayonara” (77 points)
- Sofía Martín – “Tuki” (48 points)
Jury vote (50%)
Agoney – “Quiero Arder” (86 points)
Alice Wonder – “Yo quisiera” (79 points)
Fusa Nocta – “Mi Familia” (65 points)
Megara – “Arcadia” (51 points)
Aritz – “Flamenco” (50 points)
Sharonne – “Aire” (45 points)
Meler – “No Nos Moverán” (29 points)
Twin Melody – “Sayonara” (29 points)
Sofía Martín – “Tuki” (22 points)
Demoscopic jury (25%)
Meler – “No Nos Moverán” (40 points)
Agoney – “Quiero Arder” (35 points)
Megara – “Arcadia” (30 points)
Twin Melody – “Sayonara” (28 points)
Fusa Nocta – “Mi Familia” (25 points)
Aritz – “Flamenco” (22 points)
Sharonne – “Aire” (20 points)
Alice Wonder – “Yo quisiera” (15 points)
Sofía Martín – “Tuki” (13 points)
Televote (25%)
Agoney – “Quiero Arder” (40 points)
Aritz – “Flamenco” (35 points)
Megara – “Arcadia” (30 points)
Fusa Nocta – “Mi Familia” (28 points)
Alice Wonder – “Yo quisiera” (25 points)
Sharonne – “Aire” (22 points)
Twin Melody – “Sayonara” (20 points)
Meler – “No Nos Moverán” (15 points)
Sofía Martín – “Tuki” (13 points)
The results of tonight’s show was determined by 50% jury vote, 25% demoscopic jury vote and 25% televoting. A demoscopic jury is a panel of judges made up of a sample of the Spanish population. They were selected by statistical and demoscopic criteria to be representative of the country at large.
The jury included Melodifestivalen producer Christer Björkman, Eurovision 1997 winner Katrina Leskanich, Spain’s 1989 representative Nina, and Wiwibloggs’ very own William Lee Adams, amongst other Eurovision stars.
The champion will go on to fly the Spanish flag in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 on May 13th.
Last year, first ever Benidorm fest winner Chanel represented Spain with “Slo Mo”, coming third after Ukraine and the United Kingdom, their best result since 1995.
Benidorm Fest 2023 competing songs
How do I watch Benidorm Fest 2023?
You can watch Benidorm Fest online via RTVE Play. The second semi final will take place Thursday 2 February, with the final this Saturday 4 February.
Who are you rooting for? Will your favourite make it through? Let us know in the comments below.
Agoney is Maruv copy
Plot twist, Karmento will win it!
The funny thing is Megara also gave us entertainment!
it IS worth remembering – however much I will defend having the show live – that it is a SONG contest, and not a singing contest. Now absolutely, part of that package is selling the song, through a good singer and good stage show, but the song should still rank highly in the judgement.
Christer Björkman wrote on Insta, he cries because Flamenco is out. How come a jury member votes for somebody who cannot sing live? Only because of looks? How is that a professional jury with music experience?
For the Spanish journalists that saw the rehearsals, Aritz would be the 4th qualifier and not Fusa. I think there is a reason for that: Aritz’s performance was in the line with Mellodie festivalen performances. Eurovision journalists love Mello and, obviously, so does Björkman.
It was the juries that kept him out.
Unpopular opinion: I LOVED Agoney. Amazing vocals, love the vibe, he looked fierce and impressive staging for a first attempt. This has a lot of potential to be improved till Eurovision, Top 10 I think would def be possible/likely with him.
Me too !
it’s good sometimes to be part of the minority and it can pay off (example: Iceland 2022 and Albania 2022 where I said that Iceland would go through to the final and Albania that they wouldn’t)
I do not think it is so unpopular: Agoney won the jury vote and the televote and came second in the demoscopic. It was also second in Wiwiblogg’s survey. It is just now that he won the first semifinal, the people who do not like him are the ones talking the most.
Probably because Megara were so much better.
I love his voice. Its incredible but I don’t like this song. I saw the semi final just to watch Monica Naranjo singing Diva. Incredible……
For all the European eurofans, Agoney’s voice is similar to MBD’s voice and that something… not so good.
For the Spanish fans, Agoney’s voices is similar to Monica Naranjo’s voices and that is actually great.
Agoney would be a disaster at Eurovision… sorry but his song is a mess, the staging has a loooot to work on it. So, for me, the winner of Benidorm, should come from second semifinal
We’ve had acts who looked iffy in the national final performance come up with great staging for the Eurovision performance. There is time for improvement.
the song is pretty meh but it has potential for an epic staging
And all performance are live, this is not Norway
Ooooooh, shots fired!
Nina (jury forewoman)
Christer Björkman
Tali Eshkoli
Nicola Caligiore
Katrina Leskanich
William Lee Adams
Irene Valiente
Juan José Santana
Of these jurors, a significant number already have experience in the Eurovision bubble. Tali Eshkoli, Christer Björkman and Nicola Caligiore have previously acted as Heads of Delegation for Israel, Sweden and Italy respectively.
Tongo fest never forget jajajajaja
I can see agoney finishing 20-26 in esc .
Probably not that low…but definitely not a winning performance. Megara would actually finish higher based on the show they put on at semifinal 1.
Shame that everyone’s already decided that Agoney is winning the whole thing. Would love to see what Megara or any of the acts from semifinal 2 could do based on merit and not overall popularity 🙁
I’m going to get yelled at in advance but I assume my following words : Megara & Agoney are the best so far for the spanish final this saturday. But please, You still have to admit that Agoney is a showman and he has a crazy voice! Certainly the staging is not “perfect” (this word does not exist in my jargon by the way) because nothing will ever be perfect in this world, but it has time to improve if it represents the Spain in Liverpool. Ireland last year, the Irish scene was minimalist and finally at Eurovision it was… Read more »
Please Spain, send Megara, not Agoney!
The odds see a clear Benidorm Fest winner in Agoney after SF 1 at the same time that Spain is slowly falling out of the top ten. This makes me think Spain is not going in the right direction in its choice. Despite his voice and being a great performer, I think they see Agoney is not offering anything fresh, innovative or appealing to European jurors and televote. Having watched the alternatives and after reading many comments here too, I consider it is Megara who is offering the fresh full package required to impact at Eurovision so far, before watching… Read more »
Spain was in the same position in those odds last year even WITH Chanel selected, they only rose in the odds in the weeks building up to Eurovision. So anything is possible.
Watched some recordings of the show and nearly everyone’s vocals sounded off. Were there sound issues or do they simply need to up their game?
Agoney isn’t like Michael Ben David, who was insufferable to even listen singing!
Imo Megara was FOR SURE BEST of the night.Agoney’s song is so generic and dated It’s just smoke and mirrors compared to Megara
Well, about generic and dated music… Megara is so 2002 – Evanescence-ish.
Despite that, I think Megara is a great choice becasue they have such a powerful presence on stage and their attitude is amazing. The singer sings perfectly even dancing, and with some improvements on the performance I think it would be a proposal that could match many ESC viewers.
True, the fact that Aritz still nearly qualified with that “performance” and that some people think he should have actually qualified is just a bit mental, honestly. Also, people who always found Alice “boring” and never cared for that type of entry anyway trying to justify it by pretending like she was horrible live or something, that’s also quite shameless. Eurofans are much more entertainment fans than they are music fans and it’s very often clear to see.
I don’t even think hitting a bad note is even that important, I’d never consider it if I was on a jury. Like not putting through “Yesterday” by the Beatles, or “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen just because the vocals were not Whitney-level.
Imo Megara was the BEST of the night. Their performance was excessive in a good way, full of references to video games, anime, sci fi movies, her vocals were amazing and everything was coherent and pleasing even for those Who might not particularly like this music Style.
Agoney was too dramatic (drama Queen to the Max) It tires me all that poor-me-i-am-gay act.
Agoney’s song is the exact opposite of that. He’s going to be as gay as he likes, whenever he likes, and is not going to give a f what people think about it.
His song is about drama and his staging is about drama and he himself IS always about drama and poor-me but It is ok if he wins. However I really think that with Megara we could dream of maybe winning Eurovision and with Agoney clearly NOT
And btw all of you Who thought Spanish Eurofans are the worst wait till you get to know Agoney’s fans, they are the Psycho hooligan version of Spanish Eurofans.
Agree with everything you said except the mention of him being gay. Dont know how his sexuality has anything to do with this conversation
The song is about being gay. In a dramatic way. He “explained” his song before the SF, he said that when he CAME out people told him he would burn in hell for being gay…
I dont like this kind of things, i dont think It is sincere. He just wants to gain support based on the “emotional gay” thingy.
No. Maybe the Catholic church just had a terrible influence on his mental health, and now he’s ready to tell them that. They have done real harm, and deserve nothing but contempt from Agoney. Do you know enough about his actual life to make any kind of judgement?
O man please i think the “mental health” thing is a serious Matter to just use It whenever we feel like for whatever stupid thing.
Being gay and being told it is wrong all your life is kinda big. This is not a stupid thing.
Using It to win a contest might be.
That’s what the song is about. Now you know.
Can I ask what makes you say he was “too dramatic”, that he’s a “drama Queen to the Max”, and that he’s doing a “poor-me-i-am-gay act”?
First of all his explanation of the song. This thing of “they told me i was going to burn in hell for being gay” and hence this song, is pure drama. Specially from a singer Who is not really the vindicative and committed type.
Second, his comments once the song was released and realizing that It was not the favourite for the Eurofans he started complaining/crying about the “hate” he was receiving which was not true. But he Got some attention from the media and It seems It worked well for him.
I might sound too optimistic, but I expect Megara to do better with televoting and demoscopic jury on Saturday after this live performance. I hope the jury will appreciate it more, so myb we’ll have surprise winner.
I agree. I think a lot of people might shift to it
Megara would be a great surprise winner.
I agree with the most people that fusa nocta’s and alice’s vocals weren’t that good. But I am happy that they qualified because their songs were still one of the best. So I am happy that the jury gave them a 2nd chance because they can still improve in the final.
Alice’s song was always clearly ahead of everything else in this SF so the performance not being perfect is still not enough to downgrade her that much, but of course voters will prefer over-the-top stage shows over actual music, as is too often the case with ESC-related shows…
Agoney is really great best choice for spain
Everyone is sleeping od Karmento
I would vote for her tomorrow. I hope she can make the final at least
1000%. Her vocals will be flawless and she has great stage presence. Dark horse for sure
Benidorm flop
hearts from tanxu fan <3
Where is the melody in the winning song ? I can’t find it . Slick performance though . Not sure if this will do as well as Slomo .
There’s no melody indeed. It’s like a mix of things and trying to show vocals.
I was not the biggest fan of Slomo but that pack was very instant and easy to get and digest which made it work (also Chanel ofc)
There is no winning song yet, four qualified, that’s all.
I know , but he won the semi final by a landslide .
Me just being pedantic, but there is no winner of the semi final.
notice how the total results are identical to the jury’s rankings… imagine spending €1.45 per televote for that lmao
That’s what I don’t vote. And not many people did. Only 10.000 votes were cast.
thats a nice trick from rtve
having a tele and earning money from smss and calls yet still giving it zero power. thats facism
Agoney = Maruv + Michael BD, and I’m here for it! he is soo hot & cute at the same time!
Love the whole vibe of this.. I can see it in the TOP 10 for sure! they really step up their game lately! Good Job!
I think the best songs got through. Probably not the best performances (Alice and Fusa Nocta were not great), but I’m OK with the result.
Funny how in that insta post the whole audience sang SloMo but when you think a year back to when she won how much hatred she received from Spanish fans. Hypocrisy at its best xD
Either that or character development haha
Please William, give your full score to Megara. This rock band has a lot of charisma with a very complete package of show and voice. Arcadia is a hymn, the best song in Spain together with Nonchentera.
I don’t really get the people comparing Agoney’s song to last year Israel. It’s honestly an offense to Agoney lol. Yes, both songs are bops performed by gay guys but they had distinctly different sounds and staging. Can we stop saying one thing is like the other because its of the same genre/style? Plus, even though I don’t know Agoney from outside Benidorm, he seems like a really sweet down-to-earth guy compared to Michael Ben David. And on the topic of Agoney and his song… I liked the song when I first heard it but it never was my favorite… Read more »
Comparing Quiero arder with I.M wouldn’t be my ”go-to” choice of comparison, but when other people said it, I must admit that they have some similarities in genre. But that’s just a proof that, most of the time, genres aren’t inherently good or inherently bad, and you can make great and poor songs in any. I.M is terrible. Quiero arder is great. And yes, Agoney being infinitely more likable than MBD is also a factor.
The only thing Michael has over Agoney is that Michael moves better.
He’s a bit like MBD, but there are also Damiano David vibes.
But there are similarities really, it’s just that Agoney’s song is better, but both are in same style
Betting odds had Fusa Nocta with 18% yesterday, and Agoney with 13%. Now, Agoney takes the lead with a huge advantage of 46%, while Alice is at 11%, and Fusa and Vicco both at 10%. Semi 2 performances might equalize the field a bit more, but so far it really feels like Agoney is a frontrunner who will be hard to beat. I wish if Spain went with a different style this year, but this is still a really good package. Agoney being a man, and a song having more a Siren Song / I.M beat to it than the… Read more »
Maby I am stupid, but can someone explain me, If it’s 50 % jury and 50 %(25+25) public voting, how is posible that the public voting gives maximum 80 points (40+40) and the jury has give to Agoney 86 points……that dont looks 50/50……..
Because, probably the jury votes are presented as 1-12 ESC style (or in this case, probably 2-12), while the public vote and the demoscopic jury probably had a fixated number of points per place regardless of the percentage of votes. It seems like they both had 13, 15, 20, 22, 25, 28, 30, 35, and 40 points go give, no matter if the margins between how many people voted are big or small. For example, even if Agoney and Aritz were separated by two televotes, Agoney would still get 40 points, and Aritz 35. The jury vote probably had the… Read more »
You’re right, but this is not the worst part. Benidorm Fest is rigged. It was last year, and it’s still happening. Organizers say they take Melodifestivalen as a reference, but there are important differences. First of all, public semifinal results. The full outcome should be only revealed after the final. Now, voting is conditioned. Secondly, professional jury. Last year we had 5 jury members, three of them from Spain, and detailed votings were only revealed in a forced manner after the scandal. I can understand to show votes without linking them with their respective jury members, but last year jury’s… Read more »
Honestly, I think the results reflected quite well what happened yesterday, I would have only placed Megara one or two spots higher and I foresee the televoting will support them in the final (as they did not seem to have a huge support with the jury).
Maybe Agoney’s song is not a winning act for Eurovision, but it was actualy the best of the night. None of the rest would do better at ESC (except maybe Megara because European televoting is more keen on rock than the Spanish audience is).
William! It was a CRIME that the jury you were sitting on gave so few points to Megara despite them having good vocals and an IMPRESSIVE visual performance. In the final, you and the jury NEED to give more points to Megara in the final! If Spain sends anything else, I have reason to believe they will FLOP HARD at Eurovision! You and the jury need to be convinced this fact because otherwise the song choice will be sabotaged! Judging by all the reactions outside Spain, Megara was the best performance out of all of them. Also, don’t give Fusa… Read more »
Well its probably William voting for all these cheap bops that are destroying Eurovision, so sorry for that
Now that I’m a bit over Aritz not qualifying, I’m just hoping Rakky Ripper (we need hyperpop!), Vicco, E’Femme and Jose Otero makes it through and one of them takes the victory.
All in all it was a great show again! RTVE is really doing a great job on Benidorm Fest and I hope they’ll continue that even if the result in Eurovision isn’t be as good as last year. We always knew that Chanel would be a tough act to follow, and I didn’t see anyone yesterday that looks likely to get another top 3 result. I think Agoney deserved to win because his performance is good and slick; I don’t really click with the song and I hope he’ll ditch the outfit, but overall he’s doing a great job. I… Read more »
Can someone explain how this voting works because if you do the math right — if every jury member gives the same song 12 points they end up with 96. But the most one song can get from the public and this 350 person group is 80 points. That’s not 50/50 for jury and public. Unless juries too marks are only 10 points but last year they were 12. So juries in this national selection seem to have 20% more power than public. So why keep saying they have 50% of vote. Which is why Alice can end up 2nd… Read more »
The voting is very heavily weighted to the juries. There was lots of fake tension but the top 4 was almost certain after the jury voting.
Because jury can manipulate the voting, they can give many more points to one song than to others. Televoting and demoscopic points are fixed and can’t give someone much more points. So this is not 50% jury, jury has more power.
I honestly can’t stand the jury hate in pretty much every national selection every year, one thing if you dont fully agree with them but people are acting as if they sabotage everything when they pretty much handed Spain a lifeline last year, getting them a 3rd place finish. Jurors voted on the performances they saw and whilst I would’ve had my ranking done slightly differently, they did seem to rank songs mostly based on the performances and also taking the song into consideration. People complained about vocals, pretty much the majority of vocals weren’t brilliant last night.
But Megara’s were and they weren’t rewarded. Literally one or two of the only good vocals last night!
I discussed Megara, I agree they shouldve gotten more, nearly everyone else got marks in accordance with their performance on the night.
Maybe jury members don’t listen to rock music. That’s why they chose jury members who listen to mainstream music?
I don’t think anyone was giving the jury hate, only pointing out that they clearly had more influence than 50% on the result given how the points were awarded.
I meant jury hate more generally in selection but I replied to some who specifically said “juries manipulated the vote” which sounds malicious.
I think in general, whilst there’s some discontentment with the jury voting last night, mainly, Megara being fourth and Fusa Nocta placing higher than them, I think that there hhasnt been near as much toxicity with the jury compared to this time last year.
So apologies if it seemed like I meant people hating on this years benidorm fest jury, its rather juries in general (particularly at esc and last years benidorm fest).
The show was watched by 1 million of people it’s 500 000 less than the first semi of 2022, I think and hope the final will attract more people.
The only acts reaching the top Spain Itunes after the semi 1 are Megara, Fusa Nocta and Alice Wonder respectively in #59 #60 and #61.
Vicco appeared too in the top last week around the 70th place. And Karmento is now #29 without having competed yet just saying…
It’s the opposite, Megara is 61, Fusa is 60 and Alice 59.
Vicco is currently one of the ones with the most streams.
Didn’t it start earlier last year? I thought I was able to go to bed earlier last year 😉
It must be one of the reasons you’re right 😉
If you want to know how international juries are so easily swayed—wait until the final and see how much better Megara does with the jury. They always find a way to see how popular acts are and vote for them.
the juries ranked Tanxugeiras 5th/6th in the final despite the fans’ very negative reactions after their semi-final votes, and Megara only came 3rd with the tele while Tanxugueiras had come 1st, I don’t know what you’re talking about.
I’m so happy for Agoney &… Megara !!! Rock never dies. . Agoney : wonderful performance and show, its a showman and his voice is Amazing. Its my favorite so far like juries & spanish televote . Megara : great voice & performance, its so good but they are 4th on the SF1 its not a potential winner unfortunately… . Fusa Nocta : the song its Amazing with spanish traditional elements but the voice it’s average … More effort for saturday ! . Alice Wonder : beautiful ballad with emotions but the voice it’s not perfect and I don’t like… Read more »
Megara coming 4th is literally a crime, not only the staging was next level, the vocals were great unlike other contestants that were barely singing.
I find it funny how before I went to sleep I looked at the comments and the general consensus was people were happy with the result. Fast forward a few hours later, people are giving out lmaooo. I think I agree with the qualifiers,also in relation to the jury, my only changes I think would’ve been to put Megara 2nd (the rest of the top four moving down one position) and maybe not have Sofia last because whilst it wasn’t the best performance, I didnt think it was that bad. For those not happy with Fusa Nocta’s vocals, yeah they… Read more »
I for one wasn’t happy with Fusa’s PERFORMANCE, not just her vocals. The car was a bit odd and the song as literally about ‘Family first’ so I don’t understand the dancing and everything.
I mean, unless she pulled a Stig or Albina and brought family members on stage, I dont know how that would’ve worked. The car I will agree, don’t understand why it was there. The song is suited to have choreography so I didnt mind that.
I think the car is there to create a kind of “street” vibe. The lyrics are about how your family is always there for you to hold onto and to rely on, like a base or an anchor. I get why she created this setting, like you’re a young person just kinda hanging in the street and feeling somewhat lost and unsure of what you want to do in this world. It might seem a bit contrived, but I feel what she’s trying to do with it.
Benidorm fest shows the importance of live vocals for eurovision here. It makes every performance distinct and interesting with Megara being highly elevated for example.
I feel like we’ll see the eventual winner in the second semi final. Maybe Viggo. Agoney has a huge lead here. I wonder if that will influence his televotes in the final. Will the televoters of the non qualied entries support other acts?
So why wasn’t Megara rewarded MORE for a good visual AND vocal performance? They should have come second.
It just hit me that the jury’s effectively overpowered this year. The scores haven’t been properly adjusted to keep the 50-25-25 ratio. Agoney got 86 points from the jury while the maximum televote + demo score was 80. Massive oversight (if only that) from TVE. Anyway, here are my takes on last night’s performances: #9: Sofía Martín – Decent stage show, but the annoyingly repetitive chorus instantly threw me back off the bandwagon (and while we’re at it, what does tuki even mean?). Still, I’m shocked she lost the race out of the bottom to Twin Melody. #8: Twin Melody… Read more »
The jury definitely play a large role in who does well but last year, that paid off. They voted for the entry with the most potential and whilst I liked a few entries last year, Chanel seemed for me to be the obvious choice to pick if Spain wanted tge it best result in years.
You can downvote all you want, Rigotberta and Tanxugeiras songs would not have gotten the same result as Chanel at esc.
I did like Blanca and Rayden’s songs last year though, they could’ve done decently.
With how Tanxugeiras sang live they would have placed bottom 5 at ESC. Rigotberta would have been mid table at best IMO.
Agree and yet the Spanish televote gave out that they selected one of them rather than Chanel.
Well that’s why we have juries so they could award points to good performances.
*Fusa & Alice enter the chat*
*I exit the chat*
Agoney stage is so impressive- a quality performance. Though something about it reminds me of Israel song last year.
I didn’t like the choreography or the outfit! He sang very well though!
The things in common with Israel are “falsetto” and “gay”, obviously.
Agoney’s performance is quite good. His voice is impressive. Overall it is a good show, it has its great moments but the choreography is quite basic.They need to polish the dancing beats (he doesn’t have to dance), hire Chanel’s choreographer or something I think with a bit of polishing this could be a contender for a top 10, or even top 5 in Liverpool.
That was super dissapointing show overall, zero quality comparing to last year and everyone has tried too much. Yes Agoney was probably best of the night (even that I think the song is weak) but its far from doing well in Eurovision. From Hero to Zero it is for Spain. And jury votes… like really?
Spanish fans downvoting starts in 3,2,1…
Norwegian here and i downvoted you as well – because you are wrong. Show was great, so many nicely choreographed entries, much diversity in sound, lots of interesting costumes…. A feast for the eyes. Even the poorer entries were entertaining! Also overall stage was great and the show was efficient… With not too much chit chat between each performance…. Much better than for example Estonian selection or even SanRemo from previous years!
I agree, the show was really fun to watch and very pacy: a Spanish tv show that finishes in just two hours is really something! Very diverse entries, maybe a few too many people trying to channel their inner Chanel with a dance break, but it mostly looked slick and catchy.
Diversity? Apart from one or two songs, it was mostly ‘let’s copy Chanel and do a revealing dance break!’