After a blazing first semi final, nine more competed in the second semi-final of Benidorm Fest 2023 tonight.
Benidorm Fest semi-final 2 saw fan favourites including Karmento and Blanca Paloma compete for the love of the juries and the Spanish public.
The devilishly fierce Agoney won semi-final 1, topping the jury and the televote. Alice Wonder, Fusa Nocta, and Megara took the remaining finale spots. But who will be joining them after tonight?
Tonight’s show was hosted by Inés Hernand, Mónica Naranjo and Rodrigo Vázquez, and featured an interval act from Mexican singer Gloria Trevi.
Here are the qualifiers from the the second semi final of Benidorm Fest 2023.
- Blanca Paloma – “Eaea” (167 points)
- Vicco – “Nochentera” (135 points)
- Karmento – “Quiero y duelo” (112 points)
- José Otero – “Inviernos en Marte” (105 points)
- Alfred García – “Desde que tú estás” (102 points)
- Siderland – “Que esclati tot” (88 points)
- Famous – “La Lola” (87 points)
- E’femme – “Uff!” (64 points)
- Rakky Ripper – “Tracción” (52 points)
Jury results
- Blanca Paloma – “Eaea” (92 points)
- Vicco – “Nochentera” (67 points)
- José Otero – “Inviernos en Marte” (63 points)
- Alfred García – “Desde que tú estás” (52 points)
- Siderland – “Que esclati tot” (48 points)
- Karmento – “Quiero y duelo” (47 points)
- Famous – “La Lola” (46 points)
- Rakky Ripper – “Tracción” (24 points)
- E’femme – “Uff!” (17 points)
Televote results
- Blanca Paloma – “Eaea” (40 points)
- Karmento – “Quiero y duelo” (35 points)
- Alfred García – “Desde que tú estás” (30 points)
- Vicco – “Nochentera” (28 points)
- Siderland – “Que esclati tot” (25 points)
- E’femme – “Uff!” (22 points)
- José Otero – “Inviernos en Marte” (20 points)
- Rakky Ripper – “Tracción” (15 points)
- Famous – “La Lola” (13 points)
Demoscopic vote
- Vicco – “Nochentera” (40 points)
- Blanca Paloma – “Eaea” (35 points)
- Karmento – “Quiero y duelo” (30 points)
- Famous – “La Lola” (28 points)
- E’femme – “Uff!” (25 points)
- José Otero – “Inviernos en Marte” (22 points)
- Alfred García – “Desde que tú estás” (20 points)
- Siderland – “Que esclati tot” (15 points)
- Rakky Ripper – “Tracción” (13 points)
The results of tonight’s show were 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 includes 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 Saturday 13 May.
Last year, Chanel represented Spain with “Slo Mo”, placing third behind winners Kalush Orchestra and runner-up Sam Ryder.
Benidorm Fest 2023 finalists
After tonights semi-final, we now know all eight finalists who will compete in the final of Benidorm Fest 2023. They are:
- Agoney – “Quiero arder”
- Alice Wonder – “Yo quisiera”
- Blanca Paloma – “Eaea”
- Fusa Nocta – “Mi familia”
- José Otero – “Inviernos en Marte”
- Karmento – “Quiero y duelo”
- Megara – “Arcadia”
- Vicco – “Nochentera”
Benidorm Fest 2023 interviews
How do I watch Benidorm Fest?
You can watch Benidorm Fest online via RTVE Play. The final takes place this Saturday 4 February at 21:00 GMT / 22:00 CET.
Who are you rooting for? Will your favourite make it through? Let us know in the comments below.
Blanca Paloma deserved this win. I’m glad it wasn’t just the top 4 of the jury this time
I am trying to understand some Eurofans’ minds (being drunk does not help). Would i ever go to a Finish NF to Tell them that their favourite song “makes my ear bleed”, “IS just a someone yelling his/her brains out” and etc? I Hope not. We LOVE Blanca Paloma if u dont, move to the Next one and be Happy.
Blanca Paloma. What a voice. outstanding, the lyrics incredible. I am not a flamenco fan but with this song i had goosebumps for 3 minutes. I think is a very interesting and new proposal. Good luck.
Voy a cruzar mis dedos para Blanca. Ademas me gustan Megara y Karmento.
The last place of each juror gets 2 points instead of 3. So jury gives a total of 432 and the telvote and demoscopic each 216
The Jury is just wrong about Karmento!
My personal favourite it Vicco, but I don’t think she’d do well in Eurovision. I think Karmento fits well in the mold of what we’ve come to expect from Spain (a little bit of flamenco folk, a powerful female voice). I don’t quite get the hype with Blanca Paloma, but maybe it’s because I’m not familiar with that kind of music.
Karmento “a little bit of flamenco”?? You are a “little” bit Wrong.
Source?
This 2nd semi final way WAAAAYYYYY BETTER that the 1st one. Even the songs that were not in the books looked and sounded great. Better stagings, better choreographies, better vocals (well, all of them except E’FEMME which performance was so under the level of the rest). I’m such a big fan of Blanca Paloma’s song from the very beginning so I’m so happy that she landed a 1st place in her semi, she definately did it great (maybe staging can be polished a bit). And so well deserved for Karmento and Vicco. Now Blanca has to win on Saturday!
People of the world (spice Up your Life) please just open Up your… senses and listen/read:
My child when I die, may they bury me in the Moon so I can see you every night, every night except for one…
If you dont have chills that multiplying is because you dont have sense and/ or sensibility…
I’m so happy with these 8 finalists ! It’s an incredible show & selection !
For me, my personal winner is Blanca Paloma ! Her voice is INCREDIBLE (out of this world my goddddd), the song is very spanish vibes with flamenco elements and the melody is very good & sensual.
I’m very scary about her with Agoney because Agoney is famous and popular and with televote & demoscopic votes it will be complicated for Blanca with only juries votes…
I won’t be mad if Agoney wins tomorrow but a bit disappointed anyway…
For those saying Spain Will be bottom 5 with Blanca Paloma… I cannot think of any act with a powerful female voice getting bottom 5. I might b Wrong but i cant remember any.
Then I’m gonna be the one who says Blanca is gonna fair below average in May. Her vocals are amazing but the rest is in doubt.
Sarah Aalto
We are Domi
Jessica Mauboy
Maybe “powerful voice” means something different for us.
Amandine Bourgeois, Lisa Angel
Definitely “powerful voice” means something different for you N I.
If they choose that spanish lullaby they gonna do bottom 5 again at Eurovision.
Ok. Thanks for your concern but we like “that Spanish lullaby”.
did you miss portugal last year or…?
Portugal fared worse than Spain last year, what’s your point?
But it did finish in the top 10.
Stunning
Wow! Blanca is fantastic!! I did not see it live (I needed my beauty sleep 😉 ) and I was a bit unsure about the electronic effects in the song, but live this works so well! It’s everything I want from an entry from Spain, that staging is fantastic, she delivers vocally, she has the personality and the originality, and it oozes Spain from every pore! Please Spain, send her to Liverpool!!!
La canción de Agoney me parece un medley de canciones que ya han estado en eurovision. Y aunque su voz es maravillosa , nos haría un favor a todos no bailando…
Blanca Paloma, su canción es brutal pero creo que sin demasiados ” do” termina siendo una canción casi gritada y eso en Europa no gusta.
Amo a Karmento era mi favorita junto a Alice Wonder aunque ninguna ira, no son lo suficientemente gays no serán elegidas, una pena.
Creo que debería ir Megara, buena canción muy buena puesta en escena
Megara would slay at Eurovision, but Spain is not ready to send it to Eurovision. When Italy decided to send Maneskin in 2021 with rock song they won.
megaras song is for its genre not good enough to slay like maneskin.
I really liked Blanca last year, it was my second fav after Chanel, but this year it is, for me, not suited for Eurovision. She sings well and the performance is strong, but the song reminds me of the screaming woman from last year, that the Spanish people wanted to win (that song I really hated, I just hate the whole screaming theme). Those songs have little appeal to the European people (it is too special, they are not a hit and difficult to sing along to). More suited at a theatre. Though it has been done before ie Ukraine,… Read more »
Tanxugueiras was a total mess on stage; Blanca Paloma has a fantastic staging and performance. They could hardly be more different.
in the final they were top class.
after hearing them all live, my favourites have to be karmento, blanca paloma and megara, any of these winning would be very very successful in esc, sad that siderland and rakky ripper didn’t qualify 🙁
It has to be noted that after Agoney’s Víctory Spain went down to the 11 position on the bettings and today It has gone Up to the 8th position
Betting odds are overrated. Bookkeepers and their odds should be ignored at all times.
Come on, the odds are irrelevant and again more with only 3 songs out, if you think it is you are lost.
Regarding voting and Who might or might not vote a song I want to remind you, in case you have forgotten (people tend to be forgetful sometimes) that many of you said last year that there was no way professional juries would vote for Chanel since her song was meh, her vocals were meh and It was only a dance routine (i might have read a comment like “Esc is song contest not a dance one” like a thousand times). So I think It is better not to try to oversee what Will happen because even though It sounds very… Read more »
I said it last year with Chanel: at this point Eurovision, Benidorm Fest and the like are only nominally song contests. They’re television shows first and foremost; it’s not just the song, it’s finding the presentation and live vocals to fit it. Getting the entire package right matters more than many want to admit.
The split of points doesn’t make sense in BF. How is it 50/25/25 split when juries alone can give max 96 pts while televote + demoscopic is max 80 points?
I think it’s to do with total number of points available – jury distributes 456 points, public 228, demoscopic 228.
Just listened to Blanca’s song and it really is interesting. Can someone tell me what kind of folk, traditional music is it inspired from?
Flamenco.
It is supposed to be a flamenco lullaby. It has got a lot of real flamenco, mixed with new music (as electronical). I know it sounds a little bit Arabian, but it is because of the Arab origins of flamenco.
The staging and even the lyrics are inspired by the Lorca universe: red, hearts, references to the moon, …
Thanks for the explanation. I wasn’t aware of flamenco lullabies but now I can totally see the Lorca inspirations. Interesting entry all in all
It’s kind of Bulerías or Copla Flamenca if i’m not wrong
Flamenco
Looking back at the Benidorm songs and performances, I can see the arguments for saying someone else has your favorite song, but I think that we can all agree that Blanca had the best *performance / live vocals*. I expected her to bring it to *that level*, but she brought it above *that level*. Her vocals are just astounding. Still, several other performers had amazing live performances too, so if their songs do it more for you, sure, root for them to win. In the end, it’s a song contest first and foremost. Let’s just respect each other’s opinions. I… Read more »
Listening now to both Blanca’s and Agoney’s songs I have to say that I also prefer Blanca to win. I get why some people compare it with Fulenn (that I also liked) but this one seems a lot more organised on stage and of course Blanca is an impeccable singer. Traditional songs always appeal to me so she would make a good winner
People can compare but this song is much more intricate than fulenn. I showed my sister fulenn last year and she was getting second-hand embarrassment. She saw Blanca and said this could be the winner. I’m using her as someone who doesn’t follow Eurovision just getting an outsider’s perspective.
That’s a fair assessment. Blanca’s song might not be for everyone, but she is a tremendous performer. What astonishes me is that so many people seem to be surprised by this. We all heard her last year, right?
As for the final, I can’t complain, all my favourites got through, but I’m not that enthused about the front runners. “Quiero arder” is just not for me, and whilst I’m an admirer of Blanca Paloma’s skills as a vocalist, and although I like the song fine, it’s probably nothing I would ever put on repeat.
Can I just hug you! Beautiful comment.
Like you did, Jean-Paul. Hugs back. Thanks!
Now that we saw all live performances, Megara is clearly the best choice for Spain.
RTVE needs to name and shame the jurors that didn’t give Blanca Paloma their 12 points.
Why would they promote Fulenn 2.0?
What? Are you deaf?
Europe will tell you that in May when she will flop massively. This is unlistenable.
Don’t be so rude.
Blanca may be a strong favourite within the jury, but we should thank the televote and the demoscopic for the value they have given to Karmento. Contrary to Blanca, who draws her song from the more traditional Flamenco style (with a modern approach of course), Karmento follows a style quite unknown to Eurovision and quite forgotten overall in Spain among the youth, yet also from a modern perspective: that of rural areas who are struggling to survive, bringing memories of the traditional songs full of wisdom sung by elderly people and playing with language (double meanings, metaphors, images, etc.). Those… Read more »
I LOVED Karmeto’s performance! I don’t mind if she wins, even if that means that Spain would get a 22nd place at the final. They would flop but with ellegance. Extremely good song and performer, but I’m not sure if Europe would appreciate it
thx for this interesting comment – have learned something.
🙂
Paloma Blanca was the longest three minutes of my life. It will flop massively in Eurovision. Agoney will too.
I totally agree about the flopping of the to songs in the Contest. To be honest, Spain is one of two countries that always chooses the wrong song (looking from the perspective of a success at the ESC, not necessarily the overall quality – that is a reservation for Chanel;), so that would not surprise me one of the two gets through. I believe Megara to have the full package, Fusa Nocta was my favourite going in, but unfortunately she did underwhelmingly as suspected, Vicco stays with me beyond the contest. I respect the work of the rest though and… Read more »
Nochentera is still my favorite.
Eaea is not really my thing. No matter how good she sings. Agoney has an ok song too. But that beat drop has been done many times before.
Not feeling it. I find the first semi-final to be stronger. But, hey, to each their own. My favourite is Agoney with Alice Wonder close by, I cannot connect to the rest of the songs. I can see why people may like Megara, though. Blanca Paloma’s semi-final victory surprised me because I find her song to be too flat. I stand by my statement that songs based on a single line, let alone one like “Eea Eea Eea,” rarely achieve success. Good luck nevertheless!
Well, Spain won with La La La, more than 50 years ago.
*55 years ago, which is self-explanatory.
Blanca is OK, but this musical style has no appeal to the masses. If Spain will pick her will get an average ranking, around top 15-20 in the Grande finale (most optimistic scenario). Agoney is much better, Spain could reach top 3 pe even could win with him…
I think we’ve seen quite a few examples of acts that people said that wouldn’t “appeal to the masses” getting pretty good, even great, results in recent years: Salvador Sobral, Barbara Pravi, Gjon’s Tears, Go_A, Maro to name just a few. One should never underestimate how much a good performance will speak to people’s hearts even if it’s in a musical style they’re not used to.
I agree that Blanca Paloma won’t tank, but I personally don’t think it’s a winning song. But it’s ok, it doesn’t have to win. Maybe Spain has to follow the Italian route of sending consistently decent entries that build an image of quality before actually winning the contest. Blanca Paloma could be a decent entry that ends up in the top 10 this year.
There’s a lot of dismissive comments here. Just because you have a favourite doesn’t mean it’s “wrong” or “rigged” if they don’t end up winning. You can have your personal favourite and root for them without having to tear down other artists. Enjoy the national final for what it is!
And lots of downvoting for subjective personal opinions. If you don’t like a song, that’s fine. But keep it friendly and classy here folks <3
Holding my breath for a surprise Megara or karmento win
i hope blanca and agoney are next to each other in the running order. preferably with blanca going after agoney and closing the show. realistically, one of them will most likely represent spain given how many more points they got in comparison to the other acts in their semis. if benidorm is anything like last year, where the act that exceeded expectations in their live performance wins after previously being underrated (chanel), then surely this years is blanca paloma. she is something special in my opinion, i think she’s the clear winner
Karmento, Vicco or Fusa Nocta! Please Spain ??
I love fusa’s song, but no chance is anyway letting that poor live performance win
I was rooting for Fusa the whole time, but man that performance was not it. When we already have Rosalia who can dance and sing impeccably, entering Fusa would diminish the Eurovision as a competition for amateurs. Blanca Paloma is a well-seasoned performer and would show the world the level of talent Spain has to offer.
Karmento was such a queen! So happy for her pass to the final
I try to put myself in the shoes of one jury, if I gave my 12 pts to Agoney and my 12 pts to Blanca what would I do in the final….I will forcefully give my 12 pts again to one of them or not… Honestly I see more Agoney or Vicco making the european charts. With Blanca, it’s a risk, France did it last year, it didn’t work, maybe for Spain yes because Blanca Paloma vocals are largely better, but I remain skeptical on the competitivity of the song itself, I don’t see this song becoming a huge hit,… Read more »
I don’t understand how Vicco has not won the televote she is already number 10 on Itunes Spain…
Simply because Blanca Paloma is (objectively) infinitely better, she’s a force of nature that the Spanish public just couldn’t ignore.
Sure but it’s a song contest too…
And not only a voice contest even if the vocals are very important.
Eaea is the best song.
The best comparing to what? It’s subjective, for me it is not the best song in this final
That’s why EaEa has been my clear number one in this selection ever since the songs were released, I’ve been completely on the Blanca Paloma bandwagon right from the start.
You must be happy then
A long time ago Eurovision stopped being a song contest but the best pack (song, voice, staging, among other things)
You mean in 1956
Because her live performance was nothing special
Same happened with Fusa Nocta (well, worst..) . She was the favourite before but…
*juror
What’s the diff between a jury and a juror?
A juror is an individual member within a JURY
Ok I thought it was the same I didn’t know this subtility, ty!
Even though like France 2022 more I think Blanca is far more competitive with her voice alone
Ok but i would say in Eurovision to be really competitive you need, a really good song, the best possible voice, and an impactful staging. The voice itself is not enough imo, she has a good staging though.
In Eurovision every year there are impressive high notes, and some vocal showcases, it’s like a tradition lol and I already fear that if somebody comes with a more accessible, current and fresh song, a crowd bait song and with some vocals acrobatics too Blanca won’t be enough competitive, I don’t know if you get my point. Blanca song is modern don’t get me wrong but a bit too experimental to appeal a large audience in Eurovision imo but I can be wrong.
You saidthe things respecftfully and you are downvoted, you are mean or disrespecful you are upvoted….I’m done lol
Blanca Paloma or nothing.
Karmento is my favourite. I have no idea what the juries were thinking putting it so low.
Loved Karmento, shes phenomenal. Her or Blanca I’d be a happy bunny.
Just want to point out that Blanco Paloma scored 167 points total and Agoney 161. It’s a close race but if Benidorm were one show EaEa would’ve won!
Let’s see how Saturday goes. Also…putting my hope in a Megara or Karmento win!!! Unlikely but here’s to dreaming! 🙂
We can’t be sure who would have won if it were 1 show because they didn’t directly compete against each other. But yes, Blanco Paloma had the highest score in her semifinal and that was the highest total, but that has no ability to be compared to Agoney’s score.
Blanca Paloma should landslide this, but if we learned anything from last year it’s that juries will vote for the basic agoney song, and sadly juries determine the winner in this format.
By that theory though, Blanca will win as Juries gave blanca significantly more points than Agoney got. people argue it was a weaker semi, but I would beg to differ, we have Vicco, Alfred, Karmento, also the other acts weren’t at all awful apart from uff lol.
A reminder that the Spanish public last year voted for a very ethnic sound by a mile…it was the jury that sunk the Spanish choice…so I don’t think there’s a world where Blanca is not winning the public vote by a significant margin over Agoney
The thing is that Agoney has such a huge fan base here in Spain, he is more famous than Blanca Paloma, or at least more known out of the ESC bubble
I ignored Blanca’s studio version song, but watching and listening to it live makes me really like it as one of the favorite to go to Eurovision. It was a magical experience. She sang well too. Some songs are better live.
I think we already know the first two in the jury final ranking now in which order and with how many points that’s the only suspense. I would be really surprised if the jury changed their mind Saturday night….and knowing the voting system the first 2 in the jury will already be the only 2 to fight for the victory and no need to name them 😉 . I’d love to see Karmento in Eurovision but it won’t happen unfortunately, the only others 2 who could be surprised winner are Megara and Vicco because Vicco won the demoscopic and ended… Read more »
Now that all the finalists have been chosen, I think Spain has a very tight set to choose from.
Blanca Paloma was not only the BEST act of the night, she was the night and all the nights this week.
For me, the second best performance of the night was that little thing that Blanca and her backup singers did when the show was going around and talking to all the contestants during voting 🙂
Spain needs to send Blanca and that’s it. Everyone who thinks differently is wrong.
Not sure how the televote at Eurovision will do with it though.
We cant be sure of that specially after Moldova’s position on televote last year.
You should be on that jury! Alone! With 90% of the votes, just to make absolutely sure justice will be served. The other jury and the Spanish voters may share the remaining 10%. That’s still too generous.
You are absolutely right.
I am absolutely sarcastic.
I’m wrong then and I assume
I want to like Blanca, loved the staging, she has a great voice BUT I literally got headache listening to it and I am someone who likes alternative and experimental music. It was more like a theatrical performance than anything else. Surprised the juries would put this miles ahead compared to Karmento who I enjoyed much more but would set in a comparable league.
Like exactly my case
Even my mom actually asked to shut the volume because it was so screamy
Let me guess, your mother adored Agoney and his outfit? lol
Why “even” your mom? IS your mom a rock star or a party beast? Most moms in the world Tell their children to put the volumen down, so why “EVEN my mom”???
Fully agree. The longest three minutes of my life. We are being misled by performance as the song is really weak.itself.
Just watched Jose Otero. Really nice! I’m glad he made it. I have to wonder, did they make Björkman do the running order as well? The ballad needs to perform 2nd. It’s a rule now.
Blanca Paloma Vs Agoney is going to be beautiful.
I dont think Blanca has much chanses to be honest. Her song is very expirimental and for similar audience like Fusa Nocta and Alice Wonder. They all made it to the final and i can see all loosing points to each other while Agoney dont have any competition. He is the only male dance number. Aritz loosing to Megara with few point and not going to to final was probably the best outcome for him. Im interested to see also the running order of the 8th acts in the final.
Alice Wonder sounds nothing like Blanca. I agree about Fusa but she lost the hype she had because of the poor performance.
Agoney IS the only male dancer and that is why he has no rival??? And at Esc he Will be the only male dancer too and he Will again have no rival??
That agony song is being over hyped. It’s a hot mess. Yes he has a great voice and he can sort of dance but the song is a nothing burger. Send Blanca Spain and you’ll get at least a top 5 maybe winner. She’s just captivating.
“agony song”
lmao xD
Agreed. he’s an amazing performer but the song is so dull and goes nowhere. Plus, it’s following the Chanel recipe which is wrong to repeat in a second year in a row (remember Cyprus 2019 doing the same).
Blanca is so unique, no other country will have an entry like this so Spanish fans be smart and vote for Blanca.
no agoney is the one
It’s not close to Chanel. They lyrics of SloMo were vapid, the lyrics of Quireo arder are important.
LOL important. yes sure. repeating arder ahundred times.
They told him to burn in (censored). So now he’s enjoying his life in their faces. Don’t ever tell him how to live. Is that the basic concept?
The lyrics of ‘Mi Familia’ and ‘Nochentera’ have more meaning than both of those songs combined times by a hundred.
The thing is having something that nobody will have doesn’t mean it’s good I can’t imagine a wide audience picking up their phone for such a song
Hope you realise that music professionals disagree with you in terms of Agoney. You are allowed to have an opinion but don’t phrase it as if it’s a fact.
Do you understand the lyrics?
Arder! It’s so catchy. The instrumental reminds me of Replay, admittedly. I thought Tamta was just terrible, but this one really works for me. He has a much better voice than thinly voiced Tamta had. Not to mention an actual message.
He is exactly like Tamta and I bet he will have the same fate or even worse (considering Tamta has 12p from greece and Georgia)
He is already not like Tamta, as he wrote his own song and has a good and strong voice. That’s already two points more than Tamta without even being in Eurovision. But it’s interesting you already predict his fate. So I guess you see him at Eurovision, too. He also looks better in rubber than Tamta. She sucked big time on stage. Barely singing, barely moving, barely anything. As for the results, I don’t predict the future. He may very pull an Edurne, if he gets the ticket. I still l like it. Arder!
* may very well pull
Agony is overhyped, yes, but Spanish people love him too much. So he will easily win.