With Spain’s Eurovision National Final, Benidorm Fest due to start shortly, we got further information about the first semi-final. RTVE has announced that Eurovision 2017 winner Salvador Sobral and the band Marlon will be the guest performers for the first semi-final.
🙌¿Quiénes son los artistas invitados de esta primera semifinal del #BenidormFest? Salvador Sobral y @_marlonoficial_ actuarán esta noche en el escenario de Benidorm #ElFestivalQueQuieres https://t.co/mmUonmxCjB pic.twitter.com/us3oRzBpQ5
— Eurovisión RTVE (@eurovision_tve) January 26, 2022
Eurovision Winner and a LOS40 Music Awards nominee
Salvador Sobral is mostly known for being the winner of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest with “Amar Pelos Dois” in Kyiv, where he scored 758 points, which is currently the highest-scoring Eurovision winning entry to date. Since his win, he has released two studio albums, with his latest release ‘bpm’ being nominated for ‘Best Engineered Album’ at the 22nd Latin Grammy Awards.
Marlon is a band consisting of Adrián Roma (vocals), Juanin (guitar and backing vocals) and Jorge (bass), with their music mainly inspired by 80’s pop. In 2016, they were nominated for the “Revelation Artist” Award at the LOS40 Music Awards in 2016. Their recent singles “Con uñas y dientes” and “De perreo” contributing to their success.
Who’s competing tonight?
The competing artists, as well as the running order for tonight’s show are as follows
| Order | Artist | Song Title |
| 1 | Varry Brava | “Raffaella” |
| 2 | Azúcar Moreno | “Postureo” |
| 3 | Blanca Paloma | “Secreto de agua” |
| 4 | Unique | “Mejores” |
| 5 | Tanxugueiras | “Terra” |
| 6 | Chanel | “SloMo” |
Luna Ki had been due to participate in this semi-final with their song “Voy a morir”, however withdrew earlier in the week. The reasons for withdrawal were due to the song being unable to compete in Eurovision due to the rules surrounding autotune in the contest.
Details about Benidorm Fest
This year’s Benidorm Fest is taking place at the Palacio de Deportes L’ILLA. There are three shows in this year’s national final, two semi-finals taking place on 26th and 27th January and the final on Saturday 29th January. Four acts from each semi-final will qualify for the grand final. The winner will be chosen by 50% jury voting and 50% audience voting, split into a 25% televote and 25% demoscopic panel.
The five jurors for the festival this year are:
- Estefanía García – Coordinator of the RTVE Orchestra and Choir
- Felix Bergsson – Head of Delegation for Iceland at Eurovision
- Marvin Dietmann – Creative Director
- Miryam Benedited – Choreographer
- Natalia Calderón – Singer, actress and vocal coach
Spain’s Eurovision Journey
Spain debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961 with Conchita Bautista’s “Estando Contigo” and the country earned its first win in 1968 with Massiel’s “La La La”. They then earned their second consecutive win in 1969 with Salome’s “Vivo Cantando” in an infamous four-way tie. Although they have yet to win again, Spain earned several 2nd place finishes, including Mocedades’ “Eres tu” in 1973 and Anabel Conde’s “Vuelve conmigo” in 1996.
However, Spain has been less successful in recent years. Although they achieved two 10th place finishes in 2012 and 2014, the country has not finished above 20th place since 2015. This includes one last-place finish in 2017. Unfortunately, this trend continued in 2021, with Blas Canto’s “Voy a quedarme” finishing in 24th place at the 2021 contest with 6 points.
Are you excited to watch tonight’s show? Who do you want to qualify? As always, let us know in the comments or on social media. Also, be sure to follow THAT Eurovision Site on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
News Source: RTVE
Photo Source: EBU /Andres Putting
