The window of submissions to participate in the 2024 edition of Spain’s national selection, Benidorm Fest, has closed, and now RTVE received 825 submissions for next year’s competition.
Slight decrease in submissions, but a more complete package
Despite a decrease from last year, which saw 876 submissions, all 825 submissions have both a song and artist, a big change from last year, where over 300 songs were submitted without an artist.
It was also revealed that 23 of the songs included were written at a pilot songwriting camp carried out by RTVE in September, which aimed to increase the quality of the selection of songs.
A more diverse selection
The submissions have also seen a rise in songs composed in Spain’s co-official languages, with previous editions of the contest only having one entry each in a co-official Language, Galician trio Tanxugueiras with ‘Terra’ in 2022 and Siderland’s Catalan ‘Que esclati tot’ in 2023).
There is also more diversity in the genres of music submitted, with genres such as trap, urban and electronic, that weren’t prominent in previous editions of the contest.
An expert committee from RTVE will now review the submissions, and narrow the 825 submissions down to the 16 participants of the third edition of Benidorm Fest, with the participants to be revealed on the 11th of November in Seville at the Latin Grammy Awards.
Spain’s Eurovision Journey
Spain debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961 with Conchita Bautista’s “Estando Contigo”. The country earned its first win in 1968 with Massiel’s “La La La”, and won again 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, most famously with Mocedades’ “Eres tu” in 1973 and Anabel Conde’s “Vuelve conmigo” in 1996.
In 2023, Spain selected Blanca Paloma to carry on the success of Chanel in 2022. As part of the Big 5, Blanca Paloma did not need to qualify to the Grand Final from the semi-finals. At the close of voting, her song “EAEA” finished 17th, with a total of 100 points. Of these, 95 points came from the jury, whilst 5 came from the televote.
Who would you like to see in the next edition of Benidorm Fest? Who have been your favourites in past editions? As always, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threadsand Bluesky as we start gearing up for next year’s Contest!
News Source: RTVE
Photo Credit: Corinne Cumming/EBU
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