Tonight, Spain commenced the search for Blanca Paloma’s successor as the first semi-final of Benidorm Fest 2024 took place. The first four qualifiers of Spain’s selection, which are still in the running to represent Spain in Malmö have been revealed.
Benidorm Fest Semi Final One Results
The acts who competed tonight’s Semi-Final and the results are as follows:
| Running Order | Artist | Entry | Jury | Demoscopic Jury | Televote | Total | Result |
| 1 | Lérica | “Astronauta” | 40 | 22 | 20 | 82 | Not Qualified |
| 2 | Noan | “Te echo de” | 46 | 28 | 22 | 96 | Not Qualified |
| 3 | Sofía Coll | “Here To Stay” | 58 | 30 | 28 | 116 | Qualified |
| 4 | Mantra | “Me Vas A Ver” | 33 | 25 | 40 | 98 | Not Qualified |
| 5 | Miss Caffeina | “Bla Bla Bla” | 64 | 16 | 25 | 105 | Qualified |
| 6 | Quique Niza | “PRISONERO” | 45 | 20 | 16 | 81 | Not Qualified |
| 7 | Angy Fernandez | “Sé Quién Soy” | 62 | 40 | 35 | 137 | Qualified |
| 8 | Nebulossa | “ZORRA” | 84 | 35 | 30 | 149 | Qualified |
In the interval, we were treated to a duet of “Supereroi” by Italian artist Mr Rain and Spanish singer Beret. This song was Mr Rain’s entry to Sanremo 2023. This was followed after the vote closed by a duet by Vicco & Abraham Mateo with their song “Tequiero”, and Vicco performing her Benidorm Fest 2023 entry “Nochentera”.
What Is Benidorm Fest?
Following a decade and a half interval, Spain’s national broadcaster RTVE revived the Benidorm International Song Festival, and transformed into Spain’s selection show for Eurovision. This is not the first time RTVE has experimented with pre-existing formats to select it’s Eurovision entrants; having previously intermittently used Operación Triunfo. Though this time was to much greater success, as inaugural winner Chanel ultimately finished third at last year’s contest in Turin. The second edition is being hosted by Inés Hernand, Mónica Naranjo, and Rodrigo Vázquez.
Voting in Benidorm Fest consists of a hybrid system, with three voting methods: jury, demiscopic, and televote. the jury consists of music professions ranking the competitors, and makes up 50% of the vote. The demiscopic vote is a weighted system meant to balance the vote based on the demographic make up of Spain, and makes up 25% of the vote. The final 25% of the vote consists of simple televote.
What Happens Next
On Thursday the Second Semi Final will take place, and pick the remaining four participants for the final which will take place this Saturday. Voting for the final will be in the same manner as the semi finals. The winner will go on to represent Spain at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö.
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.
What do you think tonight’s show? Are you happy with who made the final? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow “That Eurovision Site” on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter Threads Blue-Sky and Tiktok as we gear up for Eurovision 2024
News Source: RTVE
Photo Credit: RTVE
Rory Gannon
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