The 2021 Eurovision Song Contest forever changed the history of the contest. The award-winning Italian band Måneskin is enjoying a spectacular moment of popularity around the world and now everyone wants to repeat their exploits.
It will not be easy, but RTVE wants to achieve it by starting by recovering the legendary Benidorm Festival, which in its time served to choose the representative of Eurovision for that year. Måneskin was chosen after participating in the Sanremo Festival, which the Benidorm Festival is based on, and this will perhaps draw more established artists to the Spanish version.
In fact, the artists and songs they chose to feature for the Eurovision Song Contest are already known. Below you’ll find all the information you need to know about Benidorm Fest, including how to follow it live.
What is the Benidorm Fest?
Between 1959 and 2006, the Benidorm Song Festival took place intermittently in Benidorm. A decade and a half later, a similar musical competition has been recovered, which will also take place in the city of Alicante and which will be called Benidorm Fest.
The idea for the original festival was born with the intention of emulating the mythical Italian festival of Sanremo. Artists of the stature of Raphaël, Julio Iglesias, Victor Manuel, Karina, Betty Missiego, Tino Casal, Pasión Vega or even Barei have passed there.
In July 2021, it was announced that in collaboration with the Generalitat Valenciana and the mayor of Benidorm, RTVE was taking over the festival with the intention of serving as a preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest.
The Benidorm Fest prize will therefore be to be able to represent Europe in the great European musical competition, which will take place next May in Turin.
When and where will the Benidorm Fest take place?
The renewed Benidorm Fest will take place at January 2022, specifically last week. It will be held at the Palau Municipal d’Esports l’Illa in Benidorm, which can accommodate up to 4,000 spectators, although we doubt there will be as many due to COVID restrictions.
We know that there will be two semi-finals and a final, so everything indicates that we will have to reserve three dates on the calendar. Other side events could also be organized in parallel.
Which artists participate in Benidorm Fest?
Although at first it looked like there were going to be 12 participants in the Benidorm Fest, eventually 14 were chosen. Here are the candidates and their songs:
- Azúcar Moreno, “Postureo”
- Blanca Paloma, “The secret of water”
- Chanel, “Slo mo”
- Gonzalo Hermida, “Who would say?”
- Javiera Mena, “Guilt”
- Luna Ki, “I want to die”
- Marta Sango, “You are always in my head”
- Rayden, “Calle de la llorería”
- Rigoberta Bandini, “Ay Mama”
- Sara Deop, “make you say”
- Tanxugueiras, “Land”
- Unique, “Best”
- Varry Brava, “Raffaella”
- Xeinn, “Eco”
We will be able to hear the songs for the first time on December 23.
How is the winner of the Benidorm Fest chosen?
The Benidorm Fest will include two semi-finals and a grand final. In each semi-final, seven competitors will participate, from which four finalists will be chosen who will compete in the final. These will be chosen from the public (50%) and the jury (50%).
The audience is made up of spectators (who will vote by televoting and count 25%) and a “demoscopic” jury (a sample of the Spanish population, which still counts 25%). On the other hand, there is a jury made up of national (60%) and international (40%) experts.
The eight candidates chosen in the semi-finals will reach the grand final and, among them, a winner and the new representative of Eurovision 2022 will be designated. The mechanics will be the same as in the semi-finals, through the public and the jury of experts.
How to follow the Benidorm Fest live
The dates of the semi-finals and the final of the Benidorm Fest are not yet known, but there is no doubt that we will be able to follow them all from the official RTVE channels. This means that they will be broadcast by La 1.
It also means that you can follow all the performance of the RTVE site, including the La 1 channel live. Or, you can grab the timed programs in case you couldn’t see them while streaming them live.
Do you want to see the Benidorm Fest from abroad? Don’t worry, it’s not complicated at all, but you will need to integrate a VPN, like NordVPN or ExpressVPN. Install this Software On your laptop or mobile, connect to a server in Europe and enjoy the event as if you were there.
For more information on this process, see our guide on how to watch RTVE from outside Europe.
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