Andrea M. Rosa del Pino

Updated Friday, February 2, 2024-02:04

  • Bittersweet premiere at the Benidorm Fest This is how RTVE faces the second semi-final

  • The former Benidorm Fest contestants give their opinion on the contest "Today many record companies want to present artists, but not before"

After the end of a bittersweet first semi-final, held last Tuesday, tweeters and experts came to a single conclusion: "the winner of the third edition of the

Benidorm Fest

is among the participants of the second gala." What's more, that was the phrase that was heard the most this Thursday morning, in the debate of Eurovision experts, organized by Radio Televisión Española.

Likewise, various Twitter polls indicated that the eight participants in this second semifinal had the support of a large part of the public. For example,

María Peláe

accumulates 311 thousand monthly listeners on

Spotify, Dellacruz

has almost 15 thousand followers on social networks,

Marlena

has the most viral song of this edition and

St. Pedro

is recognized by the public, following his time in

La voice,

in 2017.

On the other hand,

Jorge González

is one of the most famous faces of the contest. This is the third time that he has tried to go to Eurovision and, thanks to this, he has the unconditional love of Eurofans. Likewise,

Yoly Saa

has felt all the love from the people who saw her excellent performance in Incredible Duos last year. And what about

Roger Padrós?

Being the only one who sings in Catalan, he has become a kind of hero for some.

Although the most popular, since he released his song on November 14, has been

Almácor.

In fact, four hours before the show began, the accredited press cheered and 74 journalists - in a universe of 120 - bet that Almácor would qualify. However, many of the reporters failed in most of their bets. And tonight turned out to be unpredictable.

Around 10:50 p.m.,

Ruth Lorenzo, Marc Calderó and Ana Prada

started the gala, which began with Peláe and his song

Remitente.

A single that pays tribute to freedom and that made the audience applaud effusively. The woman from Malaga, confident in herself, walked among the crosses of a cemetery and challenged, with great power, a group of dancers who represented her shadows. And she did it all with an art that left the

Palau L'illa

speechless.

Later, it was Dellacruz and Beso's turn

in the morning.

A single that could have allowed the Canarian to have a real party on stage or to dance, like what Vicco did with

Nochentera

. Despite this, he opted for minimalism. Dellacruz was only accompanied by a couple of dancers and a sofa that emulated a car... And nothing that happened on stage attracted much attention. Everything very cold.

To know more

First semi-final.

Flood of criticism of Benidorm Fest and rightly so

  • Editorial: ESTHER MUCIENTES Madrid

Flood of criticism of Benidorm Fest and rightly so

In third place, Marlena landed, who had promised to put on a "beach party" for her song

Summer Love.

That didn't happen. However, something better happened. The Madrid women set up a dance club, which kept everyone present euphoric. The climax of the show? When Ana Legazpi got very close to one of her dancers, with the intention of flirting, and she claimed her LGTBI message, which she was sure to sweep the networks.

Minutes later, St. Pedro - the darling of

Rosalía

's former manager - appeared along with his song

Two Strangers

(String Quartet). Unfortunately, there were no violin or cello quarters, but rather four dancers. But, to be fair, the young man didn't need anything else. He just filled the stage with his great voice and presence. His talent was enough to move the audience and, when he finished, the entire Palau burst into applause.

Upon reaching the halfway point of the day, Jorge González demanded the attention of Benidorm... And

Caliente

did not disappoint. The man from Madrid, along with four men, began the performance in a sauna and the atmosphere became so hot that it seemed as if his oiled bodies were expelling steam. On the other hand, González developed SloMo-style choreography

.

We are not going to say that the artist is an excellent dancer. But the ardent attempt is appreciated.

After a suffocating performance, it was necessary to lower the temperature and Yoly Saa - with a proposal of spectacular lights - achieved it with

No se me forget.

An introspective song, which talks about an old love. Possibly not the right theme for

Eurovision.

However, it is the correct song for the Galician to show off her talents. On stage she showed that she is great and that her voice can go far.

Something similar happened with Roger Padrós and

El temps.

The Catalan opted for the motto "less is more" and sang alone with his piano, as some former Eurovision participants have already done, such as

Duncan Laurence,

the 2019 winner. In short, his presentation was calm. But people felt an instant connection with Padrós, allowing an atmosphere of trust and excitement to build.

And in eighth place came the surprise of the night: Almácor. For many,

Brillos platino

is a simple song. Even so, it became a phenomenon on Spotify for its catchy sound. And what happened at the venue? Despite his out-of-tune and roosters, the charisma of the Alicante native conquered the public and, through the screen, the audience was carried away by an inversive experience, which changed the singer's appearance. A total success.

Well-known singers

At the end of the performances, RTVE opened the voting process, which lasted 15 minutes. During that time, two well-known singers appeared on the scene:

Íñigo Quintero

from A Coruña - known for

If You Are Not, a Christian ballad,

which reached global number one on Spotify in 2023 - and

Sergio Dalma,

Spain's representative at Eurovision 1991. , who sang

Smile because you're in the photo.

With Dalma, the audience was able to relax and have a good time. But the situation changed quickly when the jury - made up of Spanish artists Beatriz Luengo,

Carlos Baute, Guille Milkway and Ángela Carrasco and the international experts Lee Smithurst, David Tserunyan, Marta Piekarska and Nicoline Refsing - delivered their verdict, which represents 50% of the votes at the Benidorm Fest.

Luengo, the spokesperson, reported that the jury had awarded 22 points to Dellacruz, 35 to Yoly Saa, 42 to Jorge González, 48 to Marlena, 55 to Roger Padrós, 65 to Almácor, 71 to María Peláe and 94 to St. Pedro . And, although many were happy about the votes obtained by the performers of Semitente and Dos Strangers, others protested about how little the professionals valued González's work... And, because of this, they began to scream.

"Guys, I love your passion and your dedication, because you are intense like me. That's why this festival has started... But you're scaring me. It's just that being in this position is very difficult," she said -desperately- Then , who tried to be helped by Ruth Lorenzo. But tempers did not calm down. Above all, after the demoscopic vote was revealed. The opinion of 350 people who "represent Spanish demoscopy."

The demoscopic vote, which represents 25% of the total votes, gave 16 points to Dellacruz, 20 to Padrós, 22 to Saa, 25 to Almácor, 28 to Marlena, 30 to Peláe, 35 to St. Perdro and 40 to Gonzalez. Something quite similar to what happened with televoting, which also represents 25%. The results were: 16 points for Dellacruz, 20 for Marlena, 22 for Saa, 25 for Almácor, 28 for Padrós, 30 for Peláe, 35 for San Pedro and 40 for Jorge González.

That is, those classified for the second semifinal are St. Pedro, with 164 points, María Peláe, with 131 points, Jorge González, with 122 points, and Almácor, with 115 points. These four artists will join Nebulossa, Sofía Coll, Angy Fernández and Miss Caffeina, this coming February 3, when the Benidorm Fest finally chooses who will represent Spain in Eurovision 2024.