RTVE has just revealed the list of participants for the upcoming edition of the Spanish national selection for Eurovision 2023 Benidorm Fest. The announcement has taken place during a special broadcast hosted by Inés Hernand, who was also one of the hosts of the last year’s edition.
Last week, the Spanish broadcaster revealed that the candidates of Benidorm Fest 2023 would be revealed on Thursday 27th, but later postponed it to Saturday 29th. However, the risk of leakage of the entries and the purpose to reveal the news exclusively led RTVE to anticipate the leaks and set an earlier date.
This year, RTVE has received a total of 876 songs from both, record labels and the open call, but only 18 of them have been selected to step on the stage of Benidorm Fest:
- Agoney
- F’Emme
- Fusa Nocta
- Blanca Paloma
- Aritz Aren
- Rakky
- Alfred García
- Sofía Martín
- Alice Wonder
- Famous
- Megara
- Vicco
- Twin Melody
- José Otero
- Karmento
- Sharonne
- Meler
- Siderland
Among the candidates, we can find newcomers and well-known artists, former participants of talent shows, and past Eurovision national finals. Also, RTVE highlights the presence of young candidates, indie artists, and bands that succeeded in the 90s – 2000s as well as come-back performers that want to experience Benidorm Fest for the second time and candidates with a big TikTok community behind. Talking of age and music genres, there are entries for all targets and musical diversity, from commercial pop to ballads, folk, flamenco, fusion, rock, Latin sounds, and more appealing to the youngest rap and reggaeton. The songs will be published at a later date.
Benidorm Fest 2023 will be made up of three shows, two semifinals, on January 31st and February 2nd, and the Grand Final on February 4th. The shows will take place at Palau L’illa of the Mediterranean city and will be hosted by Mónica Naranjo and Inés Hernand. Like last year, the winner will be selected by a combination of votes from a professional jury panel made up of national (30%) and international experts like Christer Björkman (20%), a demoscopic jury (25%), and the public (25%).
