The search for the next Spanish representative for Eurovision 2024 begins tonight at 22:40 CET with the first semifinal of Benidorm Fest.
Benidorm will become the epicenter of the Spanish Eurovision scene this week with the first semifinal of Benidorm Fest, where we will see the first eight contestants, of whom only 4 will advance to the grand final next Saturday.
Who are the participants?
Next, you can see the performance order of the eight contestants in the first semifinal:
How will Benidorm Fest 2024 work?
Final results in Benidorm Fest 2024 are made with a mixed voting system, where 50% is from a professional jury with 8 members, both national and international, and the other 50% is divided between a demoscopic jury conducted by an external company with a total of 350 people and the televote.
After the eight performances in the first semifinal, the festival presenters (Ruth Lorenzo, Marc Calderó, and Ana Prada) will announce the opening of phone lines so viewers can cast their votes via SMS or calls. Once the lines are closed, it’s time to reveal the results of each participant in the voting. First, the results of the professional jury will be announced, where each of its 8 members will award 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, and 3 points to the candidates.
Secondly, the result of the demoscopic jury will be announced, resulting in a classification based on the number of votes, translated into 40, 35, 30, 28, 25, 22, 20, and 16 points, respectively.
Finally, it will be time to know the verdict of the televote, from which a ranking will also be made based on calls and SMS received, and these positions will also be transformed into 40, 35, 30, 28, 25, 22, 20, and 16 points, respectively.The result of the sum of all points will determine which four candidates qualify for the grand final to be held on February 3, and from which we will know who will represent Spain in the 68th Eurovision Song Contest.
In case of a tie after the sum of the jury and public scores, the winner will be the artist who receives the highest score from the jury. In the case of the semifinals, it will only be resolved up to the fourth place, which is the cutoff that determines which artist qualifies for the Saturday final.
Who will be the jury of Benidorm Fest 2024?
The complete composition of the jury for this Benidorm Fest 2024 will make up 50% of the decision in each of the shows, and in case of a tie, they will make the final decision on the next representative of Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest.
The national jury will be composed of:
- Beatriz Luengo (SPOKESPERSON): singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. Winner of two Latin Grammy Awards.
- Ángela Carrasco: singer-songwriter, actress, and singing teacher. She gained fame after her success in the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar,” where she played Mary Magdalene alongside Camilo Sesto.
- Carlos Baute: singer, songwriter, actor, and Spanish-Venezuelan presenter. He recently participated in the RTVE program “Dúos Increíbles.”
- Guille Milkyway: singer, DJ, songwriter, and music producer. Leader of the group La Casa Azul, which competed in Salvemos Eurovisión 2008, the Spanish preselection.
The international jury will be composed of:
- Lee Smithurst, head of delegation of the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest and executive producer of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool.
- David Tserunyan, head of delegation of Armenia at the Eurovision Song Contest, member of the Eurovision Reference Group, and executive producer of Eurovision Junior 2022 in Yerevan (Armenia).
- Marta Piekarska, head of the Polish delegation at Eurovision.
- Nicoline Refsing, stage designer and creative and artistic director of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen (Denmark). She was responsible for the staging of Melani with “Marte” in Eurovision Junior 2019.
Who will be the hosts?
Singer Ruth Lorenzo (1982) takes on the great challenge of hosting Benidorm Fest 2024. The Murcian artist began her artistic career in the United Kingdom, becoming very popular after her participation in the talent show “The X Factor.” In 2014, she fulfilled her dream of representing Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen (Denmark). With “Dancing In The Rain,” Ruth Lorenzo received 74 points, translating to a 10th place.
After her time on Telecinco, Marc Calderó joined RTVE in 2022. Recently, he participated in the debate of the program “El Conquistador.” For a year, he co-hosted the morning program “Hablando Claro” with Lourdes Maldonado. He was also in charge of presenting Carlos Higes as Spain’s representative in Eurovision Junior 2022.
Ana Prada is a regular reporter for RTVE in the Valencian Community. For years, she was a reporter for the program “España Directo” on La 1. In recent years, she has become more popular and known for her participation in the broadcast of the San Fermín bull runs. Recently, she was one of the presenters of the special broadcast of the Cabalgata de Reyes Magos on RTVE. Ana will be in the green room to chat with the artists.
The artists of Benidorm Fest 2024
RTVE once again chooses Benidorm Fest as the format to select the representative of Spain in Eurovision.
The third edition of Benidorm Fest will feature a wide range of musical genres and artists who will try to consolidate the musical format whose winner will become the representative of Spain in Eurovision 2024.
Among the 825 submissions received by RTVE, the public broadcaster has selected the contestants for the third edition who will take the stage at Benidorm Fest. Blanca Paloma won Benidorm Fest 2023 with the song “EaEa” and represented Spain in Eurovision 2023. In Liverpool, she received a total of 100 points, placing her in 17th position. Will Spain improve the result in Sweden?