Blanca Paloma (167 points), Vicco (135), Karmento (112) and José Otero (105) are the four artists who complete the list of eight finalists for Benidorm Fest 2023. They meet this Saturday at a gala that will be broadcast live on La 1 (22.05) along with Agoney, Alice Wonder, Fusa Nocta and Megara, who competed last Tuesday for winning the Alicante competition and representing Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest in classified in Liverpool this May.
According to the official order of performances, the following took part in this gala: Famous with La Lola, José Otero with Inviernos en Marte, Karmento with Quiero y Duelo, Rakky Ripper with Tracción, Blanca Paloma with EAEA, E’FEMME with Uff!, Siderland with Que esclati tot, Alfred with Desde que tú estás and Vicco with Nonchentera.
The singer Vicco during her performance in the second semi-final of Benidorm Fest 2023. Morell (EFE)
It was a gala with great voices and lots of well-done productions, designed more as a television show than as concert material. According to the results of the voting, Blanca Palomas EAEA from Lorca runs as one of the main proposals to fight for the final prize this Saturday against Agoney’s I want to burn, the great winner of the first semi-final. A relevant piece of information for this final: the expert panel awarded Blanca Paloma (92) six points more than Agoney (86) on Tuesday. As with the canary, Blanca Paloma was the only artist in the semifinals to be voted among the top two of the three types of voting at the Benidorm Fest.
The assessment of the expert jury is worth 50% in this edition in the three galas. The other half goes to the public vote, although in this case it is divided into two: 25% goes to the demoscopic jury – a statistical selection of 350 people representing the Spanish population – and 25% depends on the televoting, ie the Messages and calls from viewers of the live galas.
The folklore of Karmento from La Mancha resounded with “Quiero y duelo” RTVE
References to Mocedades and Dundan Laurence
This second semi-final, again presented by the singer Mónica Naranjo, Rodrigo Vázquez (El cazador) and Inés Hernand (Gen Playz), this time started around 10:30 p.m., a few minutes earlier than announced by RTVE. He did it with Miguel Poveda, who pays homage to Eurovision by covering one of the most international hits in the history of Spanish music, Eres tú de Mocedades. The subject came second in 1973.
José Otero insisted on the red and black fashion, not Stendhal’s but Chanel’s SloMo, which Agoney and Famous also used in this issue. Otero’s powerful ballad was reminiscent of Duncan Laurence’s Arcade, winner of Eurovision 2019. Karmento, a kind of Björk from La Mancha for her white dress and with an emotional homage to her roots in her set, particularly won over the televote.
José Otero defended the ballad “Winters on Mars” at Benidorm Fest 2023.RTVE
Blanca Paloma, the only participant in the first Benidorm Fest to be repeated as a candidate for this second edition – she was then in fifth place with Secreto de agua – has also aroused the enthusiasm of the audience at the Palau d’Esports l’Illa de Benidorm as it did hours earlier in the specialized press during the dress rehearsal. His EAEA proposal translated Lorca’s sentiment onto the stage with an immense corps de ballet.
Vicco started with Nonchentera as one of the favorites of this semi-final, since his song was the most played song on platforms and social networks. Its sticky theme like bubblegum and close to Aitana’s radio-formula sonic universe has retained its strength live without much fanfare in its staging. His and Alice Wonders are the other two options battling for the final prize, which again has no clear favorite after this second semi-final.
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