Sunday at 12 p.m. A small group of people wait in front of the Balcón del Mediterráneo viewpoint in the city for Blanca Paloma, the winner of Benidorm Fest 2023. “Ya, eaea, ya, eaea / Small tears of the Nile, sleepless nights,” they chant like a shout and wait impatiently waiting for him to leave the premises where he attends to the media while the bells of the church of San Jaime and Santa Ana are ringing minutes later, as he walks towards her, a rain of “beautiful” is carried away with a sound that similar to that of the processions of the Virgin of El Rocío.
“I wanted to make a song that people could sing along to,” she says happily. The public gets to know the artist who will represent Spain at Eurovision with Eaea after achieving a consensus victory in the competition organized by RTVE. It was favorite for the expert jury and for the televoting and second in the demoscopic sample representative of the Spanish population. Victory was assured almost from the start of voting, when the jury awarded him 14 points more than next-place Agoney.
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Persistence, she explains, was the secret of this success. Not only has she appeared again at Benidorm Fest after finishing fifth last year, she has also gradually developed her position on stage in recent years, from working as a set designer for other people’s stories to building with a team of theater professionals, the Eaea proposal, aware that in competitions such as Eurovision and Benidorm Fest, the production and staging are as important as the musical proposal. She says she will go to Liverpool surrounded by the same group of women she sang with in Benidorm. Inspired by classical theatre, this women’s protection circle and that of Lorca believe it will make a difference in May in front of an international audience. “Others will sing or dance better, but we want to create a trance that reaches everyone,” she explains.
The tribute to her grandmother Carmen, who put flamenco in her veins, dominates the story of Blanca Paloma with her Eaea, which the artist from Elche consciously links to the eurovisual failure of Remedios Amaya in 1983 to justify an entire genre. The fringed curtain, inspired by her grandmother’s scarf, will also travel with her. “You can now prepare to comb your fringe in Liverpool,” he warns.
decline in audience
The lack of controversy compared to last year’s choice of Chanel and her SloMo was noted in the viewership results obtained by the public broadcaster on Saturday’s gala broadcast. They were positive results, albeit a far cry from those of the Chanelazo.
With a 14.7% market share and an average of 1.9 million viewers, La 1 led the night and also the 25-44 age group (with a 22.6% share), which rejuvenates the channel’s audience . It remains 6.3 points away from the 2022 final, improving on disappointing data from recent semi-finals, around 10% of the odds.
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