The second semifinal will be held this Thursday and on Saturday the final from which the Spanish representative for Eurovision will emerge
Agoney, Alice Wonder, Fusa Nosta and Megara are one step closer to getting a ticket to Liverpool on May 13. Although he starts as a favourite, for the moment, Agoney. The artist won the first semifinal of the Benidorm Fest 2023 this Tuesday night in a gala in which joy, emotion and nerves took over a Palacio de Deportes l’Illa de Benidorm that vibrated with music for all tastes and some performances scene as diverse as striking. And it is that the proposals ranged from pop to rock -the first time at the festival and with a good evaluation- and even trap, indie or flamenco. A whole mixture of musical styles that dream of improving, or at least repeating, the great success that Chanel achieved last year at Eurovision and that she acquired her one-way ticket in the first edition of the recovered festival last year.
To the rhythm of Diva, Mónica Naranjo gave the starting signal for the Festival from which the representative of Spain in Eurovision will leave next Saturday. A performance that was quite a declaration of intent of what the fans of the festival were going to experience throughout a night that, as expected, did not take long to remember the great success that Chanel achieved and the nerves that are experienced during the voting . And it is that although it was Agoney who swept the jury’s vote, which awarded him 86 points, it was Alice Wonder who won the demoscopic vote and finally got second place.
But the score did not make the Canarian and former Operación Triunfo contestant lose his first place and sweep the first semifinal with 161 points thanks to his song ‘I want to burn’. Dressed entirely in red, Agoney represented his own hell on stage and filled with agility and warmth a moment that he already dreams of singing in Liverpool. But he still does not have it insured, although he is already seen in the United Kingdom. Apart from the four contestants who leave the second gala of the semifinal next Thursday, he will have to compete again with Alice Wonder.
From singing last summer during the State tribute to the victims of covid-19 and moving all the authorities gathered at the Royal Palace, Alice Wonder brought the most intimate proposal of the festival to Benidorm. She took the stage with ‘I would like’, to stop the clock for a moment in Benidorm and make an astonished audience feel that gave her second place with 119 points.
Rock breaks through
Sharonne in drag was in charge of opening the second edition of the contest in the purest Drag Race style with ‘Aire’, a song composed by her, a diva who ate the stage with a song full of intentions and a clear message: «the confidence”. But she said that she did not manage to stay among the four favorites, instead she had to settle for the sixth position. Something that had already been intuited hours before the contest, like the position of Aritz Aren, a contestant who has not been far from controversy due to statements about other contestants but who tried to surprise with his song ‘Flamenco’, a theme with a pop touch with a Spanish brand and lyrics in ‘spanglish’.
Of course, it was the first time that rock came to be considered to represent Spain in the European festival and the innovation seems to have been liked. This is how they got a pass to the final of the Spanish festival Megara, a group that bet with ‘Arcadia’ on futurism and the metaverse, but which will last more than a nanosecond at the festival.
Even so, the bet of the possible representatives did not leave aside what was being talked about. Or rather playing. And it is that many of the performances reminded those already represented other years. That is to say, the Eurovisivas, although enlivened by the melancholy and intimate touch of Alice Wonder and her theme ‘I would like’, gained ground in a gala in which there was no shortage of protest messages.
But not only the nine artists who defended their proposals got on stage. The singer and songwriter Edurne, the young Ibizan instagramer and tiktoker Leo Rizzi and the presenter of the contest herself took the stage to liven up an evening as often as expected and enjoyed by Eurofans.
It will be on Thursday when, although not in this order, they will sing in the second semifinal Alfred with ‘Since you are’, Blanca Paloma with ‘EAEA’, E’FEMME with ‘Uff!’, Famous with ‘La Lola’, José Otero with ‘Winters on Mars’, Karmento with ‘Quiero y duel’, Rakky Ripper with ‘Tracción’, Siderland with ‘Que esclati tot’ and Vicco with ‘Nochentera’. It can be followed, just like the first, on La 1 and RTVE Play, at 10:50 p.m.
Where there have been no developments compared to the last edition is in the voting system: 50% of the result depends on the vote of the jury and the other 50% of the public (25% of the televoting plus 25% of a demoscopic sample).
#Agoney #triumphs #semifinal #Benidorm #Fest #Alice #Fusa #Nocta #Megara