Eurovision
TVE chooses tonight the Spanish representative for Eurovision 2022, where Tanxugueiras and Rayden are also among the favorites
The first edition of Benidorm Fest celebrates its end tonight with all options open. The gala, which broadcasts La 1 de TVE from 10:05 p.m., must choose the Spanish representative of Eurovision 2022, which will be held in May in the Italian city of Turin. However, the quality of the Eurovision proposals has made the pre-selection an event without a clear favorite and in which everything remains to be decided. The winner will receive the award from Blas Cantó, our last candidate at the European festival.
The classification after the broadcast of the two semi-finals, according to the sum of the votes of the professional jury, the demoscopic and the televote, left Rigoberta Bandini in first place with 111 points against Chanel, who was in second position just one point difference (110). The Cuban artist, born in 1991, became one of the sensations of the night with ‘SloMo’, a song that mixes Spanish and English, with Latin touches, which was accompanied by an impressive choreography that made the audience of the Palacio de Deportes stand up The Island of Benidorm. She did not start as the favorite but, after the performance, she catapulted herself and gave the surprise.
Who does start as one of the audience’s favorites to go to Eurovision is Rigoberta Bandini with her tribute to mothers. The song ‘Ay mama’ has become a hymn that has transcended the TVE screen. From ‘Sálvame’ (Telecinco), they even publicly supported the candidacy of the Catalan, who wants to make “a claim for the beauty of the female body” and freedom. To do this, he accompanied the staging of a giant tit and a performance that made the public vibrate.
The eyes will also be on the Galician Tanxugueiras with ‘Terra’, who will try to get Spain to go to Eurovision with a letter in one of the co-official languages. The controversy was served in the first semifinal after the professional jury (representing 50% of the vote) left the group out of the final, causing subsequent boos from the public, which the presenter, Máximo Huerta, had to calm down. “We ask you to open your sights a little,” the singers claimed.
audience success
The last gala will also be attended by Rayden, Xeinn, Blanca Paloma, Gonzalo Hermida (who will not be able to perform live after being positive for covid) and Varry Brava. Along the way, and without options this year to represent our country in the European festival after failing to make it through the semifinals, Marta Sango, Sara Deop, Javiera Mena, Azúcar Moreno and Unique remained. Neither will Luna Ki, who withdrew from the preselection assuring that she would not be able to use the ‘autotune’ during the performance of the song in Turin. For their part, Pastora Soler and Nía & Nyno Vargas will be the guest artists of the night.
In this way, the Benidorm Fest comes to an end with positive feelings for the eurofans. For years, this group of fans of the European contest has been demanding a pre-selection from the public channel to choose the candidate who is up to par with other European television channels, with an open, transparent and participatory process. In the absence of tonight’s data, the festival held in the city of Alicante managed to arouse the interest of the general audience. The second semi-final, broadcast on Thursday, was the leader with more than 1.7 million viewers and a 14.2% audience share.