Spain: Blanca Paloma wins Benidorm Fest 2023 with "Eaea" and is off to Liverpool

Spain: Blanca Paloma wins Benidorm Fest 2023 with
Sunday, 05 February 2023

  • Blanca Paloma is the big winner of Benidorm Fest and will be representing Spain at Eurovision 2023 with her song 'Eaea'.

    Blanca Paloma with her unique performance of her song 'Eaea' was one of the favorite from the semifinals stage. The results of the Grand final of Benidorm Fest that took place in the coastal city of Benidorm Saturday evening just confirmed that trend even though the national final was competitive.

     

     

    Following the first and second semi-final shows, Spain determined its Eurovision 2023 hopeful and entry through the Grand final of Benidorm Festival. The show took place at the Palau Municipal d’Esports l’Illa de Benidorm and was presented like the previous two semifinals by Monica Naranjó, Inés Hernand and Rodrigo Vázquez.

    Beside the competing part the show featured several performances by guest stars among which Manuel Carrasco, Mónica Naranjo and Ana Mena.

    A total of 18 acts competed in two semifinals from which four acts qualified from each round to this evening's Grand final show. Thus, a total of eight acts took part in the national final which declared winner Blanca Paloma. 

    The eight acts that took the stage in Benidorm were: 

     

    • Karmento – “Quiero y duelo”

     

    • Megara – “Arcadia”

     

    • Alice Wonder – “Yo quisiera”

     

    • Fusa Nocta – “Mi familia” 

    • Agoney – “Quiero arder” 

     

    • Blanca Paloma – “Eaea”

     

    • José Otero – “Invierno en Marte” 

     

    • Vicco – “Nochentera” 

     

    The result was influenced by three bodies of voters:  the professional jury (50%) , the demoscopic jury (25%) and the  televoting (25%).The jury panel that contributed in the outcome of the show consisted of the followiing members: 

     

    • Christer Björkman – Represented Sweden at Eurovision 1992, Producer of Melodifestivalen between 2002 and 2021 and member of Eurovision America Production Team
    • Tali Eshkoli – Head of Delegation for Israel at Eurovision and Television Producer
    • Nicola Caligiore – Head of Delegation for Italy between 2011 and 2019
    • Katrina Leskanich – Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 for the United Kingdom with “Love Shine a Light”
    • Wiliam Lee Adams – Founder of Wiwibloggs
    • Nina – Represented Spain at Eurovision 1989 with “Nacida para amar” finishing sixth
    • Irene Valiente – Director of ‘El último lugar’ on Radio 3
    • Juan José Santana – President of OGAE Spain

     

    THE RESULTS

    Blanca Paloma with her song 'Eaea' topped the Experts' Jury voting and the televoting and came second in the demoscopic jury's results, receiving a total of 169 points which delcared her winner of the competition.

    Second behind came Agoney with his song 'Quiero arder' which finsihed second on the experts jury's voting and in the televoting while the demoscopic jury placed him 3rd. The top 3 closed Vicco and the song 'Nochentera' which came third in the expert jury's voting and the televoting while the demoscopic jury ranked her second. 

     

    DrawArtistSongExpert
    jury    		Demoscopic juryTelevoteTotalPlace
    PercentagePointsPercentagePoints
    6 Blanca Paloma "Eaea" 94 TBA 35 TBA 40 169 1
    5 Agoney "Quiero arder" 80 TBA 30 TBA 35 145 2
    8 Vicco "Nochentera" 59 TBA 40 TBA 30 129 3
    2 Megara "Arcadia" 50 TBA 28 TBA 28 106 4
    3 Alice Wonder "Yo quisiera" 53 TBA 16 TBA 20 89 5
    1 Karmento "Quiero y duelo" 35 TBA 20 TBA 25 80 6
    7 José Otero "Inviernos en Marte" 37 TBA 22 TBA 16 75 7
    4 Fusa Nocta "Mi familia" 24 TBA 25 TBA 22 71 8

     

     

    A few words for Blanca

    Blanca Paloma Ramos Baeza was born on  9 June 1989 and is a Spanish singer, set designer and costume designer.She was born and raised in Elche. After graduating from Miguel Hernández University of Elche with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, Ramos moved to Madrid to pursue a career in theatre in 2013.

    Last year she had taken part in Benidorm Fest 2022 with her song "Secreto de agua".She participated in the first semi-final and qualified to the final. In the final, she came in 5th place with 61 points.

     

     

    Spain in Eurovision

    Spain participated for the first time in 1961 with Conchita Bautista and has achieved twice to win, in 1968 (Massiel) and in 1969 (Salome). Madrid hosted the contest in 1969 where there was a four country tie in the first place on the final scoreboard.

    Despite not having missed a single contest since 1961 , Spain doesn’t have remarkable results to show the latest years. Exception was Anabel Conde’s 2nd place in  Eurovision 1995 held in Dublin. Spain has came in history 2nd four times ( 1971, 1973, 1979, 1995) while it has finished last 5 times (1962, 1965, 1983, 1999, 2017) from which the first three receiving null points.

    In 2020  Blas Cantó was chosen internally to represent Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, with the song “Universo”: Unfortunately the contest was cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic and Blas never had the chance to perform in Rotterdam.However, TVE, invited the Spanish act back for Eurovision 2021 where he performed his entry "Voy e Quedarme" at Rotterdam Ahoy in the Grand final, finishing 24th with 6 points. 

    Last year Chanel slayed on the Eurovision stage in Turin after winning with 'SloMo' the national selecrion of Benidorm Fest. Chanel achieved to bring Spain back in the game offering a remarkable 3rd placing in the Grand final after 27 years since the nation saw a top 5 placing.

     

    News Source/Images: RTVE/ Wikipedia

     

     

AUTHORS

  • Melina F.

    Melina F.

    True follower of the Eurovision Song Contest since 2002, really enjoy listening daily to all the Eurovision hits and keeping up with all the Eurovision stars.