Benidorm fest returns for the fourth year as the relaunched Spanish national selection for the Eurovision song contest 2025. As usual it is three nights affair with two semi-finals and the grand final on January 28 and 30 and February 1, 2025. A threesome jury will send four out of eight semi-finalist to the grand final with 50% professional jury, demoscopic panel 25% and televote 25%. The 16 semi-finalist have been chosen among the almost 1000 submissions.
Below are my first time hearing ratings as usual. Sadly there isn't much to get very excited by. Spanish pop by numbers and their own style added with some Latin flavor but very little imagination or originality. Shame. Most fall into *** meaning harmless and listenable but nothing special I'd listen outside Eurovision national finals. This said I know further listening will surely change ratings for some but in the end it's the first impact that matters in Eurovision. The staging and live performance will be crucial to all to make any good out of these. And even so I suppose at this point any song chosen will land a 20something placement in Basel. Such a shame. What what do I know?
Daniela Blasco - Uh nana ** FINALIST
David Afonso - Amor barato ***
K!ngdom - Me gustas tú ****
Lachispa - Hartita de llorar ** FINALIST
Lucas Bun - Te escribo en el cielo *** FINALIST
Sonia & Selena - Reinas **
Update post-sf1: What to say about this semi-final? Great stage and lighting, and especially great graphics as always in Benidorm Fest. Some better staged entries some not so fortunate. Sonia & Selena didn't quite hit their notes, neither did K!ngdom sadly while the underdog Afonso sung bet´ter than anybody else (but the staging...?!). Daniela was a bit of s Chanel from Temu showing once again how extraordinary Chanel was . Lachispa, no matter what a fan favorite like Paloma Blanca will flop totally in the televote if sent to Basel. A fact. Lucas was pleasant and I'm glad other people have started to appreciate him. If I compare my first listening studio version rating to tonight's performances ... well, better not compare.
The juries and televoters agreed on Kuve, LaChispa and Blasco for the final. Juries would have sent Bun while the televoters Sonia & Selena instead. In the end it was Bun. Full results will be revealed after the final.
Update post-sf2: Well, I didn't watch as I was wasting my time in Greece. Watching the videos afterwards I would have sent DeTeresa to final instead of Mel Ömana.
Carla Frigo - Bésame **
Celine Van Heel - La casa ***
Henry Semler - No lo ves **
Mawot - Raggio di sole **** FINALIST
Mel Ömana - I'm a Queen * FINALIST
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