¡Es el gran día! It’s the big day! Later tonight, RTVE will take us on the first of three exciting nights in Benidorm’s Palau Municipal d’Esports L’Illa de Benidorm (yes, that’s the name of the arena hosting the show) for the third edition of their national selection for Eurovision – Benidorm Fest.
And EurovisionFam has you covered with everything you need to know for this year’s Benifest. Let’s get into it!
16 Acts, 1 Ticket to Malmo…
Divided into two semifinals, this year’s sixteen competing acts will battle for the coveted Spanish ticket to Eurovision 2024. Last week, broadcaster RTVE revealed the official running order and the allocation of each of the acts in the two shows airing today, January 30th, and on Thursday, February 1st. Check it out in the image below:
The 4 best-performing acts from each semifinal, after a combination of the professional jury, the demoscopic poll, and the national televote, will advance to the grand final on Saturday, February 4th, where the winner will be decided and will become the next Spanish representative at Eurovision.
The Hosts
As announced by RTVE earlier this month and as seen in the image below, all three shows will be fronted by 2014 representative Ruth Lorenzo together with presenter Marc Calderó. Journalist Ana Prada will accompany them by hosting the green room segments of the three shows.
The after-show special, La noche del Benidorm Fest, which will kick off right after each semifinal and the final, will be fronted by presenter Aitor Albizua and comedian Inés Hernand on RTVE’s digital platform, RTVE Play.
The Jury
This year’s jury mixes local stars from the Spanish musical scene together with several professionals linked to the Eurovision Song Contest, similar to how it was done in its previous editions in 2022 & 2023 respectively.
The 8 members of the Benidorm Fest 2024 jury are (as seen in the image above):
- Beatriz Luengo – singer, composer, and performer. She will also be the spokesperson during the voting segments of each show.
- Guille Milkway – singer, composer, producer & DJ
- Ángela Carrasco – singer-songwriter & singing coach
- Carlos Baute – internationally known singer
- Marta Piekarska – Poland’s Head of Delegation
- David Tserunyan – Armenia’s Head of Delegation
- Nicoline Refsing – stage designer
- Lee Smithurst – United Kingdom’s Head of Delegation
The Voting Format
As explained by RTVE, the weight of each voting bloc has been weighed as the following:
- 50% – Professional Jury
- 25% – Demoscopic poll
- 25% – Televoting
432 points will be distributed by the juries, as each will award 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 & 12 points to each act respectively.
Meanwhile, the dermoscopic poll will award 16, 20, 22, 25, 28, 30, 35 & 40 points to the acts based on how they finish in the sample’s results.
The national televote will also be awarding 16, 20, 22, 25, 28, 30, 35 & 40 points to the acts based on how they rank with the overall votes from the audience.
Also, as seen in the image below, RTVE has a system in place where the allocated points will be redistributed accordingly if any act participating in the semifinals gets disqualified, and we get a show with either 6 or 7 competing acts instead.
Where to watch?
If you live in Spain, you can watch all shows on La 1, the starting time is 22:50 CET for the semifinals on Tuesday & Thursday and 22:00 CET for the final on Saturday. An online live broadcast will also be available through the official streaming platform RTVE Play.
If you live outside of Spain and have cable, please check your local listings and the availability of RTVE Internacional in your area, as you might watch all shows in taped delay. Otherwise, RTVE Play’s broadcast will also be available online for international viewers who’d like to see the shows.
Now, let’s see who Spain picks for Eurovision 2024 in Malmö. ¡A disfrutar el Benidorm Fest 2024!