Good evening Europe, Buenas Tardes Europa! Tonight Spain holds the final of Benidorm Fest 2023, to choose who will represent the nation at ESC 2023 in Liverpool in May. Last year, Spain did extremely well in Turin, with Chanel and her song “Slo mo”, finishing third in the Grand Final. Who will her successor be tonight?

The following acts will be performing tonight and the winner will be chosen by a combination of Jury and public votes.

You can watch the show live HERE. All times below are GMT.

22.58 – Thanks for sticking with us. Was it the right result? Should someone else have won? Tell us what you think. And finally, buenas noches!

22.55 – Blanca Paloma is going to Liverpool!!!!

22.54 – Finally, the public vote…

22.51 – The ‘Voto demoscópico’ is next…

22.47 – Vote time. Here’s the jury vote…

22.37 – Ana Mena is giving us a medley now.

22.36 – The voting lines have closed. That was quick. About a 20 minute window there.

22.35 – There’s a lot of time to fill in the Green Room

22.24 – Time for stuff from the Green Room. You know how that works by now. Chat and song both feature.

22.20 – It’s interval act time. Something Muy Español

22.15 – Voting lines are open, so we get a brief recap of the eight songs.

22.12 – Vicco is in an odd blue dress and gives us the floor filler song. It’s pleasant and radio friendly too. The crowd love it as it’s got a hook that could be annoyingly good. And there’s a key change. Possibly standard fare, but you can’t right this one off.

22.06 – The final song comes from Vicco. She sings Nochentera

22.05 – Another ballad sung with with a lot of earnestness. It starts to build during the second verse, and we see more of the dancers who know what they’re doing. This isn’t a bad ballad as ballads go, and José has a pretty versatile voice. And a big coat in which to sing. A good song

22.00 – José Otero sings song seven. It’s called Inviernos en Marte

21.59 – We’re back. That was quick

21.57 – Ad time.

21.56 – More emotion and Spanish music at its most Spanish. There’s a lot of chanting and cavorting around the interestingly laid-out stage. I can’t put my fingers on whteher I think this would be the right choice for Liverpool. It’s nicely Spanish, but maybe a tad too niche for those international voters. But it goes big in Benidorm.

21.52 – We’re getting a quick chat with some of the audience. Nice.

21.49 – Song six comes from Blanca Paloma. It’s called Eaea

21.47 – It’s a world of microphones for Agoney. He’s just greedy. This song has elements of angry shouting, coupled with softer singing. But there is also kickass choreography and a very grimy sound. It has everything, presumably something for everyone to like within its three minutes. And his red bin liner jumpsuit is the finishing touch.

21.42 – Next on – song five – is Agoney with Quiero arder

21.41 – Children’s chanting starts off this song. Several men are fawning over Fusa, and there’s a car on stage! She subscribes to the Chanel school of delivery – possibly putting style over substance. Hmmm. Fusa manages a costume change part-way through and the crowd love it. There might be a touch of nerves and in places she appears to be straining. That might struggle.

21.36 – Song four comes from Fusa Nocta. It’s called Mi familia

21.35 – Alice is sat at a piano, with a shawl around her hair. She has glittery make-up around her eyes, obviously to add effect to this ballad. It’s full of dry ice too, which can occasionally go so wrong. It’s heartfelt in a Duncan Laurence Arcade way. For the second verse, she leaves the piano and is flanked by four backing singers/dancers. It’s at this point the emotion really kicks in. It might not have the best hook ever, but the staging is pretty good.

21.30 – Straight onto song three. Alice Wonder sings Yo quisiera

21.28 – Megara use a bigger stage for theie rock number. It kicks off with a big riff and dancers with Tv screens on their heads. The lead singer appears to be plugged in to the Matrix, before she breaks free. If you like striking looks with a bit of attitude thrown in for good measure, this is for you. And there are pyros, naturally. It’s un-Spanish and very very engaging.

21.24 – Song to comes from Megara. They will sing Arcadia

21.22 – Karmento is in ivory – the colour not the substance. Her schtick is very flamenco. It’s also quite hypnotic. She doesn’t use much of the stage but makes it all count. And when her backing singers appear momentarily towards the end of the song, it gets a massive cheer. Not a bad little opener.

21.17 – Onto act one. It’s Karmento who’ll sing Quiero y duelo

21.16 – Ines is in the Green Room. It’s empty at the moment.

21.12 – We meet the guest jury. It includes Katrina Leskanich, Christer Björkman and Nina (ES89)

21.10 – There’s a whopping crowd in Spain for this riotous cavalcade. Monica, Ines and Rodrigo are our hosts for this marathon event.

21.05 – And we’re off!

1. Karmento – Quiero y duelo
2. Megara – Arcadia
3. Alice Wonder – Yo quisiera
4. Fusa Nocta – Mi familia
5. Agoney – Quiero arder
6. Blanca Paloma – Eaea
7. José Otero – Inviernos en Marte
8. Vicco – Nochentera

Join me , John and enjoy our live blog of all the fun and action from sunny Spain . Just refresh the page to see blog updates .

Author : John Stanton

Source: RTVE