Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023

Spain was represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song "Eaea", written by Álvaro Tato, José Pablo Polo, and Blanca Paloma, and performed by Blanca Paloma herself. The Spanish participating broadcaster Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE), together with the Generalitat Valenciana, organised Benidorm Fest 2023 in order to select its entry for the 2023 contest. Eighteen entries were selected to compete in the national final, which consists of three shows: two semi-finals and a final. Eight entries ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 4 February 2023, and the winner was determined by a combination of votes from an expert jury, a demoscopic panel and a televote.

Eurovision Song Contest 2023
Participating broadcasterRadiotelevisión Española (RTVE)
Country Spain
National selection
Selection processBenidorm Fest 2023
Selection date(s)Semi-finals:
31 January 2023
2 February 2023
Final:
4 February 2023
Selected artist(s)Blanca Paloma
Selected song"Eaea"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Final result17th, 100 points
Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2022 2023 2024►

As part of the "Big Five", Spain directly qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Background

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Prior to the 2023 contest, Televisión Española (TVE) until 2006, and Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) since 2007, had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Spain sixty-one times since TVE's first entry in 1961.[1] They have won the contest on two occasions: in 1968 with the song "La, la, la" performed by Massiel and in 1969 with the song "Vivo cantando" performed by Salomé, the latter having won in a four-way tie with France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. They have also finished second four times, with "En un mundo nuevo" by Karina in 1971, "Eres tú" by Mocedades in 1973, "Su canción" by Betty Missiego in 1979, and "Vuelve conmigo" by Anabel Conde in 1995. In 2022, RTVE placed third with the song "SloMo" performed by Chanel.

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, RTVE organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. RTVE confirmed its intentions to participate at the 2023 contest on 18 June 2022. The Spanish broadcaster has selected its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest through both national finals and internal selections in the past. Along with their participation confirmation, RTVE revealed details regarding their selection procedure and announced the organization of Benidorm Fest 2023 in order to select its 2023 entry.[2]

Before Eurovision

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Benidorm Fest 2023

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Blanca Paloma at the 37th Goya Awards on 11 February 2023

Benidorm Fest 2023 was the song festival organised by RTVE and Generalitat Valenciana that took place at the Palau Municipal d'Esports l'Illa de Benidorm in Benidorm, Valencian Community, hosted by Mónica Naranjo, Inés Hernand, and Rodrigo Vázquez.[3][4] Eighteen artists and songs competed over three shows: two semi-finals on 31 January and 2 February 2023 and the final on 4 February 2023.

The semi-finals were broadcast on two nights of the same week, and the voting consisted of voting system consisted the televote (50%), a demoscopic panel of judges made up of a sample of the Spanish population selected by statistical and demoscopic criteria (25%), and a national and international jury vote (50%).[5] Nine acts competed in each semifinal, with the top four advancing to the final.[6]

Semi-finals

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  • The first semi-final took place on 31 January 2023. "Quiero arder" performed by Agoney, "Yo quisiera" performed by Alice Wonder, "Mi familia" performed by Fusa Nocta and "Arcadia" performed by Megara advanced to the final, while "Flamenco" performed by Aritz, "Aire" performed by Sharonne, "No nos moverán" performed by Meler, "Sayonara" performed by Twin Melody and "Tuki" performed by Sofía Martín were eliminated.[7]
  • The second semi-final took place on 2 February 2023. "Eaea" performed by Blanca Paloma, "Nochentera" performed by Vicco, "Quiero y duelo" performed by Karmento and "Inviernos en Marte" performed by José Otero advanced to the final, while "Desde que tú estás" performed by Alfred García, "Que esclati tot" performed by Siderland, "La Lola" performed by Famous, "Uff!" performed by E'Femme and "Tracción" performed by Rakky Ripper were eliminated.[8]

Final

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The final took place on 4 February 2023 and consisted of the eight entries that qualified from the two preceding semi-finals.

Final – 4 February 2023
Draw Artist Song Expert
jury
Demoscopic
jury
Televote Total Place
1 Karmento "Quiero y duelo" 35 20 25 80 6
2 Megara "Arcadia" 50 28 28 106 4
3 Alice Wonder "Yo quisiera" 53 16 20 89 5
4 Fusa Nocta "Mi familia" 24 25 22 71 8
5 Agoney "Quiero arder" 80 30 35 145 2
6 Blanca Paloma "Eaea" 94 35 40 169 1
7 José Otero "Inviernos en Marte" 37 22 16 75 7
8 Vicco "Nochentera" 59 40 30 129 3

At Eurovision

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According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. As a member of the "Big Five", Spain automatically qualified to compete in the final on 13 May 2023. In addition to its participation in the final, Spain was also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals. This was decided via a draw held during the semi-final allocation draw on 31 January 2023, when it was announced that Spain would be voting in the second semi-final.[9]

Spain received 95 points from the jury while coming last in the televoting (5 points), ultimately receiving a combined score of 100 points and placing 17th.[10] The result was considered a "disappointment" by some media outlets and some members of the public in Spain.[11][12]

Voting

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Points awarded to Spain

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Points awarded to Spain (Final)[13]
Score Televote Jury
12 points
10 points   Portugal
8 points   Latvia
7 points
6 points
5 points   United Kingdom
4 points   Australia
3 points   Portugal
2 points   Rest of the World
1 point

Points awarded by Spain

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Detailed voting results

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The following members comprised the Spanish jury:

Detailed voting results from Spain (Semi-final 2)[14]
Draw Country Televote
Rank Points
01   Denmark 14
02   Armenia 2 10
03   Romania 13
04   Estonia 10 1
05   Belgium 3 8
06   Cyprus 8 3
07   Iceland 11
08   Greece 15
09   Poland 7 4
10   Slovenia 1 12
11   Georgia 12
12   San Marino 16
13   Austria 5 6
14   Albania 9 2
15   Lithuania 6 5
16   Australia 4 7
Detailed voting results from Spain (Final)[13]
Draw Country Jury Televote
Juror 1 Juror 2 Juror 3 Juror 4 Juror 5 Rank Points Rank Points
01   Austria 14 16 15 13 17 17 18
02   Portugal 3 13 3 7 13 5 6 7 4
03    Switzerland 8 17 14 19 8 12 19
04   Poland 17 23 18 24 20 24 11
05   Serbia 20 21 24 15 23 23 24
06   France 4 5 6 11 7 6 5 12
07   Cyprus 11 11 13 22 5 11 15
08   Spain
09   Sweden 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 6 5
10   Albania 19 19 16 16 18 21 25
11   Italy 7 3 2 2 2 2 10 5 6
12   Estonia 6 4 8 6 4 4 7 23
13   Finland 24 9 25 4 14 10 1 1 12
14   Czech Republic 23 20 20 18 15 22 21
15   Australia 16 10 12 10 22 14 22
16   Belgium 12 6 4 3 12 7 4 8 3
17   Armenia 9 8 5 8 6 8 3 9 2
18   Moldova 21 24 23 17 19 25 10 1
19   Ukraine 18 14 17 23 9 15 2 10
20   Norway 5 7 21 12 10 9 2 3 8
21   Germany 10 15 22 21 21 18 14
22   Lithuania 13 18 11 20 16 16 16
23   Israel 2 2 7 5 3 3 8 4 7
24   Slovenia 22 22 10 25 24 20 13
25   Croatia 25 25 19 9 25 19 17
26   United Kingdom 15 12 9 14 11 13 20

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "Spain Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  2. ^ Grace, Emily (18 June 2022). "🇪🇸 Spain: RTVE To Launch Benidorm Fest Next Month". Eurovoix. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  3. ^ rtve.es (19 July 2022). "Benidorm Fest 2023: Las fechas y los cambios del concurso". RTVE.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  4. ^ "Estos son los tres presentadores del 'Benidorm Fest 2023'". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 18 November 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  5. ^ Farren, Neil (19 July 2022). "🇪🇸 Spain: Benidorm Fest 2023 Details Revealed". Eurovoix. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  6. ^ Martínez, Héctor Llanos (19 July 2022). "Mónica Naranjo presentará un Benidorm Fest 2023 todavía más grande para encontrar a la nueva Chanel". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  7. ^ Baugh, Samuel George (1 February 2023). "Benidorm Fest 2023: Agoney wins semi-final 1, topping jury and televote". wiwibloggs. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  8. ^ Granger, Anthony (3 February 2023). "🇪🇸 Spain: Benidorm Fest 2023 Finalists Selected". Eurovoix. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  9. ^ "Eurovision 2023: Allocation Draw results". eurovision.tv. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  10. ^ "Blanca Paloma, la gran damnificada del televoto". La Vanguardia. 13 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Blanca Paloma y el fracaso cantado de España que nadie vio venir". Diario de Sevilla. 14 May 2023.
  12. ^ "Las claves del desastre de Blanca Paloma en Eurovisión: del televoto a la incomprensión". El Mundo. 14 May 2023.
  13. ^ a b c "Results of the Grand Final of Liverpool 2023". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  14. ^ a b "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Liverpool 2023". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
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