Antía arrived from Galicia to Benidorm and kissed the saint, as they say. She was the first in the queue to enter the Benidorm Fest 2023, as a representative of the Agoney fan club. A dozen girls had been taking turns since eight in the morning so as not to lose their turn next to the gate of the Palacio de Deportes L’Illa de Benidorm. And she was worth it.

Agoney from Tenerife has swept this Tuesday in the first semifinal of the Benidorm Fest, with the favor of critics and public, and goes as favorite to the final to be held on Saturday with 161 points. Next to him, and in this order, are already classified Alice Wonder (119), Fusa Nocta (118) and Megara (111). Aritz Aren, Sharonne, Meler, Twin Melody and Sofía Martín have been left out of the competition.

A spectacular Mónica Naranjo in her best role as a Eurovision diva began (in rigorous false direct, it must be said) the gala of the second edition of the Benidorm Fest. 1,000 euphoric people in the audience, nine applicants on stage and only four names with passports for the final. The program began at almost 11:00 p.m. after a preview that did not go down too well in the gossip on Twitter.

In this edition of the Benidorm Fest, voting works in a similar way to last year: 50% of the weight is held by the professional jury and the other half is divided into 25% for a demoscopic panel and another 25% for televoting through of calls and SMS.

The jury has awarded the highest score, a crushing 86 points, to Agoney, with Alice Wonder in second position with 79. The great punished by the professionals has been Aritz Aren, whom the gossips gave as a favorite of the professionals and the bets placed in the top positions, and who has been left out of the final, although only by one point.

There have also been surprises in the demoscopic vote, a good one and a bad one. The 350 voters chosen for their sociodemographic characteristics awarded the highest score to Meler, a boyband punished by televoting and by the professional jury. However, they gave only 15 points to an Alice Wonder who has not been able to hide her surprise in front of the camera, and who saves the junk thanks to a very good assessment of the professional jury.

The performances have presented a great variety. The starting signal was given by Sharonne, who aspired to become the first drag queen to represent Spain in Eurovision, and who, however, has been left out of the competition. This was not her first attempt, Sharonne already tried her luck 21 years ago with her old band Trans-X and under the name Cristóbal. A little short of voice and with more presence of her dancers than of herself, her proposal has not convinced her.

Second, one of the surprises of the night. Aritz Aren from the Canary Islands, with a good previous prognosis, has pulled from the Spanish imagery with everything and a flamenco dancer with a removable bata de cola (and a foreign accent) with which he has marked a very loadous acro tango, say the experts, which It must be something like an acrobatic tango. He will not be able to compete in the final either.

A German with Alicante roots, Sofía Martín would come to show that dreams come true even if they have not always believed in her. Reminiscent of Christmas, she returned the tune of the Sabanero Burrito to our heads with her Tuki, a word with which she brings together all that is good and a well-choreographed but slightly out-of-tune reggaeton rhythm. She has come last in all the voting.

“They say that I scream a lot, but I come to scream even more.” Agoney already warned before going on stage, and she was not lying. She asked her grandmother the first time she heard I want to burn who was the girl who sang the chorus. He would start surrounded by microphones and dressed in red vinyl and he would come down to end, indeed, burning, but not before going through his particular tribute to Michelangelo’s Pietà. “Many Catholics told me: ‘You are going to burn in hell,'” he explained at the subsequent press conference.

The Palacio de Deportes L’Illa de Benidorm almost collapsed between the choreographies of a show directly packaged for Eurovision. We will have to see how it unfolds in the final on Saturday.

“We want and need rock to be present at the Benidorm Fest”. This has been the second attempt for Megara, the most original proposal of the Benidorm Fest, both for sound and aesthetics. And there was no need for a third. His “fucksia rock”, note the play on words, has been accompanied by a futuristic show in pink and black that started in a cage guarded by two dancers with their heads covered by a monitor. Given the general doubt, they asked on their social networks if they should vary the lyrics of their Arcadia and change the original “rain of daggers” for the “rain of panties” that seemed to be heard. They did it? It is not clear, perhaps that has been the grace, because Megara has gone to the grand final of the Benidorm Fest.

Alice Wonder has appeared among the clouds, alone with a black grand piano, to later receive a choir that has given her the leading role before a very emotional audience. She herself sowed tears in the eyes of Queen Letizia in the tribute to the victims of the Covid with her version of Lluvia de gigantes. The professional jury has awarded a performance without failure that has put Alice Wonder in the final. The very low vote of the demoscopic jury has started the booing of the public. “I have not even understood well what each vote was,” the singer confessed after the program.

The boybandMeler began its journey during the confinement, and that is what they have tried to transmit by starting their show inside some colored boxes, to then go out on the catwalk to raise the public between boats. A summer rhythm that, however, only seems to have convinced the demoscopic vote. “Tomorrow I don’t know what will happen to us, I only know that today they won’t move us,” reads the chorus. He looks like he missed it.

Fusa Nocta arrived at the Benidorm Fest as a favorite with a hymn to the family, grandmothers and self-esteem and she went up on stage perched in a car like the one her grandfather had when she was little and with a very long braid that the dancers caressed before disappear for no apparent reason, as the car does not seem to have a clear functionality throughout the show, presented in the form of a video clip. Almost out of breath she has interpreted Miriam Nares a song that has convinced the public and that the professional jury has forgiven.

The Twin Melody twins closed the show, more influencers than favorites for the festival. They have 20 million followers on social networks, almost 18.5 on TikTok alone, so it was mandatory that their performance had social references, surrounded by rings of light and even focused through a mobile. Their proposal has not convinced and they will not compete to represent Spain in Eurovision.

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