Tonight sees the second show of Spain’s search for their entry for the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, with their Benidorm Fest selection process. Tonight, another eight songs are hoping to make their way into the final, joining the four acts that were selected on Tuesday night. ESC Covers’ Andy Richards takes a listen to each contender with his thoughts on their potential success.
María Peláe – Remitente
From the opening male chanting, and Spanish guitars, and claps, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the Gypsy Kings had made a return to the scene. It’s very tranditional sounding, and most certainly something that has come from a Spanish speaking country. It’s not as out there as Blanca Paloma’s entry from last year, but I’m sure the Spanish fans will be behind this one. Not too sure how it will do outside of the border, though. It’s a nice start to the show, but it’s not blown me away.
Dellacruz – BESO EN LA MAÑANA
Another 100% Spanish song, but a little bit more upbeat than the last one. It’s something that you would have likely heard on UK radio a few years ago, when the likes of Daddy Yankee and Camila Cabello were big time doing the rounds. It’s got a great dance beat, as so many of the other Benidorm Fest songs have this year, but this could cause a few issues in the final, with likeminded songs fighting to the death. Decent enough, though!
MARLENA – amor de verano
From the opening sounds of waves and seagulls, you imagine this could be something you could listen to on the beach with a cheeky Sangria. The production is great, and the melodic vocals should be good if performed well tonight. Again, there’s nothing much that makes it stand out against some of the other songs in the contest. I can imagine many of the 2024 Eurovision songs will take a note out of Loreen’s book with a pop/dance banger, so original and different genres could do well.
st. Pedro – Dos Extraños (Cuarteto de Cuerda)
Taking the tempo right down now, we have St. Pedro with a jazzy/light adult contemporary tune. It’s something that you’d likely hear on the likes of Jules Holland’s TV show, and it’s lovely and relaxing. Theres some great strings in the song, and his vocals and song style remind me of Salvador Sobral’s winning Portuguese entry. If performed well tonight, I think this could easily stand out from the crowd and make its way into Saturday’s final.
Jorge González – Caliente
Well, his name certainly fits the Spanish bill if nothing else. Again, it’s a traditional-sounding pop tune in Spanish, but looking more at appealing to the international audience with easier to understand Spanish words such as ‘bailar’ and ‘noche’. The horns very much remind me of Adrenalina from a few years back, and the style of the song is very much like something Enrique Iglesias would have released in the 00s. There’s a nice build towards the end, renminding me of Unicorn. I wonder if Jorge will also have a dance break?
Yoly Saa – No se me olvida
More acoustic guitar, and a chilled theme to start with again. The mix in the production is very good as there’s plenty of going on with different styles and elements. The mood of the song sounds quite melancholy, but the chorus is a bit more lively. I really like this as it has a haunting feel to it, without getting as depressing as Billie Eilish’s back catalogue. This is another song that I could see as standing out and doing well in tonight’s contest
Roger Padrós – El Temps
A piano solo starts this one off, and the song itself is fairly simple too, with only a few drum beats padding out Roger’s song. I don’t think the placing of the song in the running order will help it too much, following the last similar sounding song – but if his live vocals towards the end of the song are as good as the ones on the studio version, he could be onto something. I feel like this could potentially be left in the semi-final, however.
Almacor – Brillos Platino
I think the fatigue of similar sounding songs must be kicking in, as the opening of this just sounds like so many others in the Spanish selection – but luckily, just as I was getting bored, a chunky bass drum kicked in, and the song turns into a bit of a dance banger! Closing the show will definitely help in the votes. There’s some electronic vocals in the song, so I’m not sure if they could get through the EBU rules, should it win Benidorm Fest, but it’s a decent effort indeed.
So, that’s it for my look at the second batch of songs. The second Semi-final of Benidorm Fest starts tonight at 22:50CET on RTVE, and is hosted by Ruth Lorenzo, Marc Calderó and Ana Prada. Four songs from tonight will make their way into the Grand Final on Saturday. If you’re outside of Spain, you can watch the live stream of the show here.
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