Everything is ready at Palau d’Esports for the start of the fourth edition of Benidorm Fest

Everything is ready at Palau d’Esports l’Illa in Benidorm to kick off the fourth edition of  Benidorm Fest, the song contest organised by the City Council, the Generalitat Valenciana and Radio Televisión Española to select the artist who will represent Spain at Eurovision. The galas begin tomorrow, Tuesday, at 10:45 p.m., when the first semi-final will be held, and will continue on Thursday, at the same time, with the second round of finalists. On Saturday, February 1, the grand final will take place, with a gala beginning at 10 p.m., as in the previous two, and will be broadcast live on La 1 of Televisión Española.

The mayor of the city, Toni Pérez, the president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, the Councillor for Innovation, Industry, Trade and Tourism, Marián Cano, the Councillor for Events of Benidorm City Council, Jesús Carrobles, visited again this Monday the final works of the assembly of the stage where the two semi-finals and the grand final will take place, together with members of the local corporation, the sub-delegate of the Government, Juan Antonio Nieves; representatives of RTVE and numerous journalists accredited for the event.

The enclosure will have 18 cameras, including a 16-metre ‘hot head’, a cable cam, two' steady cams’, three autonomous cameras, and a ‘tower cam’. The rest will be on pedestals for close-ups.

A triangular vertical screen 11 metres high and 20 metres wide has been installed on the stage. A large mirror 20 metres wide and 18 metres deep has also been installed on the floor. Some new elements have been incorporated into the lighting, and 515 lighting devices will be used.

The triangular design of the stage explained the managers, was an attempt to make the most of the width of the venue. The triangular shape gives a greater feeling of spaciousness and open space so that, as they said, “it will work more spectacularly than in previous editions.” Finally, regarding the capacity, in the area of ​​the stands it remains the same as last year, although in the area of ​​the pit, the design of the stage has allowed the number of people to be increased to 2,600.

Furthermore, Jesús Carrobles explained that “as a novelty, this year we wanted to bring the festival even closer to the fans, especially those who were unable to buy tickets for the galas.” Therefore, “we will allow them to visit the venue and see the stage

This open day will be “on the same day as the final, Saturday 1 February, from 11.30 to 13.30.” Carrobles has indicated that “we would have loved this time slot to have been longer, but we have had to adjust to the rehearsal schedule for that day and the preparations for the final gala, in which the winning song and artist of the Benidorm Fest that will represent Spain in Eurovision will be decided.”

The councillor has encouraged “Benidorm Fest fans to take advantage of this opportunity to visit the venue and find out how an event of this magnitude is organised and coordinated.”

Order of performances

Before this visit, at Plaça del Castell in Benidorm, this morning the first of the press conferences with the 16 finalist contestants of the Benidorm Fest, in which RTVE has announced the order of participation in the semi-finals.

The mayor Toni Pérez attended it and used the opportunity to wish luck to all the contestants and showed himself “convinced that, one more year, we'll have a great show and a magnificent opportunity to place Benidorm as a reference city in many aspects and also in music”.

Thus, Kuve will be in charge of opening the fourth edition of Benidorm Fest, since she will be the first to sing in the first semi-final tomorrow, Tuesday. After her, David Afonso, Chica Sobresalto, K!ngdom, Lucas Bun, Sonia y Selena, Lachispa and Daniela Blasco.

As for the second semi-final, Mel Ömana will open the spectacle with her performance, followed by Henry Semler, DeTeresa, J Kbello, Carla Frigo, Mawot, Celine Van Heel and Melody.