Misplaced Pages

#420579

30-525: It originally ran from 1959 to 2006 (except in 1979, 1984 and from 1986 to 1992, when it was not held) and used to take place in the summer. After 2006, it did not take place again through 2021, when a revamped version of the festival, under the name Benidorm Fest , was announced by Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) and the Generalitat Valenciana to serve as the platform to select the Spanish entry for

60-529: A national and international jury vote for their preferred songs, with the final result determined by a split vote between the public and the juries. At the end of the programme, the song with the most points is declared the winner and is granted the opportunity to represent Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest. Voting during the three shows occurs through a combination of the following methods: The theme music of Benidorm Fest, entitled " Vita est ",

90-513: A new Spanish pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest , starting with the 2022 edition . During the broadcast, viewers were assured that there would be changes and updates to the contest's format, as well as a "double contest" in which both famous and upcoming singers would take part, whose prize would be the chance to represent Spain at Eurovision. On 29 September of the same year, the rules and mechanics were published, revealing

120-399: A television programme. The editions from 1993 to 1996 were broadcast by Telecinco and from 1997, the broadcasting returned to TVE and the regional channel Canal Nou . The 2006 edition did not have national television coverage as TVE dissociated itself from the project and was only broadcast by Canal Nou. In Summer 2019, a commemorative exhibition to mark the 60th anniversary of the festival

150-415: Is a Spanish music group formed in the mid-eighties that participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 . La Década Prodigiosa came up in 1985 as a project directed by Javier de Juan (drums), Manel Santisteban (piano) and Manuel Aguilar (bass) to produce an album of medleys of popular Spanish songs from the sixties. Several session singers collaborated in this first album, Los Años 60, Vol. I . Due to

180-730: Is a Spanish song contest organised by the Spanish public broadcaster Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE), in collaboration with the Generalitat Valenciana , to determine its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest , beginning in 2022 . It is held in Benidorm , Valencian Community , at the Palau Municipal d'Esports l'Illa de Benidorm . Based on the Benidorm International Song Festival with amendments to accommodate

210-571: The Eurovision Song Contest , starting in 2022. The festival has undergone considerable modifications over the years, for example in the prizes. In 2004, it went from national to international. The contest was usually broadcast on television by REM (1959), TVE (1960–1985, 1997–2005), Telecinco (1993–1996) or Canal Nou (1997–2006). In 1958, the idea of holding a Spanish summer song festival like what had been done in Sanremo , Italy , since 1951 ( Sanremo Music Festival ) came up. This event took place in

240-639: The Benidorm kiosk El Tío Quico , where the mayor of the city, Pedro Zaragoza , the writer and journalist Carlos Villacorta, director of the press office of the General Secretariat of the Movement, and the journalist Teodoro Delgado Pomata  [ es ] were present. In July 1959, the first edition of an event called the Festival Español de la Canción de Benidorm ("Spanish Song Festival of Benidorm")

270-512: The Department of Innovation, Industry, Commerce and Tourism of the Generalitat Valenciana , and RTVE travelled to the 74th Sanremo Music Festival , currently serving as the Italian national selection for Eurovision; municipal councillor Jesús Carrobles revealed that the aim was to start a collaboration between the two events. The format was thereby confirmed for 2025 . In response to criticism for

300-566: The Eurovision format, the contest consists of two semi-finals and a final, with the winner jointly determined through teams of judges and a public vote. The event is loosely based on the Benidorm International Song Festival , an international song contest created in 1958 and modelled on the Italian Sanremo Music Festival . The competition was held intermittently until 2006, interspersed with several hiatuses and various changes to

330-428: The Spanish music scene who performed at this stage were Esmeralda Grao, Paco Arrojo, Pasión Vega, Luis Livingstone, Mikel Herzog , A las 10 en casa, Barei (as part of the duo Dos Puntos), Jesús Cisneros and Inma Serrano . The festival used to be broadcast by TVE , although during the 1960s and 1970s it was not broadcast entirely because it was a show designed mainly for the public gathered in Benidorm, not as much as

SECTION 10

#1732854813421

360-479: The broadcaster itself reserves the right to invite renowned singers and authors from the current music scene directly. Both the evaluation of submissions and the invitations are carried out in collaboration with external musical advisers. The contest is open to performers, groups and authors who are at least 16 years old before May of the current year, and who must be Spanish nationals or have permanent residence in Spain (in

390-633: The case of duos or groups, at least 50% of the members must meet this condition). Songs must be original and not have been published, performed or distributed, in whole or in part, before September of the previous year to the Eurovision Song Contest (in accordance with Eurovision rules). In addition, the song must be between 2 and a half and 3 minutes long, and must include at least 60% of the lyrics in Spanish and/or co-official languages of Spain . La D%C3%A9cada Prodigiosa La Década Prodigiosa ( Spanish: [la ˈðekaða pɾoðiˈxjosa] ; "The Prodigious Decade"), also known as just La Década ,

420-418: The final; for the second edition there were nine songs in each semi-final (for a total number of eighteen entries) and eight in the final. It is planned that the third edition will feature a reduced number of sixteen entries, eight in each semi-final. The public (consisting of the televote plus a panel of judges made up of a sample of the Spanish population selected by statistical and demoscopic criteria) and

450-590: The format. Fifteen years after the final edition of the Benidorm International Song Festival, Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) broadcast a conference from the city on 22 July 2021, in which the president of the Generalitat Valenciana Ximo Puig , mayor of the city Antonio Pérez, and president of the broadcaster José Manuel Pérez Tornero announced the revival of a song competition held in Benidorm, which would also become

480-486: The group consists of Javier Enzo, Keisy, Jesús Lara and Patrizia Navarro. The group participated at the 1996 Benidorm Festival with the song "Las ganas de vivir" and got the third prize. In 2001 they achieved the second place, named Hi Priority for the occasion, in the Spanish preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "A nadie como a ti", and they participated at the Benidorm Festival as Karma with

510-440: The low televoting figures in 2024, attributed to the relatively high costs of telephone calls and SMS messages, RTVE managers stated the goal to make the public voting free by means of a mobile app from 2025. The contest is made up of two semi-finals and a final, in which a number of candidates – soloists, duos, trios or groups – perform their songs live. In the first edition there were seven entries for each semi-final and eight in

540-401: The musical and audiovisual panorama brought about by the political transition led to a growing lack of interest in the festival. The non celebration of the 1979 and 1984 editions and experimental editions in 1983 (non-competitive) and 1985 (which searched for a younger audience, inviting pop-rock groups such as Alphaville, Seguridad Social or Aerolíneas Federales ) failed to raise the interest of

570-458: The name of Festival Internacional de la Canción de Benidorm (Benidorm International Song Festival), and ceased to be held after its 39th edition (held in 2006) due to the lack of interest from the public and the media. During these 14 editions, the media repercussion of the festival was null, despite awarding the first prize to Alazán, Coral Segovia and La Década Prodigiosa and the authors Pablo Motos and Rosana Arbelo . Other relevant artists of

600-434: The name of the revamped competition to be "Benidorm Fest" and that the first edition was scheduled to air at the end of January 2022. It was subsequently announced that a contract had been signed to hold the event for four editions. The Generalitat Valenciana invested around €968,000 in the event. Following the 2024 edition of the competition, representatives of Benidorm's municipal council (including mayor Toni Pérez),

630-449: The orchestra and Manolo Rodríguez stayed backstage. La Década finished eleventh out of 21 entries. Since then, the group has survived many replacements of members, even though in the mid-nineties their popularity began to decline. The artists that have been part of the several lineups of the groups include Paco Morales (1986–1987, 1991–1994), Mikel Herzog (1989–1991), Paloma Blanco (1991–1997) or Carlos Santamaria (1991–1998). As of 2015,

SECTION 20

#1732854813421

660-434: The piece, of different durations and instrumental templates, for different purposes. The winner of Benidorm Fest receives a Bronze Microphone, made by Madrid sculptor José Luis Fernández. It is a 30 centimeters tall piece, cast in bronze and made with lost-wax casting method. RTVE opens a period of submissions for artists, authors and composers to send their proposals to the public radio and television corporation, while

690-424: The public, which led to the cancellation of the festival from 1986 to 1992. After a break of seven consecutive years, the contest was held again in 1993, beginning its third phase. In that first year, two categories were differentiated, the pop-rock final and the light song final, but from 1994 onwards, the old formula of awarding prizes to a single song was reinstated. The event became international in 2004, adopting

720-459: The songs was descending and in fact, during these years, the festival only released the hit "Soledad", by Emilio José and awarded prizes to soloists such as Eduardo Rodrigo, Mochi, Juan Camacho or Dyango and composers such as Juan Pardo, Dúo Dinámico or El Lute . Other contenders were Betty Missiego , Braulio , Tito Mora, José Vélez , the actress Beatriz Carvajal , Nydia Caro , Andrés Caparrós, José María Bacchelli or Tino Casal . The changes in

750-672: The success of the album, a band of eight members was formed in 1986 for the second album ( Los Años 60, Vol. II ): Manolo Rodríguez, Cecilia Blanco, Ana Nery, Carmelo Martínez and Jose Subiza joined the three creators. The band toured Spain with their own show. In 1988, La Década was internally chosen by broadcaster Televisión Española to represent Spain at the 33rd Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin with one of their first original songs, " La chica que yo quiero (Made in Spain) ". As only six people were allowed on stage by EBU rules, Javier de Juan directed

780-563: The time guaranteed the continuity of the festival in Benidorm, despite the fact that some cities in the south of Spain tried to take over the organisation of the festival. During this period, the greatest hits in the history of the festival took place, such as "Comunicando", "Quisiera ser", "Tu loca juventud", "La vida sigue igual" and "Amor amargo". It also featured the participation of emerging personalities of Spanish light song, such as Dúo Dinámico , Raphael , Bruno Lomas, Joe y Luis, Michel, Los Gritos and Julio Iglesias . In addition, although it

810-535: Was composed by the musician Pepe Herrero and it is performed by the RTVE Orchestra and Choir . It is a symphonic piece inspired by classic themes such as " O Fortuna " from Carmina Burana by Carl Orff , combining it with modern compositions by composers such as Hans Zimmer . The lyrics, composed in Latin, highlight the value of music as a means to unite peoples and make them free. The author produced 15 variations of

840-823: Was held at the Museo Boca del Calvari  [ es ] and was visited by more than 10,000 people during its first month. As of 2006, the first prize winner was awarded with the Golden Mermaid Trophy ( Sirenita de Oro ) and €36,000 (about US$ 47,000) to produce a record . Second and third place winners received the Silver Mermaid Trophy ( Sirenita de Plata ) and the Bronze Mermaid Trophy ( Sirenita de Bronce ), respectively. The three prizes previously consisted of 100,000  ₧ , 50,000 ₧ and 25,000 ₧, respectively. Benidorm Fest Benidorm Fest

870-461: Was held, organised by the Red de Emisoras del Movimiento  [ es ] (REM) (Movement Station Network) from the city's Manila Park. The mechanics of the festival during the first editions (from 1959 to 1971) consisted of presenting the songs in double versions, as was usual in the song festivals of the moment, including Sanremo. The victory of the song "Un telegrama" and its huge success in Spain at

900-399: Was not their catapult to success, during these years artists such as Karina , Víctor Manuel, Lolita Garrido and Manolo Otero performed. Also, Rosa Morena , who was already enjoying success abroad before her consecration in Spain, participated. On the other hand, the period between 1972 and 1985 marked a certain decline of the festival. The press repeated year after year that the quality of

#420579