Benidorm kicks off the fourth edition of the Benidorm Fest, consolidated as a national and international benchmark

• RTVE, Generalitat and City Council sign the agreement for the celebration of the contest in 2025, which will repeat the format with two semi-finals and a final gala
• The event closes a collaboration with the Viña del Mar Festival that joins the one already established this year with the San Remo Festival.

Benidorm will once again be the centre of attention in the national and international music industry at the beginning of 2025 during the celebration of the fourth edition of the Benidorm Fest, which has become, in just three editions, a benchmark for artists, fans and Eurofans beyond the borders of our country. The musical competition that selects the artist who will represent Spain in the next edition of the Eurovision Song Contest will take place in our city from January 26, with semi-finals on January 28 and 30, while the grand final will be on February 1, as announced today.

The Paseo de Tamarindos, where the Mirador de la Música is located, has hosted this Monday the presentation of the next edition of this event, in an event that marks the starting shot for the new edition and which was attended by the president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón; the president of RTVE, Concepción Cascajosa; and the mayor of the city, Toni Pérez. The event was also attended by the regional minister for Innovation, Industry, Trade and Tourism, Nuria Montes; the senator Agustín Almodóbar; the regional deputies José Ramón González de Zárate and Mario Villar; members of the local Council; participants from previous editions; a large representation of media outlets from all over the country; as well as representatives of business and economic sectors of the city, such as the associations Hosbec, Abreca-Cobreca, Aico or Aptur, among others.

The event was presented by María Eizaguirre, director of Participation and Communication of the public entity RTVE, who after giving way to a video of all the singers who have participated in previous editions of the Benidorm Fest, highlighted the consolidation of this festival as a focus of attraction for artists and the public. Immediately afterwards, the agreement was signed between RTVE, the Generalitat Valenciana and the City Council that will allow the celebration of the fourth edition of the Benidorm Fest next year.

After the signing, the president of RTVE, Concepción Cascajosa, mentioned the first steps of this event, conceived at the beginning of the recovery after the pandemic, and how the three institutions that created it continue to support it, something that, in her opinion, "builds the country, great collective projects and allows us to move forward into the future". Cascajosa said that "the Benidorm Fest is a wonderful collective project" and, at the same time, "a magnificent opportunity to come and get to know the Valencian Community and to enjoy life" in a destination like Benidorm.

The president of the entity has also pointed out that this competition has allowed the public corporation to evolve towards “linear television, social networks and new communication channels”, highlighting that, partly thanks to it, “RTVE was the audience leader among Generation Z last year”.

For his part, Mayor Toni Pérez began his speech by highlighting “this enormous alliance such as that of RTVE, the Generalitat Valenciana and Benidorm City Council”, after entities that “continue to support, joining hands, to promote Spanish music and the creativity of our artists, and to offer an opportunity and be a focus of attraction for all Spanish creativity to launch it to Europe and from Europe, to the world”.

The mayor of Benidorm also thanked the promoters of this festival for “positioning this brand, which is public television, and also another great brand that belongs to everyone and is made by all of us, Benidorm”, arguing that the Benidorm Fest is “a great promotional tool” for the city.

To end his speech, Toni Pérez encouraged the artists who are already preparing their songs for the new edition and recalled that this year “it is 55 years since Julio Iglesias won the Benidorm Song Festival”. He then used a phrase from 'Life goes on' to reiterate the municipal commitment to the Benidorm Fest: “The works remain and projects like this are the ones we have to support”. 

For his part, the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, began his speech by reproducing another phrase from the song with which Julio Iglesias won the Golden Mermaid: “The same song says 'others who come will continue them' and that is what we are doing. We have come to continue with this project and make it bigger, to take the base and work not only so that it remains the same, but so that it goes even better”. 

Mazón has highlighted that “just as RTVE is finding new audiences with the Benidorm Fest, Benidorm and the Valencian Community are finding new tourists” and has said that, in addition, this contest serves to highlight talent. “The talent from Alicante, and Nebulossa is a great example of this, of a talent that was there and we needed to see it flourish; but also of the emerging talent that is new and coming from many other parts of Spain”, because in his opinion the Benidorm Fest is “a platform that is probably one of the best there is to show this talent to the world”. 

Finally, he has thanked the public television “for betting on Benidorm and the Valencian Community”.

After the official speeches, the next part of the event was led by Mery Bass and Mark Dasousa, members of Nebulossa, who told all the attendees what they have experienced since they won the 'Bronze Microphone' in the third edition of this music contest. “The Benidorm Fest is a very big platform, which not only gives you promotion, but also creates an atmosphere, a microclimate with your colleagues, and all you get is winning,” they explained, going on to describe the song 'Zorra', which has already reached 26.8 million views, as “a message of hope for many people, a ray of light for everyone” but also “a very important change in our lives for which we can only be grateful.” 

The president of RTVE has surprised Nebulossa by giving them a gold record to commemorate the millions of views that the winning song of the Benidorm Fest 2024 has already accumulated, which minutes later they performed again on the Mirador de la Música stage.

News for the next edition
Regarding the next edition of the Benidorm Fes, which will take place from January 26 to February 1, 2025, RTVE representatives have explained that the contest will once again have two semi-finals and a final gala, although parallel activities and parties will be scheduled throughout the week to prolong its impact.

Likewise, the director of Studies and Technical Media of this entity, José Luis Muñiz, has announced that the Benidorm Fest has closed a collaboration agreement with the Viña del Mar International Song Festival, in Chile, after the one already established last year with the San Remo Song Festival, which will also be maintained in this edition. In fact, the presentation of the Benidorm Fest was attended by the RAI board of directors Mariangela Borneo, representing this Italian festival. 

Although the format of the next Benidorm Fest will be similar to that of past editions, there will also be new features. The first of these is the incorporation of the artist Beatriz Luengo to the team of advisors in charge of selecting the songs and artists that will be presented to the preselection of songs to participate in the festival. 

In addition, a change in the voting system has also been announced. The co-director of the festival, Ana María Bordas, has explained that in the semi-finals the names of the finalists who go on to the grand final will be announced but the result of the votes of each of those selected will not be given, with the aim that this information cannot condition the votes at the end of the galas, where the winner of the Benidorm Fest 2025 will be chosen. The RTVE spokesperson has explained that this is "a demand" that the participating artists have been asking for, to which a response will be given this year. 

Projection of the 2024 finalists
To conclude the presentation of the event, the projection that their participation in the Benidorm Fest is bringing to many of the participants in the third edition, held in 2024, has also been reviewed. Among them, they have advanced that Marlena's song 'Amor de verano' will be the song selected by RTVE for the broadcasts of the Paris Olympic Games, as has already been the case with Almácor's 'Brillos platino' for the Eurocup. 

In addition, Miss Caffeina has composed the official song for this year's Vuelta Ciclista a España, while other performers will also provide the soundtrack to RTVE series and productions.