Rayden, Xeinn and Gonzalo Hermida will accompany the Catalan in Saturday’s final after a vote without surprises or Eurodramas
Second semi-final of benidorm fest. After the Spaniards interested in the Eurovision move had 24 hours to assimilate that in “the festival that you want & rdquor; all the votes of the public together barely serve to choose a quarter of the winner and that the weight of the opinion of the “professional jury & rdquor; in the final decision it is practically irrevocable, the time has come to select the four artists that complete the squad of eight that on Saturday will compete for the place to go to Turin to defend the prestige of RTVE in the European song contest. Rigoberta Bandini, with ‘Ay mama’, made good forecasts this time and comfortably led the classification, followed by Rayden (‘Calle de la llorería’), Xeinn (‘Eco’) and Gonzalo Hermida (‘Who would have thought it’), who also got a place in the final.
This second gala was preceded by a press conference in which those responsible for RTVE considered it necessary ask for “respect” for members of the professional jury, which gives a good measure of how heated the spirits of the ‘eurofandom’ were after a first semifinal in which the votes of the “professionals & rdquor; they had been about to leave out of the competition the Galician Tanxugueiras, absolute winners in the televoting modality.
scandinavian pop
The atmosphere was, therefore, a little rarefied when Vallecano Xeinn (Alejandro Agudín Arribas, real name) had to open a place at the Palau Municipal d’Esports L’Illa with ‘Eco’, a sample of that energetic and somewhat impersonal pop-dance which, judging by what they present at Eurovision year after year, the Scandinavian countries are so fond of. In his stage presentation, Xeinn put everything on the lights, the smoke machine and a few supposedly evocative visuals (‘Applause’? ‘Toccata’?) which in his head certainly seemed like a good idea.
If Xeinn’s proposal looked askance at northern Europe, that of Martha Sango connected directly to the eighties europop from italian school (does anyone remember Ricchi e Poveri?), in a colorful number with a shabby-retro-futuristic aesthetic weighed down by some pitch and breathing problems difficult to avoid. The song was called ‘Sigues en mi mente’, but the public seemed to forget it in no time.
Audacity with little bellows
The Chilean thing Javiera Mena with ‘Guilt’ It was perhaps excessive audacity for a festival like this. ‘Synth-pop’ illustrated for different clubs that was penalized live by the lack of vocal bellows of the artist, who, dressed as a ‘dominatrix’ disguised as Catwoman, combined the usual choreographies with a gothic atmosphere that evoked the world by Edgar Allan Poe. Someone should have warned him that the raven is a bird of dark omens. It was endless.
Out of action due to covid, Gonzalo Hermida did not even have the opportunity to defend the ballad ‘Who would say’ live. His performance was replaced by an ultra-sober video which, at least, allowed it to sound in tune, and that improved the initially low expectations of a song that is too reminiscent of previous Spanish bets at the festival to which Europe has repeatedly turned its back in a somewhat humiliating way.
the planet teta
Then came one of the most anticipated moments of the second semi-final. Rigoberta Bandini, who started out a priori as the great favorite with that forceful pop anthem to the transformative power of femininity called ‘Ay mama’, stood on the hexagonal stage of the Palau L’Illa accompanied by her cousins and her boyfriend (Esteban Navarro, from the comedy duo Venga Monjas) and unfolded an original and somewhat confusing theatrical ‘show’ with a change of costumes, vindictive gestures, dramatic crescendo and double final surprise (the planet Teta and men with bras). Too many stimuli, perhaps, but indisputably personal. He swept both the professional jury and the televote.
The staging of the rapper and singer from Complutense Rayden had also generated a good portion of ‘hype’, who in the motley ‘Calle de la llorería’ amalgamates genres to become a kind of Postmodern Carlos Cano with a Balkan point. The world champion of the 2006 Red Bull Battle of Gallos lived up to expectations with a colorful and elaborate show that began in a pulpit and ended in a festive street parade. And come clap your hands.
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The contest was closed by the very young Sarah Deop, another aspiring Beyoncé who, hand in hand with ‘Make you say’, plays in the same league as Chanel – radiant ‘urban pop’ with English verses and resounding hip-breaking choreographies – but on stage she stayed a certain distance from the Cuban in both vocal performance and interpretive outburst.
After the performances of Ruth Lorenzo and the group Niña Polaca to fill the minutes that the votes occupied, the reading of the verdict this time did not provoke the shocks and eurodramas of Wednesday night: Rigoberta Bandini, Rayden, Xeinn and Gonzalo Hermida will face each other in the decisive casting on Saturday at Chanel, Tanxugueiras, Blanca Paloma and Varry Brava. One of them (or, with much more probability, one of them, since the thing seems to be a fight between Bandini and Chanel) will be on May 14 in Turin in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. Oh, and it will take home the Bronze Microphone as the winner of the Benidorm Fest, which is not a negligible award either.