The ‘hip-breaker’ Chanel gives the surprise in the final of the Benidorm Fest and stands in Eurovision

Spain already has a representative in Eurovision 2022. And no, in the end, it will not be the song that everyone, for better or for worse, talks about. Chanel, the Cuban singer, actress and dancer of Olesa de Monsterrat, forced her sense of acting with an international calling and wins the Benidorm Fest final with ‘SloMo’ and with it the place to defend the interests of RTVE in the European Singing Competition, to be held on 14 May at the Pala Alpitour in Turin. the big favorite, Rigoberta Bandini and her ‘Ay, mama’ (or ‘Ay, mama’, which one has seen written in both ways and both fit with the lyrics of the copla), had to be content with a second place that gave its many followers free rein to their incendiary feelings and ugly accusations of tongo.

In fact, the only thing that was really certain on Saturday night before the gala started at the Palau Municipal d’Esports L’Illa in Benidorm was that, whatever song is finally chosen, half of Spain will feel compelled to hate it in a very visceral way and on top of that to make it known in the most offensive terms possible (it is enough to look at the social networks at this time to verify that the country has once again managed to meet that unfortunate expectation ).

a duel of three

Based on the results of the previous rounds, the final of the Benidorm Fest (Bénidor Fest, in the unique verdict of the presenter Máximo Huerta) was planned as an almost direct duel between Rigoberta Bandini and Chanel. Between ‘Ay, mama’ and ‘SloMo’. Between the inspiring and moving craft song of imperfect performance and the brilliant performance of an industrially crafted song made for dance. Behind them, a little behind because of the dumbness they suffered in the vote of the professional jury in the first semi-final, the Galician Tanxugueiras, favorites of a highly mobilized sector of the public, polished their tambourines and prepared their spells to try to surprise. They almost made it.

Chance arranged for it to be this time Rayden who opened the competition with ‘Calle de la llorería’. Accompanied by that enthusiastic fraternity who does not know if he just came from a Scottish tavern or a hipster barber shop, the singer and rapper from Complutense has very few variations in a number that arrived on Thursday after the semi-final, although he did change the choirs by lowering their volume. But this time it was clear that the battle for the first places was going to be a women’s event and David Martínez finished with the fourth place

The town, with the Galician

Tanxugueiras, who with their air of Celtic wizards and their powerful presence defends the leafy ‘Terra’, they did adapt their proposal much more, especially with regard to television production, much more precisely than in Wednesday’s show, in which they came out without being able to rehearse. It did not improve the evaluation of the professional jury, which moved the Galician women to fifth place and prevented them from winning despite both the telestem and the so-called demographic panel awarded them first place.

the oriolane Varry Brava they reached the final with the weakest previous score of all the contestants, so that their chances of victory remained at zero. This is how they also understood it, which, freed from the pressure of the competition, brought out their most verbena and ‘crazy’ vein and formed an eighties party to the rhythm of ‘Raffaella’ which, despite the platinum, blonde ink, Pino D’Angiò seemed to elicit more than Carrà. Absolutely good vibe that failed to make them go beyond sixth place.

After her triumph in the first semifinal, all indications were that Chanel would be limited to reproducing the impeccable choreographic exercise he then performed. And that’s what he did, but with a new wardrobe. “Ready to break hips”, Chanel Terrero nailed the number again with cat safety, although the apparent presence of a recorded vocal track raised some suspicions. “I am always first, never ‘secondary'”, says the unspeakable lyrics of ‘SloMo’. The prediction did not fail. The jury’s votes gave him enough margin to eventually take the cat to water.

Rigoberta Movement

Rigoberta Bandini’s performance once again that point of chaos and mess that his opponents thus reproached him in the first appearance, but the joy and conviction that the Barcelona woman and her peculiar ‘troupe’ radiate choir girls and dancers performing ‘Ay, mama’, with that sly final crescendo, are so infectious -the omicron variant of pop with a message- that the eurofans who gathered at the Palau L’Illa, once again with an outburst of emotion and euphoria. The Bandini created more than one song a movement. Still, she was five points behind the winner.

Related news

After the climax caused by Chanel and Rigoberta, the last part of the gala was a bit of an anticlimax. Lottery good. The Madrilenian Xeinn he kept his own with the europop falsetto of ‘Eco’ (ideal for the lead role of an ‘anime’ series) and a display of lights and projections that fell a bit halfway. Gonzalo Hermida, who is still recovering from covid, repeats the video of the ballad ‘Quén lo soe sê’ that we already knew from Thursday’s semi-final. Y White dove, concluding the competition, played a major role in a new exhibition of vocal power, good taste and picturesque minimalism in his interpretation of the intriguing but somewhat inaccessible ‘Secreto de agua’.

The performances of Pastora Soler, who had already sung at the beginning of the gala, and Nia and Nyno Vargas entertained the staff as the voices were cast and counted. The announcement of the verdict confirmed what has been suspected since the first semi-final: it the excessive weight of the professional jury in the final result (50%) would be decisive. That’s how it went. His favorite, Chanel, won. The one with the “hypnotic booty”. The one that drives all the dads crazy & rdquor ;. Spain already has a representative.