Benidorm Festival 2023 Highlights and Backstage Details
The Benidorm Festival has been a focal point of discussion as Eurovision 2023 approaches. RTVE disclosed a list of six backup artists who could join the contest if any of the 18 finalists withdrew, following a request submitted to the Transparency Portal by ESCPlus.
The six contenders were Noan with Every Day, Kingdom with Counting Stars, Nena Daconte with De Londres a Paris, Loren with Lo Confieso, Hugo Cobo with Come Now, and Bajocero with Shoot Me. These artists stood ready to participate in the competition hosted by TVE should any of the main entrants drop out.
Up to this point, only the songs from Nena Daconte, Hugo Cobo, and Bajocero were publicly released, having appeared on streaming platforms or in live performances. Meanwhile, Noan, Kingdom, and Loren had not yet revealed their proposals.
The new data about Benidorm Fest 2023 appeared shortly after RTVE released the total production cost and presenters’ salaries in a separate Transparency Portal request. For that edition, Blanca Paloma led Spain to a victory, and the overall expenditure reached 4,069,328 euros, marking a 42 percent rise from the previous year.
Público’s reporting shows a clear disparity in the compensation for those involved in running the three galas, with the onstage team including Monica Naranjo, Rodrigo Vázquez, and Inés Hernando. RTVE notes that the production costs and budget cover several items without naming the specific employees who received these payments: a presenter’s fee of 50,000.02 euros, another presenter at 15,000.02 euros, and a third at 50,000.02 euros.
While the precise allocation to each individual remains unclear, Rodrigo Vázquez is the only male host whose name appeared in the disclosures. Based on the Transparency data, he would have earned 50,000 euros for the three nights he led the program. In his remarks to the media, the host of El cazador questioned the accuracy of the figures, suggesting that the numbers published were not fully aligned with reality. TVE subsequently clarified that Vázquez’s compensation stood at 25,000 euros rather than 50,000.