Alice Wonder is a 24-year-old contender who stands among the hopefuls aiming to represent Spain at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. She hails from Madrid and has emerged from the Benidorm Festival circuit, drawing attention for a persona and sound that mark her as distinctly different from the mainstream pop archetype. In a candid interview with El País, she opens up about the path that led her to audition for the competition and shares memories from her childhood that shaped her artistic ambitions.
Her music carries a serious, almost austere style that often leads listeners to assume she is male. Yet the artist has openly discussed the journey she undertook during adolescence with gender dysphoria, describing how she wrestled with her sense of self. She recalls the moment of self-realization: there were times when she perceived herself as a man, even as a gay boy who believed love would elude her. She describes those years as a private battle fought in silence, followed by a decisive shift when she began to invest in her appearance and confidence. It was a period of mental and physical recalibration that eventually brought her face and voice into a harmonious whole, a transformation she credits to a combination of inner work and external changes.
In recent years, the performer has reflected on experiences that included exploring a more feminine expression and dating women. Ultimately, she found herself drawn to a relationship with a much older partner with whom she spent two years. Now identifying as more androgynous, she notes that public perception often labels her as a man, while she experiences a spectrum of attraction that shifts between women and men. She explains that her current sense of self remains fluid, with an enduring alignment toward love that is fundamentally rooted in being true to oneself and to her own feelings.
Regarding her participation in the Benidorm Fest, she acknowledges that many doubted whether the festival was the right stage for her. She describes the decision-making process she navigated to sign up and the change in perspective that followed. Initially, she did not intend to enter the competition and did not watch it regularly, as she associated the show with dramatic overtones that seemed out of tune with her music. Yet, after some inner reflection and a shift in perception, she realized that her own prejudices had been the main obstacle. What began as resistance turned into a bold challenge, and she accepted the call to face the lion’s den with a calm, almost eagle-like confidence. In her words, she arrived at the moment with a sense of, wow, I actually went in, and I am here, ready to perform and to make her voice heard to a broad audience. (El País)”