After receiving 870 submissions for next year’s edition of Benidorm Festival, Spain’s broadcaster RTVE has revealed the names of the 18 entrants who will compete for the “Bronze Microphone” and, perhaps, for a spot in Eurovision 2026.
18 contestants and a returning artists
The 18 acts who will compete in next year’s Benidorm Fest are, in alphabetical order:
- Asha
- Atyat
- Dani J
- Dora & Marlon Collins
- Funambulista
- Greg Taro
- Izan Llunas
- Kenneth
- Kitai
- KU Minerva
- Luna Ki
- María León ft. Julia Medina
- Mayo
- Mikel Herzog Jr.
- Miranda! & bailamamá
- Rosalinda Galán
- The Quinquis
- Tony Grox & Lucycalys
Among them is Luna Ki, who was due to compete in the first edition of Benidorm Fest, back in 2022. At the time, they withdrew from the selection after RTVE refused to let them use autotune in their performance.
Their new song, as well as those of all the other artists, will be released on December 18, and the show will take place over three days, with two semi-finals on February 10 and 12, and a Final on February 14.
A new dynamic for Benidorm Fest?
This will be the fifth edition of Beniform Fest, a competition that gave Spain its best result since 1995 (in 2022), but which has seen diminishing returns since then, with “Esa Diva” only finishing 24th in Basel earlier this year. Critics have also been aimed at a lower quality in the general lineup of the selection compared to its first editions.
As a result, RTVE has changed the show’s format, and its core team, bringing a rising star as artistic director, Sergio Jaén. Most notably, Sergio was the creative mind behind the winning staging for Austria’s “Wasted Love” in Basel, and had a hand in the entries of Ireland 2024, Finland 2025 and Cyprus 2025. He has also worked as a Creative and Multicam Consultant for UMK25 (Finland’s national selection) and will do so again next year.
Updates to the voting procedure will see the return of the demoscopic jury. Each of the three live shows will have 50% jury voting and 50% public voting. Within the public voting there will be an equal 50/50 split between public televoting and free app voting (50%) and demoscopic jury (50%). A demoscopic jury is a cross section of the Spanish population collated into a polling panel.
In order to recognise their achievements, the winner of the next edition of Benidorm Fest will receive a cash prize of 150,000 Euros. The songwriters of the winning entry, will take home 50,000 Euros and the performer(s) will receive the remaining 100,000 Euros.
Eurovision participation still in doubt
Although Benidorm Fest will take place, it is not yet sure if Spain will participate in Eurovision 2026. A few weeks ago, RTVE joined other public broadcasters in stating that they would not take part in the Contest should Israel be allowed to participate too.
This issue has not yet been resolved one way or another, with an extraordinary vote due to take place within the EBU in November, which has now been canceled and postponed to the ordinary General Assembly of December 2025.
How do you feel about this lineup? Which entry are you expecting the most? Tell us more in the comments below or on social media at @escxtra!
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