Talent trends online as millions of viewers tune in for Benidorm Fest semifinals

BENIDORM Fest’s first weekend was declared a resounding success by organisers as the event trended on all social media platforms nationally and even internationally.

The event’s first semifinals, held on Tuesday, January 31 saw millions of music fans tune in to see Spain’s next Eurovision contestant selected. Spanish broadcaster RTVE said an estimated 3.2 million viewers watched their coverage at some point during the evening.

Posts under the #benidormfest and #benidormfest2023 reached a staggering 284.1 million and 53.9 million views respectively on TikTok on Tuesday night, a total of 338 million views. The event also trended in the number one position nationally on Twitter, with 166,204 mentions between 10pm and midnight.

Although the song contest focuses on the European music scene, viewers from Latin America and China were some of the largest foreign audiences. The festival attracted a 20 per cent larger Chinese audience than last year, as well as attracting fans in droves from Argentina, Mexico and the USA.

Contestants’ songs also made their mark on the music scene with nearly eight million listens on Spotify to the tracks broadcasted in the contest.