Photo credit: RTVE
When Blanca Paloma first attempted to represent Spain at Eurovision, she was a relatively unknown artist. However, fast-forward a year and she is not only Spain’s representative but, in some people’s eyes, a potential Eurovision winner!
Read on to find out all about Blanca Paloma, her song ‘Eaea’ and her journey to Eurovision.
Who is Blanca Paloma?
33-year-old Blanca Paloma Ramos was born and raised in Elche, Spain. According to this video by Eurovision Histories, her grandmother Carmen (who is depicted on the single artwork for ‘Eaea’) instilled in Blanca a love and appreciation for Andalusian culture, particularly flamenco. Sadly, Carmen passed away before she ever got a chance to see Blanca perform on stage but ‘Eaea’ is dedicated to her and Blanca told ESC Beat in a recent interview “My grandmother is really present in the whole song.”
In addition to singing, Blanca is also a set and costume designer, having graduated from Miguel Hernández University of Elche before moving to Madrid in 2013 to pursue a career in theatre.
Benidorm Fest 2022
When Blanca first set foot on the stage of Benidorm Fest in 2022, little was known of her compared to others on the roster. Her debut single ‘Secreto de Agua’ was the first song she had ever recorded in a studio and, although it featured on the opening credits of the Spanish true crime docuseries ‘Lucia en la telaraña’, many did not know what to expect. However, audiences and jurors alike were captivated by her flawless vocal, with the expert jury scoring her second in her semi and many viewers hailing it as one of their highlights of the night. Blanca was one of four artists to qualify for a spot in the final, where she again scored highly with the expert jury (they awarded her their third place) and scored fifth overall. You can watch her performance below:
Benidorm Fest 2023 and the Road to Eurovision
When it was confirmed that Blanca Paloma would enter Benidorm Fest for the second year running, fans were excited to see what she would do. This was only amplified when Ben Robertson, contributor to ESC Insight and The Local Sweden, tweeted the results of his press poll, where he asked press members leaving the rehearsal for semi-final two who they felt was the best. Blanca dominated the press poll, as you can see below:
Come the second semi-final itself and it was easy to see why the press had reached their decision. Not only did Blanca deliver yet another vocally flawless performance but also staging that many felt was Eurovision-ready. You can watch her Benidorm Fest performance below:
Sailing through to the final, Blanca was ultimately competing with semi-final one winner Agoney and his song ‘Quiero arder’ for the trophy. However, when it came to the voting, Blanca won both the jury and televote portions, only losing out on first place with the demoscopic jury to Vicco and her song ‘Nochentera’. Blanca would be going to Liverpool!
As part of her preparation for the contest, Blanca has performed at the Eurovision pre-parties in Barcelona, Tel Aviv and Madrid and is also due to perform in Amsterdam and London on the 15th and 16th April. In her performances in Tel Aviv and Madrid, Blanca had adapted the beginning of her song, leading some to speculate whether we could expect some changes to her performance in Liverpool. You can watch her most recent performance in Madrid below:
Ultimately, we will not know what Blanca is doing with ‘Eaea’, or how she will fare with the juries and viewers, until the night of the Grand Final. However, Blanca Paloma is never an act to be underestimated and we can’t wait to see her perform in Liverpool!
You can follow Blanca Paloma on Instagram here.
