The second semi-final of Benidorm Fest 2025 takes place tonight, with 4 more artists set to qualify for Saturday’s Grand Final.
These qualifiers will join Lachispa, Lucas Bun, Daniela Blasco and Kuve, who made it through Tuesday’s first semi-final.
Here’s all you need to know about the artists competing in Semi-Final 2!
Carla Frigo – ‘Bésame’
Carla Frigo is a TikTok creator and singer from Barcelona. She’s one of Spain’s rising stars, with her music taking influence from pop, reggaeton, house and trap to create a unique infusion that can be heard in some of her most popular songs such as ‘Mirame’, ‘Entre En El Party’ and ‘TOKOROM’. Carla began uploading to social media when she was 12 years old, and in 2020 decided to focus on music full-time. Now 22, Carla takes the biggest step in her career yet as she gets ready to take to the stage at Benidorm Fest with ‘Bésame’.
The song is a big pop-electronic number and one that leaves a lot of room for an impressive performance. It features lyrics in Spanish and English and has been one of the favourites to represent Spain at Eurovision. You can hear Carla’s song below!
Celine Van Heel – ‘La Casa’
Celine Van Heel is a Dutch-Spanish photographer and director born in Athens. She began her career by taking images and videos of her 92-year-old Grandfather – whom she titles ‘The Spanish King’ – to prove art & fashion have no age. Celine’s journey to becoming a singer came after she attended Benidorm Fest 2023 and caught Alfred García’s attention whilst playing the piano in the hotel lobby. Her musical debut comes with her Benidorm Fest 2025 entry ‘La Casa’, and it seems she has her eyes on the prize, telling ESCPlus España that she hopes to win the contest. Lyrically, ‘La Casa’ represents a woman leaving a dark past, but telling the subject of the song to ‘keep the house’ – explaining her fear and anxiety of staying with them for much longer. The song is penned by Celine and Alfred García, who also had a hand in its production. You can hear her song below!
DeTeresa – ‘La Pena’
Madrid’s DeTeresa is a singer, producer and composer – graduating from the British Institute of Modern Music in the latter two. She began her career in 2020 with the song ‘Páralo’, and takes inspiration from her interest in cultural diversity and her musical theatre education. In 2023 she released her debut EP ‘Cristial Arcoiris’, followed by her acclaimed single ‘PIRULÍ’ in early 2024. Her song is called ‘La Pena’, and has a classic Spanish feel with some ethereal vocals and dramatic twists and turns throughout to keep the listener hooked for the full 3 minutes. You can hear her song below!
Henry Semler – ‘No lo ves’
American singer Henry Semler was born in the USA but raised in Barcelona and makes music in both English and Spanish. His music is influenced by folk, Americana and Spanish Indie-Pop, and one of his musical inspirations is Maro, who represented Portugal at Eurovision 2022 with ‘saudade, saudade’.
‘No lo ves’ is one of the few ballads in this year’s Benidorm Fest – potential for it to stand out, although since becoming Spain’s selection for Eurovision this style of song has been very hit and miss at the contest. He told ESCPlus International he wants the performance to have a more raw, heartfelt and closeup style without any big production elements. Could this be one of a small selection of ballads in recent years to connect with viewers at home & go all the way to Basel? You can hear Henry’s song below!
J Kbello – ‘V.I.P’
Cádiz native J Kbello is one of this year’s favourites to take the Benidorm Fest trophy, after gaining recognition on RTVE’s Cover Night in 2023. He is both a singer and dancer, blending afrobeats, UK Garage and pop in his music, which according to his Spotify is made to surprise listeners throughout his songs.
’V.I.P’ is his entry for Benidorm Fest 2025, and encapsulates all the different genres he aims to include in his music in 3 minutes of an upbeat, party track featuring both English and Spanish lyrics as well as a mixture of singing and rap. Could this be Spain’s entry for Eurovision 2025? You can hear his song below!
Mawot – ‘Raggio di Sole’
Mawot began his career at Festival De Benidorm, before retreating to what he calls “the shadows”, working for other artists behind the scenes for 24 years in production, costume design, songwriting, choreography, directing and special effects. He returned with his own music in 2023, his first release being ‘Señales’, followed by the ‘Sueños Eléctricos’ EP. Now, he makes his big return to the Benidorm stage with ‘Raggio De Sole’ – will it be enough to get him to Eurovision? You can hear his song below!
Mel Ömana – ‘I’m A Queen’
Canary Islander Mel Ömana is a multi-talented artist, whose songs are directly influenced by soul and reggae music and inspired by her time in Portugal, Cuba and her homeland. In 2023 she won the ‘Best Canary Artist’ award and the Clickers Award for ‘Best Project’. She’s not just a musician – using her platform to campaign against gender-based violence and calling for integration for groups risking exclusion.
Mel’s song ‘I’m A Queen’ is about empowerment and overcoming emotional difficulties. Her song encapsulates the feeling of resilience, blending classic and modern styles that take the listener on a sonic journey for the entire 3 minutes. You can hear her song below!
Melody – ‘Esa Diva’
Seville’s Melody (Melodía Ruiz) is no stranger to the stage – her first big hit single came when she was just 10 years of age, with her debut album selling over 600,000 copies and becoming nominated for a Latin Grammy. After a further four albums released, she took time away from music until 2008, when she returned with her fifth record ‘Los buenos días’. A year later, she just missed out on representing Spain at Eurovision 2009, losing a tiebreak against Soraya.
Now, she takes on Benidorm Fest with ‘Esa Diva’ which may just see her take to the stage in Basel. The song has already gained over a million streams at the time of writing, is sitting 2nd in the odds and if social media interaction is anything to go by, has a huge backing from the Spanish audience. This is certainly one to watch, and with a great performance, Melody may finally, 16 years later, get to Eurovision. You can listen to the song below!
Semi Final 2 of Benidorm Fest 2025 will be broadcast on RTVE & YouTube on January 30th 2025 at 22:00 GMT // 23:00 CET.
You can keep up to date with Phoenix on Bluesky, X, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok for all the latest Eurovision 2025 news.
Our podcast, Instead We Made A Pod, is available to stream on all platforms.
