The Benidorm Fest 2027 will reveal its participants on Wednesday, October 14 at 17:00, in a presentation broadcast live on RTVE Play. But there is one detail that changes how the announcement should be followed: tomorrow the names will be disclosed, but the songs will not yet premiere. RTVE has planned to publish the tracks on December 17. The contest thus makes the unveiling of artists and the listening to their proposals two separate events.
The official call published by RTVE on October 9 sets a special preview of Control Central from 16:00, hosted by Ángela Fernández and David Andújar, and the introductory press conference at 17:00 in Prado del Rey. Access to the live stream will be free via RTVE Play. As of October 13, the list of artists has not yet been officially announced.
First the faces; two months later, the songs
For the viewer, the difference is practical. The October 14 date will serve to discover who will compete; the December 17 date is the planned moment to listen to the songs and begin comparing musical proposals. Confusing both dates would lead to expecting performances or complete tracks in a presentation that RTVE has announced as an event to reveal candidatures.
The separation also makes sense as a communication strategy. Announcing the performers first allows for presenting trajectories, profiles, and expectations before each song can be judged on its own. It is an editorial reading of the calendar, not an official explanation of RTVE’s intentions. The risk is evident: for weeks, the discussion can revolve around the notoriety of the names rather than the music that will eventually be presented.
According to the announced plan, the sixth edition will take place between January 23 and January 30, 2027 in Benidorm. The Wednesday announcement, therefore, does not equal the start of the galas: it is the first major public showcase of a process that still has several milestones ahead.
Almost 900 proposals and a still-undisclosed selection
RTVE announced in August that it had received about 900 songs during the registration period, with around 350 submissions recorded in the last 24 hours. The rules and the official balance of the process contemplate an initial selection of 16 proposals, expandable to 20, and the possibility of direct invitations. That range should not be confused with the final number of participants, which can only be confirmed after the presentation.
There is also a fundamental shift in the contest: Benidorm Fest is working to consolidate its value as a musical platform, not solely as a gateway to Eurovision. The 2026 edition was held detached from that competition; the debate about Spain’s participation in 2027 has followed its own path, as ActualTV reported when addressing RTVE and the EBU’s decisions. It is not advisable to present the Benidorm artist selection as an automatic confirmation about Eurovision.
Why RTVE Play has a leading role
The presentation is organized as a digital live broadcast with a pre-show program, connections to the location of the announcement, and a full press conference. It is not simply about posting afterward a list of participants. RTVE is giving the event a sense of significance to a phase that historically could have been resolved with a press note.
That format provides extra visibility for the selected artists and strengthens the relationship between the festival and the consumption of live content outside the linear broadcast. It does not by itself prove that it will attract more viewers or guarantee social media impact: sustaining such conclusions would require data afterward.
The simple guide to not miss anything is this: October 14, names; December 17, songs; January 23–30, festival. The editorial interest will lie in verifying whether, once the lineup is revealed, RTVE can shift the conversation from well-known faces to the musical proposals. For now, no unrevealed name should be taken as confirmed.
