A few weeks ago, all of Spain knew its representative at Eurovision 2024 thanks to Nebulossa’s victory at the Benidrom Fest, our country’s candidate selection festival. The rest of the European states also face the election of their representatives, one of them being San Marino. The oldest republic in Europe already has a representative, and it is the Madrid rock band Megara.
In the last few hours, the Una voce per San Marino festival has witnessed how a Spanish band took victory and will be the one to represent the small country in the contest. Although Megara started with little chance of winning, since they had 129 opponents (many of them national artists), they progressed and reached the final. This Saturday, their song 11:11 was the most voted for by the experts, something that would earn them the award.
Megara was a finalist at the Benidorm Fest in 2023 with the song Arcadia, and they came in fourth place. The members of the group, Kenzy, Rober, Vitti and Ra Tache, believed that they should try again and presented their candidacy for Benidorm Fest 2024, which was rejected by TVE. However, nothing stopped them, and their song did convince the organizers of the San Marino festival.
With some modifications of the Spanish lyrics adapted to Italian, the alternative group has achieved the consensus of the jury made up of five musical experts: Celso Valli, Anna Bischi, Clarissa Martinelli, John Vignola and Steve Lyon. In this event there is neither a demoscopic vote nor televoting, so the Spaniards were proclaimed winners only with the opinion of the expert jury.
The Spanish band defeated Loredana Bertè, a true music icon in Italy and the one that many considered the favorite to travel to Malmö (Sweden) on behalf of the small republic. It is not the first time that a Spanish representative tries his luck at the San Marino festival. In 2022, the Canarian Cristina Ramos, winner of the first edition of Got Talent Spain, managed to sneak into the final with her song Heartless Game. In 2023, there were four candidates: Verónica Romero, Víctor Arbelo, Ferrán Fabà and Brandon Parasole. A great presence of ours.
On the other hand, Nebulossa and Megara, both representatives in Eurovision, share a curious anecdote. While the Madrid group tried to reach Eurovision through the Benidorm Fest in 2023, at that time, Nebulossa was trying precisely the same thing in Una Voce Per San Marino. Now destiny has wanted that in 2024, both will be in the European competition, which will be held on May 11.