Benidorm International Song Festival

The Benidorm International Song Festival or Festival Internacional de la Canción de Benidorm (in Spanish) was an annual song contest which used to take place each summer, from 1959 to 2006, in the city of Benidorm, Spain. The contest, based on the Italian Sanremo Music Festival, was born to promote Benidorm and the Spanish music. Over the years it has suffered considerable modifications: some editions didn't celebrate, several changes have been done in the prizes, etc. It became international in 2004, but was discontinued after 2006. The contest was usually broadcast on television by TVE or Canal Nou. As of 2006, the first prize winner was awarded with the Golden Mermaid Trophy (Sirenita de Oro) and €36,000 (about US$47,000) to produce a record. Second and third place winners received the Silver Mermaid Trophy (Sirenita de Plata) and the Bronze Mermaid Trophy (Sirenita de Bronce), respectively.

Golden Mermaid Trophy winners

Edition	Year	Performer	Song
1st	1959	Monna Bell & Juanito Segarra	"Un telegrama"
2nd	1960	Arturo Millán	"Comunicando"
3rd	1961	José Francis	"Enamorada"
4th	1962	Raphael	"Llevan"
5th	1963	Alberto y Rosalía	"La hora"
6th	1964	José Casas	"Eternidad"
7th	1965	Federico Cabo	"Tu loca juventud"
8th	1966	Alicia Granados	"Nocturno"
9th	1967	Tony Dallara y Bettina	"Entre los dos"
10th	1968	Julio Iglesias	"La vida sigue igual"
11th	1969	Mirla Castellanos	"Ese día llegará"
12th	1970	Dona Higtower y Joe Louis	"Tus manos"
13th	1971	Sellés y Portolés	"Mi rincón"
14th	1972	Eduardo Rodrigo	"A María yo encontré"
15th	1973	Emilio José	"Soledad"
16th	1974	Juan Erasmo Mochi	"Un camino hacia el amor"
17th	1975	Juan Camacho	"A ti, mujer"
18th	1976	Dyango	"Si yo fuera él"
19th	1977	Alfonso Pahino	"Aléjate"
20th	1978	Yunque	"Toro negro"
21st	1980	Jerónimo	"Quisiera"
22nd	1981	José Umbral	"Y te quiero"
23rd	1982	Fernando Ubiergo	"Yo pienso en ti"
24th	1983#	—	—
25th	1985	Círculo Vicioso	"Portero de noche"
26th	1993	El desierto que viene* Romero y sus amigos**	"Tierra del amor"* "Sabed amigos"**
27th	1994	Esmeralda Grao	"Fuego y miel"
28th	1995	Tábata Ley	"Sólo amor"
29th	1996	Malizzia & Malizzia	"Y no puedo más"
30th	1997	Diego Daniel	"Soledad"
31st	1998	Enrique Casellas	"Seguramente"
32nd	1999	Quinta Esencia	"De manera espontánea"
33rd	2000	Alazán	"Alcanzarás la luna"
34th	2001	Carlos Fénix	"Mi razón de vivir"
35th	2002	Marta Solís	"Vida"
36th	2003	Carlos Barroso	"Enséñame"
37th	2004	Guy Swimer	"Sweet lady"
38th	2005	Coral	"Maldito corazón"
39th	2006	La Década Prodigiosa	"A tí"

Note: (#) In 1983 the contest became a musical exhibit without winners. Complaints against this decision emerged.
Note: (*) Pop-Rock modality. (**) Ballad modality.

External links

• Benidorm, Overview with video of the city. From a local citizen.