The Spanish act and song was chosen on February 3rd through their recently revamped "Benidorm Fest". Earlier in the week 4 songs qualified from each of the two semi-finals. During the semis and final the voting weighting was 50% jury and 25% each for the national televote and the demoscopic panel. Going to Malmö is Nebulossa performing the song "Zorra" (Bitch).
Nebulossa is a Spanish electropop duo from Ondara in the community of Valencia. The duo consists of Maria "Mery" Bas - the singer - and Mark Dasousa - keyboard player and producer. They are married , have been together for over 20 years and have two children. This all said, the project of Nebulossa has only been in force since 2018. Their only album to date is "Poliédrica de mí" which was released in 2021. In 2022 they participated in the preselection round of "Una voce per San Marino" as a trio, along with singer Ophelia Alibrando, but did not get to the finals of the competition.
The duo are joined by a female drum player as well as two male dancers initially dressed in suits but then reveal underneath thigh-high boots and a corset. On set was also a large red two tiered circular pedestal - doubling as a performing platform and as seating. The song starts with a very immediate and pulsating 80s style opening which really gets you hooked. The first half of the song fits the normal verse chorus, verse chorus structure however the second chorus then turns into an elongated bridge until the end. It does not go on too long, or feel too repetitive, and does cement the rhythm of the chorus in your head. The sung parts are more measured and purposeful than the beginning instrumental might suggest. Mery's sung parts have a very calm quality to them which, at times, is at juxtaposition to the words. However, her performance comes across as measured and confident which absolutely fits with the words she's singing.
The Benidorm Fest stage was extremely versatile and reminiscent of the 2003 Eurovision stage. The main lighting colour was red, possibly to emphasise the angry and defiant tone of the storytelling. The word 'zorra' was predominantly displayed on the backdrop and the Spanish crowd were singing along very noticeably. Mery looked regal in black and I loved the way the mesh flourish on the sleeves caught the red lighting and also interacted with the platinum blond Hollywood glamour hair! Mery's voice does struggle a little on the high notes of the bridge but I think with more practise and breath control this could easily be remedied. The song works really well as a whole although I feel the rhythm of the verses are stronger than the chorus. The staging would work really well 'in the round' of Malmö but they may been to think about making the instrumentalists more prominent on stage. This is a fun song with a serious message and the audience on the Saturday night will be vocal about their support.
ARTIST - Nebulossa
SONG - Zorra
WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - María Blas, Mark Dasousa
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