MARO wins 'Festival da Canção': will represent Portugal in Turin 🇵🇹

📺 Watch: MARO – Saudade Saudade

The 56th edition of Festival da Canção had its grand final on the Saturday evening. Portuguese broadcaster RTP had hosted 2 semi-finals the week previous, to get an initial field of 20 songs down to a competitive 10. On Saturday night, the people of Portugal tuned in to the final, and got to vote on these 10 contenders. The winner in the early hours of Sunday morning was MARO, and she will get to represent her country at the Eurovision Song Contest in May.

The result was determined by a 50/50 combination of 2 votes: 1 from public televoting, and 1 from a jury comprised of representatives from the 7 statistical regions of Portugal (Lisbon, North, Central, Alentejo, Algarve, Madeira and the Azores).

MARO won both the public vote and the jury vote.

This singer and songwriter can play both the guitar and the electric bass, and is also a trained classical pianist. She wrote her first song at the age of 11, and graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston

In 2018, she released her first solo album in 3 parts: MARO, Vol.1, MARO, Vol.2 and MARO, Vol.3.

MARO currently resides in LA, where she’s honing her craft even further.

Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest

Portugal joined the Eurovision family in 1964 and held the record for the most appearances in the Eurovision Song Contest without a win until 2017 when Salvador Sobral lifted the trophy in Kyiv.

Portugal has only missed 5 contests since joining Eurovision; 1970, 2000, 2002, 2013 and 2016. The 2018 Eurovision Song Contest was held in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon following Salvador Sobral’s victory in the 2017 competition, with his song Amar Pelos Dois.

📺 Watch: Vânia Fernandes – Senhora Do Mar (Negras Águas) (2008)

Tell us what you think of the Portuguese result via the official Eurovision Song Contest YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook channels.