Elisa is Portugal's choice for Rotterdam

The final of the 52nd edition of the Portuguese national selection, Festival da Canção, was broadcast live from Elvas on 7 March. The show was hosted by Eurovision 2018 co-host Filomena Cautela and Vasco Palmeirim.

After the voting sequence took place, the song with the highest score was Medo De Sentir by Elisa with 20 points. That vote, based 50% on jury vote and 50% on public televote, secured her ticket to Rotterdam for the 65th Eurovision Song Contest.

About the final

After two semi-finals, the following 8 songs made it through to tonight's final show. The artists, in order of appearance, were (winner in bold):

1. Filipe Sambado – Gerbera Amarela Do Sul
2. Jimmy P – Abensonhado
3. Tomás Luzia – Mais Real Que O Amor
4. Elisa Rodrigues – Não Voltes Mais
5. Throes + The Shine – Movimento
6. Kady – Diz Só
7. Elisa – Medo De Sentir
8. Bárbara Tinoco – Passe-Partout

The show paid tribute to Portuguese public broadcaster RTP's 63rd anniversary by way of celebration during the opening act of the show.

Amongst other artists, Portuguese Eurovision 2019 representative Conan Osíris performed an acoustic version of his song Telemóveis during the interval act.

Portugal in 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.

Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, (RTP), is responsible for organising the Portuguese Eurovision Song Contest and uses Festival da Canção as its national selection. Over the years the format has changed to include semi-finals as well as different voting combinations. Last year, Portugal was represented in Tel Aviv by Conan Osíris with Telemóveis.

Elisa will perform in the second half of the second Semi-Final on Thursday 14 May.

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Posted 01 March 2020 at 01:07 CET

The second and last semi-final of Portugal's national selection, 'Festival da Canção' 2020, just finished in Lisbon. All finalists have now been chosen and the last 4 to join are Jimmy P, Tomás Luzia, Kady and Elisa Rodrigues.

The Portuguese national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, Festival da Canção, continued tonight with the second semi-final show live from Lisbon. This time the show was hosted by Sónia Araújo and José Carlos Malato. 8 more acts competed for the 4 remaining spots in the final, and those places went to Jimmy P, Tomás Luzia, Kady and Elisa Rodrigues.

These were the second semi-final acts in order of appearance (qualifiers in bold):

• Dubio feat. +351 - Cegueira
• Luiz Caracol and Gus Liberdade - Dói-me o País
• Judas - Cubismo Enviesado
• Kady - Diz Só
• Elisa Rodrigues - Não Voltes Mais
• Cláudio Frank - Quero-te Abraçar
• Tomás Luzia - Mais Real Que O Amor
• Jimmy P - Abensonhado

The qualifiers of the second semi-final join the 4 from last week: Filipe Sambado, Bárbara Tinoco, Elisa and Throes + The Shine.

As in the first semi-final, a jury made up of 7 Portuguese music scene personalities decided 50% of the results. The remaining 50% came from a public televote. The final of Festival da Canção will be held in Elvas on Saturday 7 March.

What do you think of today's qualifiers? Let us know in the comments below!

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Posted 23 January at 01.05 CET

Portugal: First finalists chosen in Festival da Canção

The first semi-final of Portugal's national selection 'Festival da Canção' 2020 took place tonight in Lisbon. 8 acts competed for a spot in the final, but only 4 of them will perform during the final on 7 March: Filipe Sambado, Bárbara Tinoco, Elisa and Throes + The Shine.

The Portuguese national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, Festival da Canção, kicked off tonight with the first semi-final show live from Lisbon and was hosted by Jorge Gabriel and Tânia Ribas de Oliveira. 8 acts were in the running for the 4 available spots in the final, those places went to Filipe Sambado, Bárbara Tinoco, Elisa and Throes + The Shine.

These were the 8 semi-final acts (qualifiers in bold):

• MEERA - Copo de Gin (MEERA, Isaura and João Bota)
• Filipe Sambado - Gerbera Amarela do Sul (Filipe Sambado)
• Ian Mucznik - O Dia de Amanhã (João Cabrita and Ian Mucznik)
• Bárbara Tinoco - Passe-Partout (Tiago Nacarato)
• Blasted Mechanism - Rebellion (Blasted, Stego, Guerra)
• Elisa - Medo de Sentir (Marta Carvalho)
• JJaZZ - Agora (Rui Pregal da Cunha)
• Throes + The Shine - Movimento (Throes + The Shine)

During the 2 semi-finals, a jury decides 50% of the results. The jury is made up of 7 personalities from the Portuguese music scene, like last year's representative Conan Osiris and Anabela (Portugal 1993). The remaining 50% of the vote comes from a televote.

On Saturday 29 February, another 8 acts will perform. 4 of them will receive the ticket to the final of Festival da Canção, to be held in Elvas on 7 March.

What do you think of these first 4 finalists? Let us know in the comments below!

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Posted 15 January at 13.00 CET

Portugal’s Festival da Canção 2020 artists announced!

Portugal’s Festival da Canção 2020 is alive and kicking! Portuguese public broadcaster RTP has just announced the 16 artists and songs competing in this year's national selection. The semi-finals will be held on February 22 and 29 and the Grand Final on March 7.

The semi-finals will take place at RTP studios in Lisbon, and the Grand Final will be held in Elvas, a city in the region of Alentejo, Portugal.

The 1st semi-final on February 22 will feature:

• Blasted - Rebellion (music and lyrics by Blasted, Stego, Guerra)
• Filipe Sambado - Gerbera Amarela do Sul (music and lyrics by Filipe Sambado)
• Ian Mucznik - O Dia de Amanhã (music by João Cabrita and lyrics by Ian Mucznik)
• Elisa - Medo de Sentir (music and lyrics by Marta Carvalho)
• MEERA - Copo de Gin (music by MEERA and lyrics by MEERA, Isaura and João Bota)
• JJaZZ - Agora (music and lyrics by Rui Pregal da Cunha)
• Throes + The Shine - Movimento (music and lyrics by Throes + The Shine)
• Bárbara Tinoco - Passe-Partout (music and lyrics by Tiago Nacarato)

The 2nd semi-final on February 29 will feature:

• Dubio feat. +351 - Cegueira (music by Rui Azevedo and Pedro Azevedo and lyrics by Hugo Azevedo)
• Luiz Caracol and Gus Liberdade - Dói-me o País (music by Luiz Caracol and lyrics by António Avelar de Pinho)
• Judas - Cubismo Enviesado (music and lyrics by Hélio Morais)
• Kady - Diz Só (music by Dino D' Santiago and lyrics by Kalaf Epalanga)
• Elisa Rodrigues - Não Voltes Mais (music and lyrics by Elisa Rodrigues)
• Cláudio Frank - Quero-te Abraçar (music and lyrics by Cláudio Frank)
• Tomás Luzia - Mais Real Que O Amor (music by Pedro Jóia and lyrics by Tiago Torres da Silva)
• Jimmy P - Abensonhado (music and lyrics by Jimmy P)

Cláudio Frank was the winner of the radio show Masterclass and Dubio feat. +351 were the winners of the public song submission.

Alongside the artists and songs, RTP has revealed the hosts of the shows. The 1st semi-final will be hosted by Jorge Gabriel and Tânia Ribas de Oliveira the 2nd by José Carlos Malato and Sónia Araújo and the Grand Final by Filomena Cautela, Vasco Palmeirim. All 3 shows will feature Inês Lopes Gonçalves in the green room.

You can check out the lyric videos for each song at Festival da Canção’s YouTube channel. More information is also available on their official website, Facebook and Instagram page. All songs will be available for streaming in the coming days.

What do you think about the Portuguese hopefuls? Let us know in the comments!