Lisbon, 5 March 2022
It’s there. Your annual appointment with Portugal’s fashion bonanza doubling as a music festival. It is time to cover, to critique to savour the couture and colour locale of Festival da Canção.
The Portugese music festival will hold its semifinals tonight and on Monday, with a line-up of 10 songs each. Tonight the following songs competed:
- Os Quartros e Meia – “Amanhã”
- TheMisterDriver – “Calisun”
- Diana Castro – “Ginger Ale”
- FF – “Como é bom esperar alguém”
- Norton – “Hope”
- Aurea – “Why?”
- Kumpania Algazarra – “Aminha praia”
- MARO – “Saudade, saudade”
- Valas & Os Astronautas – “Odisseia”
- Fado Bicha – “Povo pequenino”
The liveshow was peppered with interviews and colourful performances throughout the night. Clear standouts on the fashion side were Fado Bicha‘s face-painted campness, Kumpana Algazarra‘s quirky sunglasses, and Aurea‘s puffy white dress. Vocally, the group Os Quatros e Meia and Maro impressed with their powerful vocals. Diana Castro, Kumpania Algazarra and Fado Bicha provided provocative staging ideas, while Maro opted for deliberate anti-staging which worked well for a simple thrance song.
Stand-out interval acts came courtesy of last year’s laureates The Black Mamba, whose lead singer Tatanka opened the show with a kick-ass medley of uptempo soul. Another stand out was established artist Rita Redshoes, who brought a stunning redition of 1992’s entry “Amor d’agua fresca” while dressed like the Ukrainian flag. Portugal, which has a significant Ukrainian ethnic minority (the country gave 12 points to Verka and Ani Lorak, cf), openly expressed its solidarity for the ailing nation, calling for donations, mirroring similar sentiments in France and Sweden.
In the end however, it remained a music contest and only five would make it through. The following five were announce as qualifiers:
- Os Quatros e Meia!
- Aurea!
- FF!
- Diana Castro!
- Maro!
Here’s a nice screenie that captures Maro’s surprise when she was announced, alongside the scoreboard:
The next semifinal will take place on Monday 7 March. See you there!
Do #YOU agree with Portugal’s qualifiers? Let us know in the comments, on social media or on our forum HERE. Alternatively, join the discussion on our Discord HERE.
