Tonight the annual Portuguese national selection Festival da Canção kicked off at RTP studios, with the first ten semi-finalists vying for a spot in the grand final on March 11th.
The semi-final was hosted by Tânia Ribas de Oliveira and José Carlos Malatom, while the green room host was Inês Lopes Gonçalves. The running order was announced prior to the show and would see Moyah open the semi-final and the quartet Esse Povo close the show. The full running order was as follows:
- Moyah – “Too Much Sauce”
- BOLHA – “Sonhos De Liberdade”
- April Ivy – “Modo Voo”
- Churky – “Encruzilhada”
- Cláudia Pascoal – “Nasci Maria”
- SAL – “Viver”
- Mimicat – “Ai Coração”
- You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown – “Contraste Mudo”
- Neon Soho – “Endless World”
- Esse Povo – “Sapatos de Cimento”
After the performances, a number of artists came together to perform an interval medley such as HMB, Nena, Wander Isaac, Ana Bacalhau, which culminated in a group cover of Eurovision 2017 winning song “Amar Pelos Dois”. An additional interval performance was given by Fernando Torodo while the televoting lines remained open.
The Results
The first qualifiers were decided by using a split jury and televoting process, with both voting pools assigning 12, 10, and 8-1 points to all ten competing songs. The format prior to the show planned to only advance five songs in this process, but it was revealed by the hosts that one of the televoting lines had gone down during the contest, and RTP made the decision to advance that artist to the final. Therefore, the six songs that advanced directly to the final were Churky, Cláudia Pascoal, Mimicat, You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown, SAL, and Esse Povo.
The lines then re-opened one more time to decide the seventh televote only qualifier for the grand final. Spain’s Eurovision 2023 representative Blanca Paloma made an appearance as the televote interval act, performing an accoustic version of her song for Liverpool “Eaea”. It was then announced after a short interview that Neon Soho had won the last spot in the final.
The current line-up of the grand final is thus:
- Churky
- Cláudia Pascoal
- Mimicat
- You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown
- SAL
- Esse Povo
- Neon Soho
The second semi-final will take place on March 4th and feature another ten artists and entries. The final of Festival da Canção will take place on March 11th and will select the country’s act for Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool.
What do #YOU think about the results in Portugal tonight? Let us know on social media @ESCUnited, on our discord, or on our forum page!
