The Portuguese broadcaster, RTP, has released the entries for Festival da Canção 2023. The festival is set to take place on February 25 and March 4 for the semi-finals and March 11 for the grand final. Here is the list of the 20 competing songs:
Semi-Final 1 (February 25, 2023):
- April Ivy – “Modo Voo”
- BOLHA – “Sonhos da Liberdade”
- Churky – “Encruzilhada”
- Cláudia Pascoal – “Nasci Maria”
- Esse Povo – “Sapatos de Cimento”
- Mimicat – “Ai Coração”
- MoYah – “Too Much Sauce”
- Neon Soho – “Endless World”
- SAL – “Viver”
- You Can’t Win Charlie Brown – “Contraste Mudo”
Semi-Final 2 (March 4, 2023):
- Bárbara Tinoco – “Goodnight”
- DAPUNKSPORTIF – “World Needs Therapy”
- Edmundo Inácio – “A Festa”
- Inês Apenas – “Fim do Mundo”
- Ivandro – “Povo”
- Lara Li – “Funâmbula”
- Teresinha Landeiro – “Enquanto é tempo”
- The Happy Mess – “O Impossível”
- Voodoo Marmalade – “Tormento”
A notable artist from this pool of Festival da Canção artists is Cláudia Pascoal who represented host country Portugal, in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with “O Jardim” and placed 26th in the grand final.
There will be six qualifiers from each semi-final. Five of them will be decided by 50% jury votes and 50% televotes. After the first five qualifiers are announced, there will be a quick televoting round that will determine the 6th qualifier from each semi-final. The result for the grand final will also be determined by a 50/50 split vote of juries and televotes. The highest scoring entry will have the ticket to represent Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Festival da Canção will be held at RTP’s studios for all three shows. It will be broadcasted over at RTP1 and RTP Play and special progamming on the official radio station of the festival, Antena 1. The semi-final 1 will be hosted by Tânia Ribas de Oliveira and José Carlos Malato. For semi-final 2, we will have Sónia Araújo and Jorge Gabriel. Lastly, for the grand final, it will be hosted by Filomena Cautela and Vasco Palmeirim.
MARO represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy with the song “Saudade, Saudade.” She qualified from semi-final 1 and garnered 207 points in the grand final, placing 9th. This is Portugal’s second best result in contest history.
What do #YOU think of Festival da Canção 2023’s lineup? Share your thoughts with us in the comments, on our forum HERE or on social media!
