Portugal PORTUGAL 2025 - Napa - Deslocado

[ESC United Mod Team]

 

[Dark]

What a disgraceful vote from the regional jury. It seemed like each member wanted their fellow countryman to win and pushed down all the competitive ones. Six different 12-point scores and some null votes for songs that didn’t deserve them at all. They’re really mocking the people who vote.

Does Jessica Pina’s song really deserve 2nd place from the jury? Is everyone insane? What connections does she have that others don’t? (Apparently Madonna and the jazz world—because jazz is king in Portugal, lol). Josh was pushed down everywhere except by the central jury (finally, some common sense), even receiving no votes at all from Alentejo (which gave 12 points to their fellow countrywoman Jessica Pina, as they do every year).

The Azores had an inexplicable vote (12 points to Bombazine, 10 to Emmy, and 8 to Jessica), giving 0 points to Fernando Daniel and only 3 to Josh. I would really like them to answer this: do you honestly think Fernando Daniel’s performance was one of the two worst of the night? Because apparently for you, there were 10 performances better than his.

Madeira shamelessly admitted that they weren’t voting for the best participant but because Napa were from there. As if the Madeiran public constantly voting en masse for their own participants wasn’t enough, now we also have to put up with the supposedly impartial jury doing the same (and they also do it every year).

And worst of all, the public’s highest vote was completely USELESS in the final because Henka got 0 points from the jury after the conversion, despite receiving 10 points from the North jury (again, most likely because she’s from there rather than because they actually liked the song).

The only consensus among the jury was Diana, probably because they didn’t see her as a strong candidate for victory, so they handed her the 10 points (and she actually deserved them).

Doesn’t the jury have evaluation criteria? What kind of circus was that? Every year there are strange decisions, but this year was atrocious.

We went from having three or four songs that could have given Portugal a top 5/10 finish to one that will probably not even make it out of the semi-finals.

Congratulations RTP, from a record televote of 95,000, you’ll be down to half next year.

Abolish the regional jury—it’s just a bunch of prejudiced, regionalist, and self-interested people. Create a national or district-based jury, and maybe even bring in an international jury.

I’m extremely disappointed and have already filed a complaint with RTP’s ombudsman because I find this situation unacceptable. This is playing with taxpayers’ money.

One thing’s for sure—I’m never voting in Festival da Canção again.

Yes, I'm very very salty.

 

[aef]

I feel like I was too harsh yesterday, actually the song grew on me a little bit today. It’s still the weakest song in recent years, it’s no Grito or Saudade, Saudade, but I simply love the Portuguese language and I’ve got a weakness for Eurovision songs most oft the time…

So I’m upgrading from 4 to points! - Which is more than I have 80 percent of this year‘s songs lol.

Maybe they can even be a surprise qualifier with a moody staging. It might be possible in this sea of bad and/or uptempo-joke/fun songs.

 

[lacrymea]

The only consensus among the jury was Diana, probably because they didn’t see her as a strong candidate for victory, so they handed her the 10 points (and she actually deserved them)

This quote right here explains what happened in my eyes. It wasn't a random all over the place jury voting. Oh no it wasn't.

They put Diana high because they knew she was chanceless. They tanked all the other fandom favorites (Josh, FD and Henka).

The problem wasn't just Madeira and Alentejo usual regional favors. They always top the local artist without killing other favorites.

The problem was the overall jury patterns that were suspicious, even if they tried to hide it. Oh, we don't have a clear winner this year, we like a bunch.

Nope. The only televote magnet that wasn't completely destroyed was NAPA. They knew what they were doing. Or a few people knew.

I hate conspiracy theories, but no jury would ever vote like this. I smell foul play and I don't like it.

 

[Dark]

This quote right here explains what happened in my eyes. It wasn't a random all over the place jury voting. Oh no it wasn't.

They put Diana high because they knew she was chanceless. They tanked all the other fandom favorites (Josh, FD and Henka).

The problem wasn't just Madeira and Alentejo usual regional favors. They always top the local artist without killing other favorites.

The problem was the overall jury patterns that were suspicious, even if they tried to hide it. Oh, we don't have a clear winner this year, we like a bunch.

Nope. The only televote magnet that wasn't completely destroyed was NAPA. They knew what they were doing. Or a few people knew.

I hate conspiracy theories, but no jury would ever vote like this. I smell foul play and I don't like it.

Completely agree. To be honest the azores jury is even worse than Madeira, they knew exactly what they were doing but looked very innocente doind that. Disgusting.

 

[Gera11]

Just listened to this and the runner-up "Cotovia". Honestly, nothing extraordinary was lost, just another typical Fado, nothing to write home about, Portugal has gone down this route multiple times already.

I like the vibes of "Deslocado" far more, it fits a playlist called "My life is a movie" but could also just as well fit into "Songs from my favourite Coffeehouse". Without knowing the meaning of the lyrics, this song feels cosy. But also quite...cinematic.



PS: Also glad Josh didn't win, couldn't connect with that one sadly. What happened to it to flop so bad?

 

[lavieenrose]

Why are people aggrieved for anyone but Henka at the *juries?* "Deslocado" was second in the televote!! You wanna give anyone smoke on behalf of anyone but Henka, get mad at the *televote!!* That's who got Napa over the top!

I see the white-hot rage over this result and feel like I'm genuinely taking the same crazy pills that've made me predict Lithuania as the semi 2 winner. Do I think Portugal had songs that would've gotten better results? Sure. If you're a #CertifiedJuryHater, do I understand the grievance on Henka's behalf and Henka's behalf alone? Sure. But the idea that NAPA have some kind of obligation to step down for Josh, or FD, or Diana, or whomsoever else would require overruling not juries but rather a televote.

And by the way, if we *are* aggrieved on Henka's behalf, I think at some point metal as a fandom should probably get some of the smoke TikTok gets for exploiting low thresholds in NF televotes to organize their way to a victory

 

[RainyWoods]

Seeing the harsh reactions to this entry have been quite confusing. I can understand the disappointment of favourites losing that people think would have done well at the contest. I can also understand the frustration in jury votes killing off songs (as was the case here with the public fave, Henka.) Napa were still 2nd with the public votes though. They fended off three other entries the jury vote preferred to them.

I'd give anything for my own country to send something as beautiful, sincere and organic as Deslocado. I'd never expect it to be a big fan favourite, but Napa's song is certainly something that I feel deserves respect for unapologetically doing its thing. It's not a Eurovision song and that's part of the magic. I got the same feelings when I heard Saudade Saudade. I just feel like I'm listening to this beautiful gem I've randomly discovered and is evoking all these different emotions in me. Deslocado comes with risks, yes, but in the year when everyone is screaming in your face with loud entries and comical staging, something so soft and tender can stand out. Stage the song correctly and it can earn its place in the final. I'm actually quite confident that once the dust has settled, some fans will warm to this entry.

 

[Fluke]

Alright, so Portugal is really serving mellow this year. A bit too mellow. It really is quite a well written and arranged song, and there's a kind of 90s indie vibe to it, but the Portuguese language is going to dominate the impression for many viewers.

I'm really thinking the language is a major reason for Portugal's poor success. It just doesn't have the clarity of Spanish, Italian or even French, it works alright for uptempo and happy songs, but anything else seems to sound mumbling or whiny to everyone else. At least one of their more succesful efforts (Love is on My Side) was in English, and i think that for many listeners, the sheer sound of Portuguese is what ruins this otherwise quite enjoyable, lush summery ballad.

Besides that, it's just too low-energy. There's no "wow moment", and people aren't going to remember this when it's time to vote, and it's not going to climb any hit charts. Still, better than most of their other entries, and i really think it has a chance to at least make the final, but not so sure. For me, in the upper middle now.

 

[Dark]

Why are people aggrieved for anyone but Henka at the *juries?* "Deslocado" was second in the televote!! You wanna give anyone smoke on behalf of anyone but Henka, get mad at the *televote!!* That's who got Napa over the top!

I see the white-hot rage over this result and feel like I'm genuinely taking the same crazy pills that've made me predict Lithuania as the semi 2 winner. Do I think Portugal had songs that would've gotten better results? Sure. If you're a #CertifiedJuryHater, do I understand the grievance on Henka's behalf and Henka's behalf alone? Sure. But the idea that NAPA have some kind of obligation to step down for Josh, or FD, or Diana, or whomsoever else would require overruling not juries but rather a televote.

And by the way, if we *are* aggrieved on Henka's behalf, I think at some point metal as a fandom should probably get some of the smoke TikTok gets for exploiting low thresholds in NF televotes to organize their way to a victory

People are more upset with the jury because they were supposedly meant to be impartial and professional. As for the televote, it was already expected that Napa would be in the top 3 because participants from Madeira are always in the top 3.

I'm not a fan of Fernando Daniel's song (I said that here a few days ago), but giving him 0 points (which means not even making the top 10 out of 12) is simply offensive. Same with giving him 3 points, that performance was worth at least 6 points from a so-called impartial and professional jury. The same goes for Josh. He had one of the best songs ever in Festival da Canção and got 0 points, along with some 2s, 3s, and 4s.

Peculiar managed the feat of getting two 12-point scores and four 0s. Napa kept collecting points here and there, and with the 12 points from Madeira it was enough for them to win. Imo, that song doesn't deserve a 4rd place with the juries (and Jessica being 2nd is laughable).

Honestly, I don't even know why RTP chose Henka's song, given that she apparently didn't even have a chance to get a single point from the jury. She doesn't deserve this treatment, nor do the thousands of Portuguese people who spent money voting for her.

I do not hate Napa's song, I actually do like it, but there were better choices for Eurovision. And despite what people say, the purpose of the Festival da Canção is, and has always been, to choose the best song for Eurovision (yes, even since 1964).

And I'm sick and tired of people saying "oh, but Salvador won with a not Eurovision song", Amar pelos Dois was always a great choice for Eurovision (I voted for him in 2017), Napa just isn't.

 

[Decayingbooks]

Why are people aggrieved for anyone but Henka at the *juries?* "Deslocado" was second in the televote!! You wanna give anyone smoke on behalf of anyone but Henka, get mad at the *televote!!* That's who got Napa over the top!

I see the white-hot rage over this result and feel like I'm genuinely taking the same crazy pills that've made me predict Lithuania as the semi 2 winner. Do I think Portugal had songs that would've gotten better results? Sure. If you're a #CertifiedJuryHater, do I understand the grievance on Henka's behalf and Henka's behalf alone? Sure. But the idea that NAPA have some kind of obligation to step down for Josh, or FD, or Diana, or whomsoever else would require overruling not juries but rather a televote.

And by the way, if we *are* aggrieved on Henka's behalf, I think at some point metal as a fandom should probably get some of the smoke TikTok gets for exploiting low thresholds in NF televotes to organize their way to a victory

I'm probably the only one in this forum that was all in for Henka to win the nf and I'm not aggrieved at all. To be honest I didn't even care to vote in the final. In Portugal the final televote is a bit iffy, it starts monday and you can vote a maximum of 25 times per day, meaning that a single person, if willing to spend almost 95€, can vote a total of 125 times. This system basically rewards engagement and with Fernando Daniel's massive fandom, Josh's fans super obsessed with the odds and Napa's regional support I would have never guessed that Henka would have won the televote. I kept and eye in the numbers and there was no metric in any moment, no amount of plays on youtube or spotify, no amount of likes or comments, no chart placement on spotify, no viral success on tik tok, nothing that could have clued to me this victory... I swear, I thought that she was going to end at #4 in the televote, maybe even #5, with Peculiar being #4. I do wonder how this happened, and I wonder if João Borsh getting the 12 last year was also because he was competing with an alternative/heavy song and if that means that there's a very engaged segment of the public that follows Festival and that yearns for this kind of music.
I do hope that the 12 that Henka got will inspire other artists like her or João Borsch to try their luck in the upcoming years. They can fail to impress the judges and not make it into the final, but they will gain new fans and the fans are the ones that stream your songs, buy your merch and go to your concerts.

 

[Dark]

I'm probably the only one in this forum that was all in for Henka to win the nf and I'm not aggrieved at all. To be honest I didn't even care to vote in the final. In Portugal the final televote is a bit iffy, it starts monday and you can vote a maximum of 25 times per day, meaning that a single person, if willing to spend almost 95€, can vote a total of 125 times. This system basically rewards engagement and with Fernando Daniel's massive fandom, Josh's fans super obsessed with the odds and Napa's regional support I would have never guessed that Henka would have won the televote. I kept and eye in the numbers and there was no metric in any moment, no amount of plays on youtube or spotify, no amount of likes or comments, no chart placement on spotify, no viral success on tik tok, nothing that could have clued to me this victory... I swear, I thought that she was going to end at #4 in the televote, maybe even #5, with Peculiar being #4. I do wonder how this happened, and I wonder if João Borsh getting the 12 last year was also because he was competing with an alternative/heavy song and if that means that there's a very engaged segment of the public that follows Festival and that yearns for this kind of music.
I do hope that the 12 that Henka got will inspire other artists like her or João Borsch to try their luck in the upcoming years. They can fail to impress the judges and not make it into the final, but they will gain new fans and the fans are the ones that stream your songs, buy your merch and go to your concerts.

Unfortunately I think John Borsh got the 12 points last year because he's from Madeira. In the semis he got 6 pts from the public and only after that people realized he was from Madeira and started voting for him in the finals. I could be wrong, though.

 

[Decayingbooks]

Unfortunately I think John Borsh got the 12 points last year because he's from Madeira. In the semis he got 6 pts from the public and only after that people realized he was from Madeira and started voting for him in the finals. I could be wrong, though.

I think you may be right about that and it's likely that he got a lower televote in the semi thanks to Mela, who was also from Madeira and didn't make it into the final.

 

[Mainshow]

The Azores had an inexplicable vote (12 points to Bombazine, 10 to Emmy, and 8 to Jessica), giving 0 points to Fernando Daniel and only 3 to Josh. I would really like them to answer this: do you honestly think Fernando Daniel’s performance was one of the two worst of the night? Because apparently for you, there were 10 performances better than his.

Madeira shamelessly admitted that they weren’t voting for the best participant but because Napa were from there. As if the Madeiran public constantly voting en masse for their own participants wasn’t enough, now we also have to put up with the supposedly impartial jury doing the same (and they also do it every year).

Abolish the regional jury—it’s just a bunch of prejudiced, regionalist, and self-interested people. Create a national or district-based jury, and maybe even bring in an international jury.

I will not pretend that I know the dynamics of the voting process/procedure during FdC and I won't claim that I know anything about the local patriotism of the Portuguese islands but what I would like to point out (as an international viewer), why do fans from Portugal only get mad and angry at Madeira and The Azores right now?

The jury points were all over the place.
Alentejo didn'tvot for Peculiar at all , they even gave Z-E-R-O points to Josh! - Isn't that even more "inexplicable" than the Azores giving "only" to Josh?

Lisbon even gave less points to Josh than the Azores.
Madeira actually gave more points to Henka than Alentejo.

Why are Portuguese people not blaming those regional juries (Lisbon and Alentejo), for example?

I can totally feel the disappointment by Portuguese fans - honestly, I wished for Josh, Fernando, Diana to win instead of Napa but honestly, it's not a shabby entry. The regional juries in Croatia were more "inexplicable" this year.
Maybe something was just off this time? It's not only the islands which got "questionable" votes - some of the continental parts of Portugal even got more inexplicable votes, imo (e.g. giving zero to Josh - ranking his entry last or second-to last xD).

I don't think that abolishing the regional juries would change much - international juries aren't better (they can give to an artist of their ethnicity as well, e.g. Poland in Melodifestivalen).

Maybe Portugal should extend the regional juries by adding a demoscopical jury from the regions and make it 25% professional jury, 25% demoscopical jury, 50% televoting?

Maybe Portugal could also introduce an app voting like Melodifestivalen so that each region will give a set of 12 pts in televoting?

Portugal's FdC's concept paid off in recent years most of the time - I really think it's one of the better and more competitive NFs recently... the broadcaster just need to twist something (here and there) to make it more even, maybe?

 

[JSSArcos]

Well, after almost a day, feeling calmer and thinking more rationally, even though I gave 6 points in the poll yesterday, I will be increasing it to 7 or 8

I liked the song, and honestly, I still think it’s better than 2020 and even 2021 (although The Black Mamba did an incredible job in Rotterdam).

Even though I think this won’t qualify, I believe it has potential with its message and could be a televote boom, but it would have to be perfect—something they didn’t deliver at the festival. Given the short time to organize everything, I also think we will have a weak performance, which will put us in the bottom 3 at Eurovision. But well, everything is in the hands of RTP and them.

They seem humble, and they weren’t famous—they came out of nowhere, fought hard, so congratulations to them! Unfortunately, I feel bad that the whole situation has led to these (justified) reactions.

Honestly, if Napa had won with 12+12 or 10+10, I would have been okay with it.

But for a song to win with 17 points, in a lineup of incredible songs...
The final 12 points from the Azores jury to Bombazine, leaving FD out of the top 10...
The (corrupt) 12 points from the Madeira jury to Napa... (and others, but for the final result, this was the impact)
And so on... it makes this situation very unpleasant.

I will also be writing to RTP’s ombudsman, above all because they are our voice to bring about change in the future. There were several strange things this year.

The Portuguese people giving 12 points to Henka fills me with pride. Honestly, I didn’t like what she did on stage or her live vocals, but it’s a great song! And I hope she comes back one day. Josh and FD should come back one day, and Diana was unlucky in such a strong year for the Portuguese fandom vote—she would have received more votes if we didn’t have a Josh.

Besides that, I will support Napa and Portugal until the end. Although I won’t have high expectations, Eurovision is more about the event itself than our result this year

See you at Festival 2026—I hope with some changes, but above all, continuing the great work in producing the final show (even though it’s long) and especially the excellent competing songs, maintaining our essence.

A change to the ESC-style voting,
A return to district-based voting or, if they keep the 7 regions, adding an 8th with a "jury of the world" (international), to represent our large diaspora.

 

[ag89]

Portugal has a history of messing up at ESC. Just a sweet reminder, Salvador Sobral was only 3rd with televote in its semifinal at FdC in 2017 and second in the final. It was the juries who saved him and provided one of the biggest ESC victories in history.
I like Napa, but Portugal had 3-4 songs that could easily fight for top 10 or even higher.

 

[Dark]

I will not pretend that I know the dynamics of the voting process/procedure during FdC and I won't claim that I know anything about the local patriotism of the Portuguese islands but what I would like to point out (as an international viewer), why do fans from Portugal only get mad and angry at Madeira and The Azores right now?

The jury points were all over the place.
Alentejo didn'tvot for Peculiar at all , they even gave Z-E-R-O points to Josh! - Isn't that even more "inexplicable" than the Azores giving "only" to Josh?

Lisbon even gave less points to Josh than the Azores.
Madeira actually gave more points to Henka than Alentejo.

Why are Portuguese people not blaming those regional juries (Lisbon and Alentejo), for example?

I do blame other regions, I think Josh was unfairly treated by almost everyone. I spoked about the azores jury because all of the 3 top jury votes were inexplicable and they bombed both Josh and Fernando Daniel. The others had Diana or another contested that I agreed on. Alentejo was another one that I didn't understand AT ALL (except Diana).

I didn't want to be in pedantic with every awful decision, but you are right yes.

 

[i anixi]

Gutted for "Tristeza", but they didn't really listen to anyone. Changing to white wasn't enough to enhance the song and all the staging did was to distract the viewer from the song's emotion. It was visually unpleasant and they deserved to lose.
Even though the voting put our country to shame, the reality is that there were no real good options to pick up from.
Henka may feel like a novelty to us but they're doing it all around the world for ages and they're doing it better. It would have impressed no one.
Furthermore, I'm convinced none of the other songs would have left a mark on Eurovision, none of them had competitive potential and this is my unpopular opinion: on the whole FDC still sucks. Low viewing only comes to show how little interest is held for it.

Having said that, NAPA may have been a good choice in the end. Or just as well, for that matter. They're likeable, the lyrics are well written, their song is cute , the performance is good vibed and cool. The colours work great.
They might go through to the final in may and then again they might not. It's kind of all the same to me, as it was with Iolanda or Maro.

I'm sure there will be other songs to be passionate about in the grand show.
Portugal will be a nice little number to sing along and relax.

Cool off everyone!

 

[i anixi]

Why are people aggrieved for anyone but Henka at the *juries?* "Deslocado" was second in the televote!! You wanna give anyone smoke on behalf of anyone but Henka, get mad at the *televote!!* That's who got Napa over the top!

I see the white-hot rage over this result and feel like I'm genuinely taking the same crazy pills that've made me predict Lithuania as the semi 2 winner. Do I think Portugal had songs that would've gotten better results? Sure. If you're a #CertifiedJuryHater, do I understand the grievance on Henka's behalf and Henka's behalf alone? Sure. But the idea that NAPA have some kind of obligation to step down for Josh, or FD, or Diana, or whomsoever else would require overruling not juries but rather a televote.

And by the way, if we *are* aggrieved on Henka's behalf, I think at some point metal as a fandom should probably get some of the smoke TikTok gets for exploiting low thresholds in NF televotes to organize their way to a victory

All artists from Madeira Island do good in televote in our country in all kinds of contests, because the islanders join forces in a "patriotic" statement like they don't belong to Portugal and we weren't all the same. This is an old and well known fact and the voting system (25 votes allowed per person a day for a whole week) doesn't help.

 

[ESC94]

After I really liked the Portuguese entries since 2021 this is sadly a step backwards.

For me they look like a cover band singing Beatles songs in Portuguese, all rather semi-professional. The song itself doesn't get started at all and remains at a very complacent level the whole time. The fact that I don't really like the singer's voice and I also find his grin at the beginning rather irritating doesn't make it any better.

No, I can´t give this song more than , somewhat listenable but just very boring. Even though this is a very loud year and such a quiet song could stand out, I have absolutely no idea how it could reach the final.

Sorry , maybe next year again.

 

[Jupiter]

So, because I really love Portugal in Eurovision usually, I tried to like this entry. I went back to listen to it, but I cannot bloody remember anything the second it is over. By now, I watched the NF performance seven times, but I do not even remember enough to even recognize it as the same Song. That is downright somewhat scary, and I felt the need to check my memory xD (it still works fine in any other matter, thankfully lol).

So... I'm glad there are people who like it, but I really cannot see this reaching the final. People will need to remember it exists to vote for it