The public submission window for Portugal’s national selection for Eurovision, Festival da Canção, has now closed. Broadcaster RTP revealed on Instagram that it had received over 600 submissions. Four of these songs will now be selected to compete at the Festival da Canção.
What we know about Festival da Canção 2022
The national selection for Portugal will take place in February and March. RTP announced earlier this year that the format and rules for the competition will stay largely the same. The Festival da Canção will see 20 songs competing in two semi-finals, with a total of 10 songs making it to the final. The winner will be decided through a mix of jury and televote. With the number of public submissions competing increasing from 2 last year to 4 this year, it should be no surprise that so many songs have been submitted.
Public submissions at Festival da Canção
Public submissions have a mixed history of success at Festival da Canção. Since opening the competition to this ‘open call’ in 2018, only two public submissions have made it to the national final. The first of these was Peter Serrado with “Sunset,” who finished 11th out of 14 in the 2018 edition of Festival da Canção. The second time so far was in 2021, with Pedro Gonçalves finishing 9th with his song “Não vou ficar.”
Portugal’s Eurovision Journey
In 1964, Portugal made their debut in the competition with António Calvário and the song “Oração”. Since then, they have participated in the competition 52 times, 43 of which were in the Grand Final. They have also won the competition once in 2017 with Salvador Sobral and the song “Amar Pelos Dois”.
Portugal’s most recent participation saw them being represented by The Black Mamba with the song “Love Is On My Side”, which is the first song Portugal sent in the English language. Their participation saw them qualify for the Grand Final, where they finished 12th, after receiving 153 points from the Jury and Televoters.
Are you looking forward to Festival da Canção? Who would you like to see represent Portugal in Italy? Let us know in the comments or on social media. Be sure to follow ‘THAT Eurovision Site’ on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
News Source: RTP
Photo Credit: EBU / Thomas Hanses
3 thoughts on “🇵🇹 Festival da Canção receives over 600 submissions”