Portugal’s national broadcaster RTP has confirmed the country’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. In addition, RTP has opened submissions for interested artists to take part in their national selection – Festival da Canção 2023.
Festival da Canção 2023 – the rules
In a post on Instagram, RTP’s dedicated Eurovision page confirmed the country’s participation in Eurovision 2023. The station also outlined the rules for the upcoming edition of Festival da Canção 2023, including the number of participating entries.
In total, 20 songs will take part in the national selection, similar to that of the 2022 edition. Sixteen composers will be invited to write entries for the competition, with an additional four being selected through an open call to interested songwriters. The deadline for songwriters to apply to RTP is October 21st, 2022.
Two semi-finals will be held in February and March, with the final taking place in the first two weeks of March. The winning songwriter will receive a €1,500 prize for winning the festival.
Portugal’s Eurovision journey
Portugal debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest with António Calvário’s “Oração” in 1964. Since then, Portugal has participated in the competition 53 times – appearing the final 44 times. Their only win in the competition came in 2017 with Salvador Sobral, performing his heart-wrenching song “Amar Pelos Dois”.
Portugal’s most recent participation was with MARO with the song “saudade, saudade”. MARO managed to qualify for the Grand Final and once there, she finished 9th, after receiving 207 points from the jury and the televote.
What do you make of the news of Festival da Canção 2023? Who do you think should represent Portugal next year? Will you be watching Festival da Canção? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok as we prepare for Eurovision 2023!
News Source: RTP
Photo Credit: RTP
