On October 28th, Portugal’s national broadcaster RTP announced via social media that they had received 667 submissions for Festival Da Canção, Portugal’s national final for Eurovision.
What We Know About Festival Da Canção 2023
This year’s edition will be the 57th edition of the contest. RTP has not yet announced dates for the two semifinals or the final.
RTP will select four songs out of these 667 to compete in Festival Da Canção alongside the sixteen artists invited by RTP. The four artists participating this year will be notified soon, according to RTP’s social media posts.
Before 2022, there were only two public submissions included in the lineup; however, last year that number was increased to four. Festival Da Canção 2022 also received over 600 submissions, but RTP did not reveal the exact number as they did this year.
Festival Da Canção is one of Eurovision’s oldest national finals. It was established in 1964 in order to select Portugal’s very first Eurovision entry, “Oração” by António Calvário, which scored zero points and placed last in 1964’s 13-song Eurovision Song Contest.
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 in 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 between the jury and the televote.
Will you be watching Festival Da Canção this year? Who would you like to see represent Portugal? 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
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