The first semi final of Festival da Canção has concluded and the first six finalists hoping to represent Portugal at Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool have been revealed.
Ahead of the first semi final, our correspondent Rory got a chance to sit down with several of tonight’s participants. You can watch our interviews with Esse Povo, MoYah, SAL, and You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown in the links provided.
What is Festival da Canção
The long standing Portuguese song contest returns for its 57th edition. The format has been used extensively by national broadcaster RTP to select Portugal’s Eurovision entry; having only been uninvolved in two of Portugal’s Eurovision participations.
The six qualifiers were decided by a hybrid, two round voting system. The first round selected five finalists using an equally weighted jury and televote. Both the jury and televote were allocated Eurovision style (first place being awarded 12 points, the second 10 points, and so on and so forth), before being combined. After the first qualifiers were announced a second round of voting began which saw a pure televote decide the remaining finalist.
Due to an error with the voting system an extra finalist was announced in the first round as due to the televote partly failing. The name of the automatic qualifier was not made publically available at time of writing and was announced at random with the other Qualifiers.
Festival da Canção Semi Final One Results
| Running Order | Entrant | Entry | Round One Result | Round Two Results |
| 1 | Moyah | “Too Much Sauce” | Round Two | NQ |
| 2 | Bolha | “Sonhos de liberdade” | Round Two | NQ |
| 3 | April Ivy | “Modo voo” | Round Two | NQ |
| 4 | Churky | “Encruzilhada“ | Qualified | NA |
| 5 | Cláudia Pascoal | “Nasci Maria” | Qualified | NA |
| 6 | SAL | “Viver” | Qualified | NA |
| 7 | Mimicat | “Ai coração” | Qualified | NA |
| 8 | You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown | “Contraste mudo” | Qualified | NA |
| 9 | Neon Soho | “Endless World” | Round Two | Qualified |
| 10 | Esse Povo | “Sapatos de cimento” | Qualified | NA |
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 think tonight’s results? Do you think any of the six qualifiers could represent Portugal in Liverpool? 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!
Image Source: RTP
News Source: RTP
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