The second semi final of Festival da Canção has concluded and the remaining six finalists hoping to represent Portugal at Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool have been revealed.
Ahead of the second semi final, our correspondent XX got a chance to sit down with several of tonight’s participants. You can watch our interviews with XX 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.
Festival da Canção Semi Final Two Results
| Running Order | Entrant | Entry | Round One Result | Round Two Results |
| 1 | Edmundo Inácio | “A festa” | Qualified | NA |
| 2 | The Happy Mess | “O impossível” | Round 2 | Out |
| 3 | Teresinha Landeiro | “Enquanto é tempo” | Round 2 | Out |
| 4 | Bandua | “Bandeiras” | Round 2 | Out |
| 5 | Bárbara Tinoco | “Goodnight” | Qualified | NA |
| 6 | Inês Apenas | “Fim do mundo” | Qualified | NA |
| 7 | Ivandro | “Povo” | Qualified | NA |
| 8 | Dapunksportif | World Needs Therapy” | Round 2 | Qualified |
| 9 | Lara Li | “Funâmbula” | Round 2 | Out |
| 10 | Voodoo Marmalade | “Tormento” | Qualified | NA |
What Comes Next
With all twelve finalists now announced, next week the final will take place to decide who will represent Portugal at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. The full list of finalists can be found below.
| Entrant | Entry |
| Churky | “Encruzilhada“ |
| Cláudia Pascoal | “Nasci Maria” |
| Mimicat | “Ai coração” |
| You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown | “Contraste mudo” |
| Neon Soho | “Endless World” |
| SAL | “Viver” |
| Esse Povo | “Sapatos de cimento” |
| Edmundo Inácio | “A festa” |
| Bárbara Tinoco | “Goodnight” |
| Inês Apenas | “Fim do mundo” |
| Ivandro | “Povo” |
| Voodoo Marmalade | “Tormento” |
| Dapunksportif | “World Needs Therapy” |
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
Tim J 
Rory Gannon
[…] two intense Semi-Finals, we now have our finalists for this year’s Festival Da Canção. In addition to this, RTP has now revealed the running […]