Portugal will find out the other 6 finalists of Festival Da Canção this weekend, and ahead of the second semi-final, Daniel spoke to Rita Onofre, who is participating in the competition with her song “Criatura.”
Check out our interview with Rita Onofre here!
About Rita Onofre
27-year-old Rita Onofre is an artist and composer hailing from Oeiras, in the western suburbs of Lisbon. She began writing songs and learning guitar aged 12. She began releasing Portuguesee songs under her name in 2020, and has worked on songs with fellow Festival Da Canção participants iolanda and LEFT.
She is part of the competition through the Open Call, rather than being directly selected by RTP.
Together Daniel and Rita spoke about her musical inspirations, RTP taking a new direction with the contest with more open call entries, and the value Festival Da Canção has for artistic expression in Portugal.
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 54 times – appearing the final 45 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 Mimicat with the song “Ai, coração”. Mimicat managed to qualify for the Grand Final and once there, she finished in 23rd place. She received a total of 59 points, of which 43 points came from the jury and 16 points came the televote.
What do you think of our interview with Rita Onofre? Do you think “Criatura” could represent Portugal in Malmö? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow “That Eurovision Site” on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok, Threads, Tumblr and Bluesky as we prepare for Eurovision 2024!
News Source: That Eurovision Site
Photo Credit: Lucas Own View
Rory Gannon
[…] Rita Onofre […]
[…] Olhar P’Ra Baixo (Looking Down) consists of 5 tracks, including her lastest single, Calma, which was released in the aftermath of Eurovision 2024, and has tracks written with Luar, Tayob J. and DØR, as well as “P’RA SERMOS 1 AGORA” being produced by Ned Flanger, who co-produced Rita Onofre’s Festival Da Canção song “Criatura”. […]