It’s the Eurovision down season, and don’t you for a second think we’re going to stop speculating, arguing, and pushing our heated opinions. Our latest series will look at the national finals of Eurovision, and discussing how we would reform the national finals of Eurovision. Today we’re having a look at Festival da Canção.
In part eight of this series Rory, Daniel, and Angus discuss what changes they’d make to Portugal’s NF.
What is Festival da Canção?
Festival da Canção is a Portuguese music festival held every year. Artists apply, but they also get invited to take part in the festival by the broadcaster RTP. Festival da Canção selects the Portuguese representative for the Eurovision Song Contest. This national final is one of the oldest national finals and has been going for 57 years. The first edition of Festival da Canção was all the way back in 1964. The festival was held in 1970 and 2000 despite the country not taking part in the contest, first due to a boycott, and then in 2000 due to be relegated from the contest.
Do we like what the NF does so far, and do we think there’s a chance of it producing a winner?
Rory
Festival da Canção is definitely one of the most original national finals that we have in the season. The independence of the show from the typical pop-style we get in the likes of Melfest or Supernova really helps it stand out amongst the crowd. However, I know that this is not everyone’s cup of tea, and that their avoidance of traditional pop in favour of more electronic, traditional, fado and jazz has earned it a meagre reputation. But that in itself is what makes Festival Da Canção so good. Its refusal to conform to Eurovision-style national finals makes it so intriguing to watch. It can definitely produce a winner, though work now needs to be done to up the response from televoters in Europe.
Daniel
I absolutely love Festival da Canção, it consistantly produces several of my favourite songs of each national final season, hell, me and Rory made an hour long video just talking about the last few editions. It feels truly authentic to itself and the industry it represents – Whilst I don’t think it will produce another winner anytime soon, in large part due to the fact that modern ESC winners tend to skew radio and streaming friendly, which the average FdC song doesn’t necessarily do, I really don’t think it matters, because “win at all costs” really isn’t what this brilliant festival of music is all about.
Angus
FdC is one of the highlights of national final season for me, for many of the reasons listed above. That being said, there are aspects I would like to see it improve on, most of which are related to the reputation of Festival da Canção itself in some way or another. The format has led to a in my eyes improbable win, but another win doesn’t seem on the cards anytime soon.
What changes would we make to the National Final?
Rory
Overall, I think Festival Da Canção doesn’t need much in the way of changes. The focus on trusted songwriters ensures quality in the show, and a song they can be proud in. The open submission section of the show has also been widened to include six open submissions, which has helped to strengthen the musical community in Portugal. Perhaps maybe having fewer interval acts will help to thin the show’s runtime, but otherwise – why fix what’s not broken?
Daniel
There are only really two issues I have with Festival Da Canção. One of them is the often fickle televoters, which nothing can be done about, and the other is the conversion of jury and televote points to a loosely Eurovision based 12 point scale. scoring system. Scrap this in favour of a proportional televote and the full jury marks and I think we’re approaching perfection. I’d also like to see at least some effort to make FdC into a bigger spectacle – not in a Melfest-esque way, because they’re two very different shows, but bringing it back into a proper arena would be a nice thing to see, and I’d also love the opportunity to bag some FdC merch. Sell me a poster with the branding on, please.
Angus
The voting system isn’t great and is a key thing that I truly need to change. Beyond that, most of my issues with Festival da Canção are, as I said, related to its reputation. I currently feel that some of the invited songwriters feel that they are being asked to write a FdC song, which means that RTP’s attempts at having a varied line-up are being self-sabotaged. Making the NF a bigger spectacle or at least a more smoothly running affair that doesn’t take about half a day to complete would go a long way against this.
Do we think any reforms are likely to happen to this NF?
Rory
There are ways that the format has changed for Festival Da Canção. In 2017, after a year off, the show had a complete overhaul in format and resulted in a Eurovision win. Since then, they have had a string of impressive results at the Eurovision level. So while I think there will be some minor tweaks, I don’ think anything will affect their chances at Eurovision. RTP does tend to listen to feedback and fine tune the selection – so perhaps the final televote round could be scrapped for next year? Who knows, but it’s safe to say the show is in good hands.
Daniel
If there are any, probably not very many. They overhauled the show massively in 2017 and have been, especially for their standards, going from strength to strength since. There really aren’t many reforms that need to happen.
Angus
RTP seem to be fairly happy with Festival da Canção as it is, and rightfully so. Results have been decent, and so has been the response from the Portuguese public and music industry, as far as I can tell. I expect minor tweaks here and there, as we have seen semi-regularly since 2017, but nothing major. Which means the current terrible point system, which is the only true negative I have, is sadly likely to return.
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 55 times – appearing the final 46 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 iolanda with the song “Grito”. iolanda managed to qualify for the Grand Final and once there, she finished in 10th place. She received a total of 152 points, of which 139 points came from the jury and 13 points came the televote.
What do you think about our reforms? As always, let us know what you think by commenting down below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky for all the latest Eurovision news!
News Source: That Eurovision Site
Photo Credit: RTP
Tim J