🇵🇹 Portugal confirms Eurovision 2026 participation

Portugal is the latest country to confirm that it will officially take part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. This comes despite the nation’s reservations about participating amid the current discussion surrounding Israel

Portugal continuing to use Festival da Canção

Once again, Portugal will be selecting their next Eurovision representative via its national selection, Festival da Canção. 20 Songs will be competing in order to represent Portugal at the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest.

The rules for the next edition of the competition were released, with one of the major changes being that NAPA, last year’s winner, can invite a songwriter to the competition directly. As well as this, there is a new element, where the public can decide who can enter the competition. Titled ‘Prova de Acesso’, five acts will be given the chance to win the public vote and guarantee a spot at this year’s festival. The remaining eight composers will be contacted by RTP themselves.

As for the competition, there are swathes of new elements. The traditional two semi-finals will return, consisting of eight entries each. Portugal will select its Eurovision 2026 representative with a mix of jury and televote, as usual.

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 NAPA with the song “Deslocado”. The band managed to qualify for the Grand Final and once there, they finished in 21st place. They received a total of 50 points, of which 37 points came from the jury and 13 points came the televote.

Are you excited for Portugal’s participation in Eurovision 2026? Who would you like to see represent Portugal in Vienna? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, and Bluesky for more information about Eurovision 2026!

News Source: RTP

Photo Credit: Corinne Cumming / EBU