Portugal: RTP releases the competing entries of Festival da Canção 2021

Wednesday, 20 January 2021

The Portuguese national broadcaster, RTP, has released the 20 competing songs of the upcoming Festival da Canção 2021, the show to determine the country's Eurovision 2021 hopeful.

Following the release of the 20 composers behind this year's entries and the semi finals allocation, RTP went on today revealing the competing acts along with the songs to be performed on stage. The shortlisted 20 entries were chosen from a total of 693 submissions which marks a new recored for the iconic festival.

The 20 acts and songs we will see on stage during this year's Festival da Canção are :

Semifinal 1 - February 20

Nadine - "Cheguei Aqui" (Anne Victorino d'Almeida)

Fábia Maia - "Dia Lindo" (Fábia Maia)

Sara Afonso -" Contramão" (Filipe Melo)

Valéria - "Na Mais Profunda Saudade" (Helder Moutinho)

IAN - "Mundo"  (IAN)

Irma - "Livros" (Irma)

Karetus & Romeu Bairos - "Saudade" (Karetus)

Miguel Marôco - "Girassol" (Miguel Marôco)

Mema - "Claro Como Água" (Stereossauro)

The Black Mamba - "Love Is On My Side" (Tatanka)

Semifinal 2 - February 27

Carolina Deslandes - "Por Um Triz" (Carolina Deslandes)

Da Chick - "I Got Music" (Da Chick)

Joana Alegre - "Joana Do Mar" (Joana Alegre)

Graciela - "A Vida Sem Acontecer" (João Vieira)

NEEV - "Dancing In The Stars" (Neev)

Eu.Clides - "Volte-Face" (Pedro da Linha)

Pedro Gonçalves - "Não Vou Ficar" (Pedro Gonçalves)

Tainá - "Jasmim" (Tainá)

Ariana - "Mundo Melhor" (Virgul)

Ana Tereza - "Com Um Abraço" (Viviane)

Out of 20 composers behind the songs, the 10 will perform on stage their entries themselves.

The 2021 edition of Festival da Cançao

The Portuguese broadcaster maintains the model adopted in the last editions and the selection will consist of three shows ( two semi-finals and a grand final) scheduled to be broadcast live on 20 and 27 February and the final on March 6.

Unlike the previous editions, instead of 16 acts, in 2021 the competition will have the participation of 20 composers: 18 have been invited directly RTP and 2 selected out of a public submission. This means that five acts will qualify from each semi final rising the number of finalists to 10. The invited composers will be free to chose the artist/s for their respective songs.The winner that will represent Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 will be determined by public (50%) and jury voting (50%).

The show will be presented to us by the following hosts:

1st Semi final: Jorge Gabriel  and Sónia Araujo
2nd Semi final: José Carlos Malato and Tânia Ribas de Oliveira
Grand final: Filomena Cautela and Vasco Palmeirim

In addtion the reactions and the atmosphere in the green room will be conveyed to us by Inês Lopes Gonçalves.

Portugal in Eurovision

Portugal joined the Eurovision family in 1964 when it was represented by António Calvário, who finished last without any points. Since their debut in 1964 Portugal has missed five times the contest, the latest was in 2016 and has competed in total 51 times in the competition. Before 2016, the best result of Portugal in the contest was a 6th placing in 1996 with Lúcia Moniz performing “O meu coração não tem cor” in Oslo.

In 2017 the country got its name on the list with the winning countries, as Salvador Sorbal was crowned winner in Kyiv with his song Amar Pelos Dois . Following Salvador’s win the country hosted the 63rd edition of the contest in Lisbon.In 2019 Conan Osiris ,winner of the Portuguese national final Festival da Cançao represented the country in Tel Aviv with his entry Telemoveis. Despite the outstanding alternative performance in the first semi final, Conan failed to qualify to the Grand final.

Last year Elisa won the national final with "Medo de sentir"  but eventually never had the chance to perform on the Eurovision stage as the contest was cancelled due to the covid-19 outbreak.

Source: escportugal.pt  / RTP

Image : RTP