The Festival da Canção 2023 starts tonight, through which Portugal will choose its representative for Eurovision 2023.
The Portuguese national selection will take place on three different nights: two semi-finals on February 25th and March 4th and the Grand Final on March 11th.
Contestants
Ten artists are participating in tonight’s first semi-final of the Festival da Canção 2023. These artists are
MOYAH – “Too Much Sauce”
Bolha – “Sonhos de Liberdade”
April Ivy – “Modo Voo”
Churky – “Encruzilhad”
Cláudia Pascoal – “Nasci Maria”
SAL – “Viver”
Mimicat – “Ai Coração”
You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown – “Contraste Mudo”
NEOH SOHO – “Endless World”
Esse Povo – “Sapatos de Cimento”
Five artists will qualify for the Grand Final. The first five finalists will be chosen by 50% of the will of the Portuguese public and 50% of the preference of the jury.
The hosts of the first semi-final of the Festival da Canção 2023 will be Tânia Ribas de Oliveira, José Carlos Malato and Inês Lopes Gonçalves.
The first semifinal of the Festival da Canção 2023 will start at 22:00 CET and will last three hours. You can watch it on the RTP website by clicking HERE.
Until we know who will represent Portugal at Eurovision 2023, let’s remember the country’s participation in last year’s contest. The previous winner of the Festival da Canção and Portugal’s representative at Eurovision 2022 was Maro with the song “Saudade, Saudade,” who finished in 9th place in the Grand Final, the country’s best position since winning in 2017: