Portugal: RTP confirms Eurovision 2023 participation

Portugal: RTP confirms Eurovision 2023 participation
Friday, 02 September 2022

  • The Portuguese national broadcaster, RTP, has confirmed that they will be taking part in the 67th Eurovision Song Contest in the UK next year. 

    Hello Europe, this is Lisbon calling! Portugal is added on the list of the Eurovision 2023 participating counries in the UK marking the 54th appearance of the nation in the competition. 

    RTP will be selecting the next Eurovision hopeful through the country's iconic music event of Festival da Cançao. The winner of the 2023 edition will be representing Portugal at Eurovision 2023. 

     

    The 2023 edition of  Festival da Cançao

    RTP has released the terms and rules of Festival da Cançao 2023, which will consist of teo semifinals and one grand final show. A total of 20 songs will compete in the Portuguese national selection, 16 will be selected through RTP's direct invitations to composers and 4 from the public submissions. 

    The Portuguese broadcaster has opened the submission window for next year's edition with the right for submission expiring on October 21, 2022. Ten entries will compete in each semi-final with six winning the ticket to the final. Thus, a total of 12 songs will give the final battle for the right to represent Portugal at Eurovision 2023. 

    RTP will confirm the dates, the venue and the hosts for the next Festival da Cançao in due course. 

     

    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 2020 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.  In 2021 the group The Black Mamba won the 55th edition of the Festival da Cançao with the song 'Love is on my Side'  which  competed in the 2nd Semi final and after qualifying to the Grand final finished 12th with 153 points on the overall scoreboard.

     Earlier this year , MARO, won Festival Da Cancao 2022 singing 'Saudade, Saudade' and represented the nation in Turin where she finished 9th in the Grand final. 

    News Source: RTP

    Image: EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett

     

     

AUTHORS

  • Angelos D.

    Angelos D.

    Loyal follower of the Eurovision Song Contest since 1987, I've made the competition one of the stories of my life. After attending as accredited press the event for 13 consecutive years along with the 2017-2024 JESC editions, I also enjoy the last three years sharing more Eurovision music through the Eurofans radio's project.