Portugal is back to the Eurovision Song Contest after one year of absence. Portugal’s broadcaster RTP has announced that the traditional national selection, Festival da Canção, will be made of two semifinals and one final.

The semifinals of FDC will be broadcasted during primetime on 19 and 26 February, with the grand final on 5 March. The results will be decided by 50% televoting and 50% jury votes. The jury will be made of people chosen by RTP during the semifinals and regional juries all over Portugal and its islands during the final. In case of a tie in the semifinals, the entries with the higher amount of points from the jury will advance to the final. In case of a tie in the final, the televoting will decide.

RTP has announced the list of composers that will participate in the Portugese selection. They are responsible for choosing the respective singer for the competition, and the participating entries will be revealed in January. The composers are:

• Luísa Sobral
• Marcia
• Rita Redshoes
• David Santos (Noiserv)
• Celina da Piedade
• Samuel Úria
• Nuno Gonçalves (The Gift)
• Pedro Silva Martins (Deolinda)
• Toli Caesar Machado (GNR)
• João Pedro Coimbra (Mesa)
• Nuno Figueiredo (Virgin Suta)
• Pedro Saraiva (Sir Aiva / DR Sax)
• Nuno Feist
• Jorge Fernando
• João Only
• Heber Marques

Participating since 1964, Portugal still has got to win the Eurovision Song Contest, reaching its best placing, 6th, in 1996:

Stay tuned to ESCToday for more news regarding Festival da Canção and Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017!